35's on JK rubicon rims?

[Lake919]

Hey all, I am soon to be upgrading my rough crappy suspension to an IRO long arm kit and I am going to run 35" tires. I have nice Moab rims and I am wondering if I can put 35's on those rims or would I do better just getting some steelies?

 

[88trailcrawler]

Lots of JK's run 35's on stock wheels. 35x12.5/17 or 315/70/17. I don't know the stock wheel specs off hand. They are technically narrower than the recommended rims for 12.5 or 315's. Some have reported issues with tire shops, but a lot have had no issues.

Depending on your set up, some alternatives are BFG AT's now available in 34x10.5r17 but they reportedly run small. Also there are a handful of 285/75r17 options in MT and AT that run about 34x11.

 

[zachandandy]

Do you run adapters? Jk rims are 5 on 5, xj are 5 on 4.5". Adapter could give you the width to make up for back spacing.

 

[techno1154]

Do you run adapters? Jk rims are 5 on 5, xj are 5 on 4.5". Adapter could give you the width to make up for back spacing.

And they are 17 X 7 with 6.25" back space.

 

[Lake919]

I do run adapters, yes. I have poison spyder, 5x4.5 to 5x5. A 34" tire wouldn't be a bad choice either. I will be running either a IRO 4.5 or 6.5 long arm kit.

 

[srmitchell]

I know this is smaller than you're asking about, but I run the new Rubi wheels on my xj.
Size is 285/70/17, Kevlar. Synergy hub centric spacers.

New Years Adventures by Sean Mitchell, on Flickr

Redwoods by Sean Mitchell, on Flickr

 

[jumper]

New look for a classic car. I liked!

 

[techno1154]

I know this is smaller than you're asking about, but I run the new Rubi wheels on my xj.
Size is 285/70/17, Kevlar. Synergy hub centric spacers.

New Years Adventures by Sean Mitchell, on Flickr

I thought those were all 18". They are really nice looking wheels. Here in N.E. Florida a bought 5 of the plain 5 spoke 17", 4 tires with 80% or more thread remaining and the spear that have never been used for $200.00. Those wheels on your XJ are offered for $800.00 and up for four. I would have loved to get a set of those but the old pocket book was/is a bit too flat.

Those are Rubicon wheels? Are they 5 X 4.5 bolt spacing? Those that I have are 5 X 5 and need an adaptor/spacer. I will be getting 2" spacer to give an extra 1" width on each side.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

He says in the quote that they are the new JK Rubi wheels..
So, 5x5 bolt pattern.
I personally am not a fan of them and the the JK Moab's better. Soon I will have them on my XJ, then my MJ and XJ will have matching wheels!

 

[themauler]

I personally am not a fan of them and the the JK Moab's better.

Ditto. I found (5) 17" moabs for $100. I feel like 25% of craigslist wheels and tires are JK wheels that people ditch for after market. Obvs you need wheel adapters, but thank god because the backspacing keeps the tires close to the wheel wells...

 

[garr]

I see great deals all the time on 17" & 18" Modern Jeep wheels that I like very much.
I don't like spacers, I know I can swap in a front unit bearing from a WJ (I already did the WJ brake steering conversion) to change to 5 on 5, my question is can my 8.25 rear axle be redrilled to 5 on 5 ? are there any 8.25 shafts set up for 5 on 5 available?

 

[themauler]

I see great deals all the time on 17" & 18" Modern Jeep wheels that I like very much.
I don't like spacers, I know I can swap in a front unit bearing from a WJ (I already did the WJ brake steering conversion) to change to 5 on 5, my question is can my 8.25 rear axle be redrilled to 5 on 5 ? are there any 8.25 shafts set up for 5 on 5 available?

Can you afford to have 6.25" of backspacing and 12.5" width of tire on your XJ? The JK guys usually get 1.5" spacers to fit a 12.5" tire on their set up.

I haven't mounted my 35s yet but on 3.5" of suspension lift and stock 255 JK tires contact with the wheel well is already a concern even with the 1.25" adapter. I think I will need to bring out the hammer to remodel some of the sheet metal in the wheel well.

 

[techno1154]

Ditto. I found (5) 17" moabs for $100. I feel like 25% of craigslist wheels and tires are JK wheels that people ditch for after market. Obvs you need wheel adapters, but thank god because the backspacing keeps the tires close to the wheel wells...

Yea, the JK Moab's are what I have. I have not mounted them yet,...I need to get spacers first.

I see great deals all the time on 17" & 18" Modern Jeep wheels that I like very much.
I don't like spacers, I know I can swap in a front unit bearing from a WJ (I already did the WJ brake steering conversion) to change to 5 on 5, my question is can my 8.25 rear axle be redrilled to 5 on 5 ? are there any 8.25 shafts set up for 5 on 5 available?

I do not think that mounting the JK wheels with their 6.5" back spacing will work very well. There will be plenty of body panel and suspension contact if they are fitted to the XJ OEM width axles. Think about it,...the tires are larger than the OEM tires that came on the XJ. That in itself will put then closer to the underside of the XJ.

In addition, the wheel by itself will be one inch further under/into the wheel wells. When I fitted 30 X 9.5 X 15 on the XJ wheels I and most of us experienced rubbing on the lower control arms. Many jeepers/XJers replaced the original wheels with some that have less backspacing. I went with 1.25" spacers. The JK original tires, I am assuming you will be using them, are 32" in diameter and I think 11" wide. That put them deep into contact territory.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

I see great deals all the time on 17" & 18" Modern Jeep wheels that I like very much.
I don't like spacers, I know I can swap in a front unit bearing from a WJ (I already did the WJ brake steering conversion) to change to 5 on 5, my question is can my 8.25 rear axle be redrilled to 5 on 5 ? are there any 8.25 shafts set up for 5 on 5 available?

Quality wheel spacers/adapters are a non-issue. As long as they are hub and lug centric, you should have no issues.

 

[garr]

Thanks, I am currently running 33's (285x75x16) on TJ Moabs & was not aware of the Deep backspacing of the Modern Jeep wheels, leave it to Jeep to make life difficult!
What size spacers will bring the Modern Jeep 5 on 5 wheels back to a backspacing similar to the TJ Moabs? 1", 2" ?
Thanks

 

[zachandandy]

Tj rubicon rims were 4.5" bs iirc, so 1.75" would make the new rims the same bs. I would run a 2"-2.5" spacer/adapter for a little extra clearance at the control arms. Of course I run full width axles now, so I might be biased toward the wider is better crowd.

 

[garr]

Tj rubicon rims were 4.5" bs iirc, so 1.75" would make the new rims the same bs. I would run a 2"-2.5" spacer/adapter for a little extra clearance at the control arms. Of course I run full width axles now, so I might be biased toward the wider is better crowd.

Thanks, I also run WJ Lower control arms, so I have that little extra clearance + they ride great!

 

[Lake919]

 

[Lake919]

I am running the same rims on my XJ. I am currently pulling the small dents out of it so I can "paint" it. I am actually going to plastic dpi it. I am doing it in metallic burnt orange.

 

[BGQJRS1KRR]

Love the color combo. Did the same with my XJ