as far as cost... it depends on what wheels you eventually want.

if you are thinking walker evans beadlocks down the road... you may want to run some spacers for a while to save up some money.

if you are thinking rockcrawler d window wheels (+/- $60 a piece) you may just want to bite the bullet and get them now instead of wasting the money on 200 (250 if you need one for the spare) for spacers.


i went with new wheels. it gives the jeep a unique look, rather than the stock, jeep wheel (although i do like the look of the moabs with large tires, makes the jeep look like it should have from the factory)

you could also save a little money going with a 16" wheel... the tires are a bit cheaper.

 

Personally, I chose spacers for my 35's because... IMHO

A. Price difference
B. I like the stock rubi wheels
C. I have yet to find a set of aftermarket wheels I like that are fairly priced.
D. I can put the money I saved on wheels into other parts I need.
E. I can always update to new wheels later.
F. If you wheel for any ammount of time you will scratch your bling-wheels anyway.

 

Price of tires was my biggest decision point. I've got the 18" OEM wheels, and the price difference between a 35 for an 18" versus 16" rim was enough to pay for a nice set of Pro Comp's. It's a Jeep intended to be offroad, so why spend mucho dinero on large wheels when it is the rubber that makes a difference offroad. Might also consider amount of room and flex created when airing down a tire on a larger versus smaller wheel. Smaller wheel gives room for more rubber and more traction if ever needed.

Spacers aren't a bad thing, and the rest of the decision is probably personal preference after considering the cost.

You will definately scrape a wheel or tire sometime, so don't spend so much on a wheel that you can't stand to scratch up.