I have a 2015 2D JK and would like to move to a 35x12.50x15 tire and wheel set-up. I like the old school look of the 15". Should I go with an 8" or 10" wheel, and why?
Thanks!!!

 

What are you going to honestly do with your toy? That's the first question to answer. The naysayers will be in shortly to tell you how they've read on the interwebs how you'll lose beads all day long with a 10" wheel. I'm speaking from experience- 10" wheels for 5 years as a DD and occasional trail toy with half a dozen trips to the beach- not a single issue. I ran the setup on two jeeps simultaneously and neither had issues. They were also with 10.5" tires, so even more folks stirring the pot.

If you drop to 10-12psi, yes, you may have issues but just everyday driving- it's fantastic. You'll get a very flat wear pattern and you'll be able to run a decent air pressure without having to go to 25-28 to get a 'flat' wear pattern. I ran 32 up to 36 on trips and every lug was on the ground. I put easily over 100k miles on that setup 27twith the JK and probably 50k on the TJ.

So it comes back to you- what do you plan to do and how can the benefits of a wider or narrower wheel best benefit you?

 

I run 15x8 and I will give you two things to think about.

First, finding a 15" wheel clear brakes on the jk is a hit or miss depending on the brand. Having that extra inch on the inside may narrow down your options.

Second, which is the issue I'm running into now, is that when/if you wanna run a HD tie rod with heavy duty ends your choices will be slim to none due to clearing the 15 inch wheels, having a 10" wheel will only exaggerate that problem.

 

Discount tire offers many choices that they've verified to work with the jeeps and the backspacing on 10" wheels is usually 3.75". Synergy had a post that their tie rod works with the 15" wheels, I've got a screenshot of that somewhere.

But you're correct- something along the lines of a fusion 2.5 ton tie rod won't work.

 

I switch from 16" to 17" to run a Ruffstuff HD tie rod with off set 1 ton tre's, and got some rub. Moved my steering stop out to fix. I would stay with 17's, if you even consider any steering upgrades or you will end up buying wheels again like I did.

 

Being that no one seems to be addressing the actual question of rim width, I'll give my opinion on the actual question asked: 8" wide or 10" wide wheels for a 12.5" wide tire?

If your not an off road kind of person, and if rocks are not your thing, the 10" wide would likely be a better daily driver wheel. But, in the rucks and ruts, the tire will not be buldged out as much and your more likely to do wheel finish damage, or more likely to do more severe wheel finish damage.

With an 8" wide wheel, you will have a much deeper set wheel compared to the tire sidewall, and you will have much less chances of sliding along a rut or rock and tearing up the wheel finish. I went with a 9" wide wheel inside of a 13.5" wide tire for this reason. My factory Willys Edition (black Rubi wheels) with factory 255 tires look like someone beat on them with a jack hammer. Chunks of aluminum torn away, huge amounts of black paint gone, many sessions of brush-touch trying to make them not look so bad. They are beat junk!

So for an offroad use jeep, I would suggest a tire that will be buldged out well to at least minimize wheel damage.