Quick summary…I am making the jump to 37s when my 35s wear out. I am currently running 15” wheels and will be changing to 17’s to open up my tire options. Problem I am finding is there are very limited wheels with 3.5” backspacing that are non-beadlocks. I have RK’s 3.5” X-Factor so LCA’s don’t bend in like factory or MC’s. It is somewhat of a DD with about 5-10 wheeling trips per year.

I ran across SOTA Offroad and they have a couple options that have 3.5” backspacing but I cannot find much information from the Jeep community on these. It doesn’t seem like any JK’s are running these. I know they are mainly in the diesel world and used to be called BMF wheels. Anyone have experience with these wheels or company?? Debating between the SSD and DRT.

I am having a hard time spending $300+/wheel and that is my only issue with beadlocks. I know I could find a 4.5” wheel and add spacers but would 3.0” backspacing be too low??

Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you


SSD DRT

 

I ran 4.5" BS with 1.5" spacers for 10 months or so in a transition to beadlocks. My intent was always to buy beadlocks, but generally same issue you are seeing in that there are not many options out there with 3.5" BS. Anyhow, I can tell you that 3" BS will really make those tires stick out there. I don't have fenders, so they were VERY prominent. I tend to think that running such a low BS is adding a good bit of undo stress on your C's and ball joints. I probably not advise you to run that as a normal setup. For a short period it would be fine, but you'd be better off just buying a more appropriate wheel. If you are ok with the appearance of the wheel, I can't see how it would be better or worse than any other. At least the BS would be functional for you. If you wheel, you should expect to scrap up the lip of the wheels, but that's no different than any other wheel.

Best of luck on your build.

**I'd also add that I felt fine running spacers from a safety aspect, but they were a real drag deal with if you ever work on your jeep. One more item to remove at each hub should you ever have to pull your brake rotors for any reason (replacing BJs, replacing axle seals, replacing rotors, ...)

 

You're right, BMF was extremely popular in the diesel truck world but the restructuring of the company seems to have hurt their sales/popularity. I've never heard anything bad about them.