So I went to a National Chain Tire Shop this morning with my new 35x12.50x17 Nitto Trail Grapplers, 17x8 Grand Cherokee Wheels, Rough Country 1.5" Wheel Spacers and the expectation that I would leave there finally being able to join the ranks of the 35" club. But even though I told the guy at the shop twice that I had spacers that needed to be installed to prevent the new tires from rubbing and he said it was no problem, when I got there he checked with his manager and told me he didn't know I meant "THAT" kind of spacer. Apparently there are other kinds and this kind is frowned upon by corporate due to liability issues. Therefore they refused to put them on for me. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed. Has anyone had issues with getting spacers installed before? I thought for sure the issue was going to be the fact that the minimum tire width recommended is 8.5" for these tires and the wheels are only 8". (which I have thoroughly researched and found that lots of Jeeps are running 12.50" wide tires on not only 8" wheels but 7.5" as well)
Any thoughts, suggestions, smart-ass comments?

 

BTW, here's some pics of the wheels and tires just b/c I love them. I Plasti-Dipped the wheels and I think they look great....they would just look a lot cooler on my Jeep.

 

There actually really nice I'd just have them do it. Than install the spacers me self

 

Install the spacers with your stock wheels then take it back to the shop and have them put the wheels on. This way if an issue does come up with the spacer (which it won't unless you don't install them correctly) then the shop won't have any liability.

Yes that's a pain in the ass but it would get you what you want.

 

X2 on this. Install them yourself. Make sure to use loctite and follow the manufacturers torque specs. Many shops won't install them due to the liability..

 

I always install new wheel/tire packages myself to avoid stuff like this.
I just have the shops mount the tires bring them back home and take care of the rest.

I'm running 35x12.5s on the stock 17s with no issues.

 

Can you change a flat?

then you can install the spacers... you just need one person to step on the brakes when torquing the front ones.

 

I can indeed change a flat if necessary and realize the spacer installation is quite simple but since proper torque is important and I don't have an Impact wrench I thought it would be better to let the guys with the right tools handle that job.
I found an independent shop that has no problem with the spacers but I'm just hoping they don't say anything about the wheel/tire width discrepancy. Unfortunately they had no time today so it will be next Saturday now before it happens. If I have trouble with them, I'll take the collective advice of having them mounted and balanced then put them all on myself.
Thanks to you all for the input and I will post before and after pics once done b/c I can't wait to see how this setup turns out!

 

Get a craftsman torque wrench and do it yourself. You'll use that wrench again on your JK trust me.

 

X3, this is what I had to do.