I saw a Jeep this weekend and it had 35 in tires on 15" wheels. I thought it looked awsome with all that sidewall. Is there a down side to the
smaller wheels as far as off roading goes? 17" wheels seem to be the standard. Looking at tire prices its a lot more reasonable for the 15"
tires as well.

Thanks for any help,

Jeff V.

 

What karls said.

I would have loved to get 17's, but the cost of the tire was over $100 per from the 15's. I've done some hard wheeling, and have never had a problem. I think the extra tire also gives you a smoother ride, but that's just an opinion.

 

Yeah I love the look of 17's but they were just way to pricey.. the price goes up for both tire and wheel so i stuck with 15's and I think they look awesome soo much side wall.

 

Thanks guys

Anyone ever have any issues

 

Tires for 15's tend to have more C Load options, which will generally have thinner sidewalls.
Tires for larger rims will more commonly have more D or E load options with thicker sidewalls.

Could be a consideration in your tire selection, depending on your off-roading needs.

 

Jks have a bigger brake caliper than earlier models and im not sure if a 15 inch rim would fit unless you shave some off the caliper. And the more sidewall the more chance for you to get a puncture from the environment on a rock or branch or watever if you wheel alot. Just somethong to think about

 

15" 35 MTR's have worked great for me. We spend a lot of time in rocks and have not had any sidewall problems (knock on wood ) The C rating + the wider sidewall gives you a great ride especially when you air down.

I run Procomp Rock Crawler Etreme wheels.

 

I used 15" rims on my old TJ whereas I use 18" rims on my JK. The biggest difference is on the 15" performing any sudden highway moves (dodge an animal, or another car, or something on the road) you'd better look out because there's more room for compression on one side of the Jeep when you do that meaning you're going to get a big rebound when you straighten up. I've almost literally lost control of my TJ several times because of that, plus it's scary as hell. The 18" on the JK are much more forgiving since there's less sidewall to compress and/or flex. That's my 2 cents on the differences...

 

Depending on the specific rim, a few require grinding the calipers. Also, some of the really beefy aftermarket tie rods don't fit with 15" rims.

 

15" mb72's w/35 km2's, rockkrawler drag flip, Stock calipers with stock tierod just enough room