I'm new but eager to learn...

I want to replace stock wheels/tires with 17" wheels. I don't understand how the width (8", 8.5", 9", etc) relates (if at all) to tire size.

I have seen in threads that an 8inch wheel when aired down for off-road will hold the tire in better than 9inch (assuming no beadlock), but that's all I know about 8 vs. 9 inch wheels.

If I want to put 33 (or 35) inch tires on a 17inch wheel, can I put them on a 17x8, 17x8.5, or 17x9? What are the differences?

Thanks in advance

 

Tire size and wheel width are two separate animals.

Tire width is actually how wide the tire is and there is always a suggested range of rim widths to fit the tires on without adverse treadwear effects. The rim width can also be used to stretch or bulge the tires if needed.

Running a 10.50 tire on a 10" rim will stretch the tire out for maximum footprint, but will run the risk of popping a bead. Running a 12.50 tire on a 8 inch rim will require lower air pressures, but will also allow for a tighter bead seating due to the narrowness of the rim. ("poor man's beadlock").

There is a ton of information available online. Just google it.

Most popular sizes here on the Jeep forums is a 12.50 wide tire on a 8 to 9" width rim. I am running a 11.50" wide tire on my 8" wide rim and will run a 12.5" width next on the same rim later.

 

Well put!

 

agreed, i think icy said it well

 

So I can get either 17x8 or 17x9 and put 33's or 35's on it, at 11-12.5" tires either will keep 'em tight...thanks

 

As far as bolt pattern with my 2010 Sahara Unlim, I assume I need a new wheel that maintains the 5 bolt patter, what about the next number (4 1/2,...)?

 

5 X 5 with 4.5 Back spacing should do you. Are you going to lift it?

 

likely teraflex 2.5" coil lift plus frnt/rear trackbars, maybe front LCA's

 

I have a quick question that is related this topic. I understand that narrower wheel will help tire stay on if you do not have beadlocks. My questions is how does the wheel width affect tire height?

In other words, I have the same tire on a 8 inch wide wheel and a 9 inch wide wheel. Which tire is larger in diameter mounted with same PSI and weight on it?

 

The narrower wheel will make the tire stick out like .1" taller. Not much of a difference. You should be running a lower PSI on the narrower rim anyways to maintain a proper foot print, they might come out to being the same height at proper PSI settings.

And yes- a 11.5 to 12.5 width tire would work just fine on either a 8 or 9" rim. My coworker runs a stretched 30x9.50 on a 15x10. I ran a 32x11.50 on a 15x10 before.

Its all a preference really. I wouldn't want to exceed the limitations too much, since the safety and stability would be affected. EG: if a tire is advertised to fit a rim range of 8.5 to 10.5, then I would not want to run that tire on a +/- 1" rim. What that means is that I would not run that tire on anything lower than 7.5" wide rims or wider than a 11.5 rim.

Take interco's SS M16 in a 33x13.00-17 size.

33x13.00R17LT M16-23R 79 10 2 21/32 10.4 33.0 13.10 678 17X8.5-11 65 3195

You can see that the rim size "approved" for a tire this size is a 8.5" to 11" wide rim. I would not run this on anything lower than a 7.5" wide rim or greater than a 12" wide rim. It's just my preference.