I've made the decision to move forward with larger tires on my 2007 Rubicon Unlimited. I'm going with 35's because I don't think a 33" tire will offer much over my current stock tires.

I'm looking at the Pro Comp 7069 alloy wheel. I'm trying to decide between 16x8 wheels and 17x9 wheels. I'm also considering just keeping my stock Rubicon wheels and adding spacers.

My main concerns are weight and sidewall stability. I'm not sure what would end up weighing the least of the three possible combinations (which I know also depends on the tire choice). Price is also a concern and the 16" wheels cost less and the tires will probably be less expensive as well.

Does anyone care to offer some advice?

Thanks!

 

I was also torn on what size to get. I have looked at 15-17s personally. I ended up (though I havent purchased yet) deciding on 15s. I simply like the looks of the bigger sidewalls and the fact they are significantly cheaper didnt hurt things. The difference in 16s/17s wouldnt be very noticeable. Also, I doubt the cost difference is that much between the two, or at least I was surpised how little the difference was in my own case. Weight would probably be pretty comparable also, 16" tires will weigh slightly more, the 17" rims will probably weigh slightly more.

 

There are a lot more options with 17s than 16s. Side wall stability that you seek also pushes you towards 17s. 17x9s might be a bit on the wider side if you air down a lot and open the door to some bead slip, not critical but 8 or 8.5" might be a better choice.

On the weight side of things, it's going to be tough to have your cake and eat it too. More sidewall stability is going to lead to more weight and you should be looking at a tire that has a service description of 115+ for sidewall stability. I don't know what your goal is for weight savings, but a free spin hub kit will save you more in fuel mileage than any weight reduction plan will. At $2k you probably never get your money back out of them in fuel savings, but lots of other advantages as well.

My advice would be to lock in on the tires you want first, not the wheels. It's important to find the tires that are going to serve you best, checking service descriptions and sizes available, then move onto wheels that are going to make them work properly. Wheels are certainly important, but tires are where the rubber hits the ground.

 

Right now I'm looking at Goodyear Duratrac tires. They have a 35" tire in both 16" and 17". The wheels are about $20 or so less each and so are the tires. It's not a huge sum but it's not insignificant.

I know the 17x9 wheel will give me more sidewall stability and better on-road handling but I'm not sure how much a difference it really is.

I also noticed that the 16" wheels have a 4" backspacing and the 17" wheels have a 4.75" backspacing. Any thoughts on that?

 

Personally, that's what's pushing me more toward the 16's than anything else. I was just looking at 7069's, too.

 

 

We went through some of those same issues a couple years back and decided to go with the 17" because there were more tire choices. The BS is a good point as the 17x9 we used to run were also 4.75 which worked with our Black Diamond lift but didn't work with our coil overs so we added Spidertrax spacers and all was good. In retrospect we made the right choice for us as for the right choice for you I'd consider the lift you plan to run and make sure the BS works if not you'll have to factor in the cost of the spacers and that might help sway your decision. Good luck on whichever direction you go and be sure to post up some pics when all is said and done!

 

Just confirmed that it's about $120 less for the 16" wheels versus the 17" wheels. The tires are about $105 less. That's $225 which is nothing to sneeze at. It seems to be that the 4" backspacing on the 16" wheel would fit better as well.

The sidewall question is the only thing holding me back (I don't like wiggly tires). I think that if the 17" wheels had less backspacing I'd probably just suck up the extra cost and go that route. The more I can do to help prevent rubbing the better. Maybe I should just look for a different wheel.

With regard to the lift, I'm going with a minimal approach in an attempt to keep my front bumper (and towbar baseplate bracket) from being raised any more than 3". My plan is for a 1" body lift along with flat fenders and a trim of the Rubi rails and pinch seam. I may also go with 1.5" coil spacers up front and 1" spacers in the rear (depending on need). I'll also get extended rear bumpstops as needed.

Decisions, decisions!

 

Since you are skipping 33's and going to 35's you should also consider the next set you will get after these. You will probably want 37's by then. What wheel would serve you better?

If you go smaller, do it because you have weighd all the factors. Do not go small because it makes the tires 'look' bigger/better or 'cooler'.

 

Well, I can categorically state that I'll never go to 37" tires. They would be overkill for my needs and I don't want the unneeded weight either.

I guess the biggest question right now is if I'm going to have an issue with the 4.75" backspacing on the 17" wheels.