I'm stepping up to 35" tires on my stock rims. What's a good size spacer to go with? I was thinking 1.25 or 1.50. Any opinions?

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Most people will tell you one of two things.

1. Don't run spacers and buy new wheels with the proper back spacing or
2. If you buy spacers, spend the extra money and buy a good quality set. Spidertrax seems to be the most commonly recommended.

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will be able to assist.

 

When I was researching I ran into a couple of possible issues with 1.25 spacers and the length of the studs. Seemed they might need to be trimmed. Just something you might want to look into. IMHO wider looks better.

 

Spacers are fine as long as you install and torque them properly, and check them once in a while.
You will want to go with the 1.5" to clear the lugs on your JK, unless you want to grind them down a little.

 

This is true, I installed 1" spacers and had to trim both front and rear studs. 1.25" spacers will clear the rear studs but not the front. I think the studs were like 1 3/8" in the front so 1.5" spacer will be good with no trimming.

 

OP- go with 1.5" spacers on stock wheels to bring you very close to 4.5" backspace. Allows clearance for sway bars and control arms. You want a lot of surface area on the threads to keep torque and keep the integrity: cutting the studs defeats that. Look at truck rigs front wheels and notice the studs extend an inch past the nuts.
Remember to remove the stock lock washers on all the studs before placing the spacer or if you go with aftermarket wheels.

 

All I trimmed was the end of the stud which is a smooth un-threaded surface, defeats nothing since all it is is a guide tip for the nuts. Nuts are torqued to 130 ft/lbs and haven't had one problem. Just make sure you check the nuts every tire rotation and you'll be good. But lessons learned, get at least the 1.5" spacers so you don't have to cut them. In my case my wheels have 4.5" backspacing, I choose 1" spacers so I wouldn't be less than 3.5" backspacing, and my tires still rub the frame.