I am starting to look at 35's. Tires and rims for 16" seem considerably less expensive. Is there any reason for me to stick with my stock 17" size?

 

If you are going to go down, go to a 15, less rim to hit rocks and cost way less. I hear a 17 is better for daily driving

 

I should have mentioned that my Jeep is my daily driver and I hardly ever go offroading.

 

....On my '08 I ran 16" tires because they were less expensive than the 17" tires. But now that I have a '12 I will be going with 17" tires instead. Why? Because running 35s or 37s in the future I may upgrade my Brakes to the TeraFlex Big brake kit and it only works (clears) with 17" or larger rims

 

I ran 16" rims on my last JK. It was also my daily and had no problems with them. I liked the tire to rim ratio on a 33". If you are thinking anything bigger than a 33" tire, really want to stay with a 17" rim. But I'm on both sides of the fence though. I agree with earlier post; If you are thinking about dropping down, might as well go 15".

 

if you only go offroading occasionally, stick with the 17s. I personally like the look of them, plus they truly are great for a daily driver. I drive roughly 50-75 miles minimum a day and my 17s are great, plus I don't need to buy wheels to upgrade. If you decide to buy a larger tire, you can start there and if you want a different wheel, you don't have to buy them right away. Baby steps, friend. Baby steps.

 

I too was thinking of going down to 16s but it really wasn't a big difference in price and looks.. I also thought I had more options on 17s.. just my input.

 

You mentioned you have the original 17's, and you want 35's. I assume you are either going to buy new wheels with appropriate backspacing, or run spacers on your originals. Assuming you don't want to fool with spacers, is seems in your case you may as well go 16's, and save money on wheels/tires, AND get what you want. I like the 17's (aftermarket with correct B.S.), for the reasons mentioned above.