Grognard

It’s not just about looks. The bigger the wheel, the smaller the sidewall, and the less rubber on the trail when you air down. So a 20” wheel will not have the performance (i.e grip) of a 15” wheel and tire. If you look at the picture of the 18” painted sahara wheels in this thread, the rig in front of it has 15” wheels.

You rarely see off road rigs with 35” tires on anything bigger than 17” wheels.

On the other end of the spectrum if the wheel is too small, the tire can fold over itself when aired down, which you don’t want to happen. For going off road there is a sweet spot, and that seems to be in the 15”-17” range for 35" tires. That is strictly from a performance view point.

Jeeptang

They look awesome. I like to buy my wheels and kinda keep proportionate to tire tread. i do
not really care for 15s on 35" tires. everyone has there own preference or you cant do this or that because your wheels are too big. Good luck with your decision

Spyder-X

I ran 18 inch wheels with Nitto Trail Grapplers at stock height and had no running issues at all.



I then added the TeraFlex leveling kit and I think that looks perfect with the 33's and 18 inch wheels.

BoggerSwap

I echo what Grognard said. If you're concerned about trail performance, the general rule of thumb is the wheel should not be bigger than 1/2 the tire diameter. So, don't go up to 18s, unless you're going to run 37's or bigger. Don't go up to 20's, unless you're going to run 40" rubber, or bigger. You need to have enough tire and sidewall on the wheel to provide a big track on the ground, when you air down. If it's just going to be a pavement princess, then get whatever you think looks good, but know that if you have 20" rims on 32" tires, most wheelers will assume you're 'all show and no go.' If you're actually going to use it as a Jeep, then stick with the 17's. You'll also have a lot more tire selection. Just my 2c.

SaharaHighRider

Perfect man!!! Thanks!! What does the leveling kit actually do and whats the price?

SaharaHighRider

I might have to leave my other Jeep Forum. This one is much better!!

kleinrider

Leveling kit is just spacers to bring the front up to get rid of the factory rake (the front end sits about an inch lower than the back - if you look at the frame rails you can see it). The Teraflex one is 2" in front and 1" inch in the back - at least mine was, but I just pulled it off for a lift.

JaySC

I have 18" XD Monster wheels and am actually thinking of going down in size to 17" wheels.

fitzb

Nothing wrong with a functional 20 on 37"s !!!!!

flipwalter

My wifes mall crawler is on CHROME 20s! wHaT?!?!?! whatever, she loves it AND I have an extra jeep to farm parts from.