Can some one please help me out here. I have an 08 X on order and I am doing my home work for my new wheel tire combo, I have done a lot of searching on this form and still need some help.

I love the look of the wide stance wide tires and wide wheels. With that said I live in NJ and do not need to deal with any harassment from the police or the inability to pass inspection due to my tires hanging past the fenders. Also the majority of my driving will be a 60 mi commute to work, so highway comfort is important. Oh, by the way, not sure if I want to lift her until the warranty expires.

I am thinking of running soft 8's 15 x8 with 32in BFG AT's I think that will equal 11.50 of width with a pretty comfy ride. So here is my question, can I run the 15x10's with some tire combo that won't pass the fenders, and will the added width make a lot of extra road noise.? Thank you and sorry for the book. ( Nubie )

 

Bryan,

Thank you for your reply. I not sure I want to go the new fender route. I kinda like the stock fenders and I am not sure I will have the $$ after dropping close to 1000 for new wheels and tires.

Any idea on how to calculate how much wheels will stick out based on wheel size and tire size. I would love to go with the soft 8's 15x10 and keep everything else stock. I love the wide look. Do you know if this is possible, or am I wasting my time and just go with the 15x8's.

Thank you

 

Do a search on the 15" wheels. I believe I read a while back that a few people were having problems with the smaller wheel size. You may want to run 16s.

 

Adding wider wheels to the tires won't add road noise. That's all in tread design and tire wear. I've run 33X12.50s on 8's and 10's and prefer the 10's (on TJs and YJs). Will it stick out past the fenders? Yep. Not alot, but you'll probably have about 2" of uncovered tread. I don't know if Joisey authority will hassle too much over a few inches but it would look toight.

Now here's the other issue. (wait for it... the flame wars are nearing!!). Running an 11.50 on a 10" wheel is a NO-NO in some peoples opinions. You'll get every response from "you'll pop a bead!" (BS) to "why not just run 7inch wheels and balloon the tires". In all honesty, a 32X11.50 on an 8" wheel looks fine and will fit with no problem at all. Step to a 10" wide wheel and you'll probably have some fender contact at full lock.

Also, better check which wheels fit and which wheels hit. I 'think' 15" soft8s will fit on a JK, but you'de be best asking someone in the 15" wheel thread. Some people have had to run spacers to clear the brakes on certain wheels.

 

15x 8 "D" windows fit fine with 4" or 3.75" (or less) backspacing
3.75 backspacing will put a 35x12.5 around an inch or so past the flare.

In order to keep your tires UNDER the flare I would run 16/17's so you can suck it under a little better.

Firguring how far it will stick out is EASY.
remove a wheel
tape a plum bob to the fender
measure from the brake rotor to the string

This is your max total distance.

then figure back spacing and TIRE width with rim width.

example: IF your measurement from the rotor to the flare is 8 inches.
soooo you could run a 12" wide TIRE on a rim with 3 inches or more backspacing.
how that works: 10 inch wide rim with 3 inch backspacing has 3 inch of rim on the inside and 7 on the outside, a 12" wide tire sticks out an inch on BOTH sides so 7+1= 8"
if it was a 8" wide rim: 3in 5 out, tire 2 inch on either side 5+2=7" so you have an extra inch there.

Got it?

 

I tend to stick by the 4" rule. Wheels 4" less than the tire. On my TJ I ran 15x8s with 35x12.5s, and it was ideal in my book. Personally I would run 8s with 11.5s rather than 10s.

 

I want to thank everyone for their input! This forum is awesome and reading through all the different topics is helping me deal with my 2 1/2 month wait for my new 08.

I wish they had forums like this back in the day when I had my 91 & 93 YJ's. I want to thank you all again and I look forward to delivery and modding my NEW JK!

I also look forward to contributing to this forum one day.

 

Mr. T,

I will be waiting for those pictures..

TY!

 

I am about 15 min. south of AC. Just off shore from Ocean City and Somers point. My wife is from your neck of the woods. She grew up in the Toms River area.

Do you know of any areas alone the NJ coast that allow for 4x4 beach permits?

 

Go 8" wides w/o wheel spacers, I'm wide and just bought another ser of 16x8 with 4.5"back spacing, with wide there was no advantage when wheeling,if you like wide make me an offer on 5 but learn from one mans experence.