I like my 17s

 

Stay with the 17's. What lift are you doing? I'm within the city and don't mind helping out with a lift, I've done more than a couple handfuls of them.

 

As most have already said. 17" is the way to go. Lots of wheel options and tires options. Many times it is easier to go with the crowd. This is one of them. With 35's or taller you have plenty of sidewall for wheeling and enough wheel your Jeep will still handle good on the road. 17x9 -12mm offset is what you will be finding. Gives 4.5" of backspacing for a good clearance and a nice stance.

 

I have a 2012 4 door jk with a 3 1/2 lift and I'm running 35 nitto extreme mud grapplers on an 18 XD wheel, looks really sharp especially with the dv8 inner fenders and bushwhacker flares. Idk what gear ratio you have but with an automatic a 4.56 gives you all your power back to turn the tires without the bogged down sound, and if you have a manual a 4.88 would be perfect

 

Perhaps you have the gearing reversed. Typically a manual doesn't need as deep of gearing comparatively speaking.

 

Go 17" for more selection of tire and wheel. 16" tires are more directed toward trucks and are generally 10 ply, 17" on the only hand can be found in 6 and 8 ply.

 

Just like many guys are saying already, the only advantage is more side wall on your tires when you run a 16" wheel. It is really up to you and what looks better to you. Ive heard people say that the 16" wheel makes their tires look bigger then with a 17" but i doubt it is a big difference. 17" wheels on 35's will look just fine and they wont be to drastic.

 

I actually ditched my factory 17s and my first set of aftermarket wheels were 15" steel d-spokes with 35/12.50s. It's was an awesome look imo. Tons of sidewall. Very old school! But after about 3 years I moved up to 16" aluminum wheels. I still wanted a hefty sidewall but also wanted more rotor clearance. You will not find a "standard" 35 in 16" and will have to select the metric 315/75. And mine are 10 ply. I have no intentions of running a big brake kit or changing wheels again. However hindsight being what it is I would put serious thought into 17s mainly because the tires are cheaper.

 

I thought about going 16's at one point but there was very very limited styles out there.

 

no regrets here , but it depends on what your looking for i went 285/70 /16 nitto
10 ply e rated and love em . Will agree thers more size selection on 17" if you like them. Discount tire direct is Great vendor no matter what you choose . Id go through DTD again next time i need tires, a bit of cool look that you get from a 15 or 16 " wheel vs 17 cant say its huge diff. but its noticeable to my eye , but most would prob go with 17 for more aval. choices