Need some help picking a tire and rim size. My 15 year old son is learning to drive in our Jeep. He has a case of the fumes, gasoline fumes and perfumes. We will be sharing the Jeep once he gets his license.

His goals for the Jeep consist of looking good next to the lifted trucks at school, looking good to the ladies, mixed with mudding, running the beach and trail wheeling.

My goal is trying to let him experience Jeep activities and keeping his butt safely on the road when it rains, I’ll admit I have concerns about contact patch size on rain slick roads and maintaining a lower center of gravity.

We both prefer 5 spoke black with machined highlights rims such as Discount Tires MB Wheels Chaos 5 rims (picture attached)

After reading the faq’s, the forums and working with tire and rim calculators I have come up with the following 5 packages and would like your thoughts:

1. LT255/75R17 C BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM Tires on the stock 17” rim

2. LT285/70R17 D BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 Tire on 17” x 8.5” MB Wheels Chaos 5 rims with +18 mm offset / 5.5” BS, will stick out 1.9” more.

3. LT285/70R17 D BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 Tire on 17” x 8.5” MB Wheels Chaos 5 rims with -6mm offset / 4.5” BS, will stick out 2.8” more.

4. LT305/70R16 D BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 Tire on 16” x 8.5” MB Wheels Chaos 5 rims with +18mm offset / 5.5” BS, will stick out 2.3” more.

5. LT305/70R16 D BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 Tire on 16” x 8.5” MB Wheels Chaos 5 rims with -6mm offset / 4.5” BS, will stick out 3.2” more.

We don’t mind the factory rake, are willing to trim the fenders, and don’t want to mess with the pinch seams. I am thinking of adding an OME JK Lift Package w/ adjustable track bars and adjustable sway bar links or possibly a 1” body lift. Leaning toward the OME lift package due to the added weight of bumpers, winch, and rails.

All thoughts and comments are welcome.

 

I'm not a fan of black and chrome or polish on the same wheel, specially when on a jeep that will be driven in the dirt. I think flat black goes a long way.

I ended up with the wheel called Addict. XD series.

 

Sounds like you are set on the KM2's and wheel. Just looking at different sizes? Best advice would be if you go big (and I would recommend it) get the 4.5" back spacing. This way you wan't have to run spacers.

 

4 & 5
You're going to run 17" tires on 16" rims ???

And as noted above, a 4.5 BS would be the better choice.

 

You forgot the "None Of Above" selection.
32" Mud T/A's on the 17" Pro Comp black steel wheels.
Or go up to 35x12.5x17 Pro Comp tires on the above wheels.

 

Thanks for catching my typo! Edited the op.

We aren't interested in going to a 35" tire and re-gearing so I'm looking in the 32" - 33" range. The tire sizes listed are the ones that interest us. The BFG's are available in load range C or D in these sizes avoiding stepping up to a load range E tire. The rim style is not set in stone but the one shown is available in the listed offsets.

 

Option #3 is a more popular tire and rim size combination. It will give you more choices and more than likely will be lower priced. Don't go with a wheel with 5.5" of backspacing. It's too much and will cause rubbing.

 

Without re-gearing 32s and 3.73s will put you at the edge of what will work. The alternative if 33s are the route you decide on is driving at highway speeds with OD off. Otherwise you are going to be up against gear hunting, unlocking the converter and kick downs.

Here's a link to the gear chart in the FAQ,

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...76&postcount=4

 

Have you thought about going with a 15" wheel and tire combo. Tires are a lot cheaper for 15" then 16" or 17". Procomp makes a wheel that will fit and Discount tire has a couple of 15" rims they are advertising in the Vendor section. Just a thought....

 

Actually I did consider 15" rims as I like the look. The possibility of additional sidewall flex attendant with the 15" rim and 32" - 33" dia tire with a new driver counted against it. I may be over cautious.