Unfortunately, I need to do my upgrades in stages. Thinking about wheel & tire upgrades:

BF Goodrich states that the stock Rubicon tires will run on up to an 8.5" wide rim. Consensus seems to be that a 12.5" wide tire requires at least an 8.5" wide rim. Unfortunately wheel width options seem to be only 8" or 9". In order, I plan to: purchase wheels
mount my stock tires on new wheels
put on a BB lift
then upgrade the tires on my new wheels (possibly simultaneously w/ the lift. Will depend on finances).
All will be done over the course of the next 3 months.

Does anyone have a recommendation on which width to go with? 8" or 9"?

Thanks. And, yes, I did search.

 

No takers?

 

Well combine the buying wheel step with the buying tire step. This may require the use of a savings account. It is a handy place to store money between steps. (or so I hear) I'm more of a hand to mouth 1 payday from homeless kind of guy, so take from that what you will. Skip the mounting new tires on current wheel step. Since 8 in. is less than the concensus of 8.5 inches I would go with the 9" rim. Really what do you gain for the trouble of mounting your existing tires to the new rims? The downside is 1 more chance to bang something up in the process. I suppose your rig will look different than the other 2 rubicons in your town. If you do tires & wheels at the same time you also save the mounting fee costs, and an additional trip /waste of time waiting for the work to be done.

 

OK BFG says NO NO......

BUT it's only 1/4 inch extra on each side of the tire !!

I am going to get 17X9'' wheels and put my stock Rubicon BFG's on them soon. When they wear out I gonna get 285-70-17 BFG KM2's.

I have seen several other JK rubicons do this with NO problems.

Just REMEMBER if you used to air down to say 19 psi on the stock rims you might want to bump it 2 to 4 psi higher with the 9'' rims and you should be fine.

 

I am running 16x8 Cragars and 35x12.5" tires with no problem at all! Better for when you air down.

 

ok here is my 2 cents in this. the skinnier the wheel the better for wheeling, u have less of a chance of slipping the bead of the tire off the rim when airing down. I am running 35/12.50x17 on the stock 17x7.5 rims and haven't had one problem and i have done comp coures and some black trails.. I have just ordered new rims and they are 17x8 which means when i am aired up the tires won't be as bubbled out off the rim.

well i hope this helps

 

So is it generally accepted that these wheels, listed by ProComp for the JK, are too wide to handle KM2's at 37/12.5/17???? They are 9.5"s,....

http://www.4wd.com/productdetails.as...5&partID=15617

They don't list a 5 on 5 between 8-9 inches.

Damn I hate this wheel and tire BS.

Damnit!

I should switch to decaffe at this point in my morning.

 

I ran 12.5" tires on 8" wide rims on my TJ for years. Works great.

This time around I'm running AEV Pintlers that are 8.5" wide.

 

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the input. I think, in true Jeep fashion, the better solution is just to wait a few more weeks & do the whole thing at once rather than spreading it over a longer period of time. I guess I just got pissed off seeing another guy in a new rubicon applying tire-shine outside the wash when I was driving by in my newly-muddy, but also stock, jeep. Too many mall crawlers and grocery getters around here, and I guess my pride got the better of me.

Damn the rocks, full speed ahead!

 

Also, this way I can go with the 16" rims I really want instead of the 17" that would make the transition faster. Gotta love the immaturity that comes with having such a great toy.