While I narrow in on the specific metalcloak lift to get for my 16 jku it's time to decide on wheels and tires. Current moment I'm leaning towards selecting the tire first then wheel.

I'm either getting the 2.5 or 3.5 GC. In the past I've had nitto trail grapplers and pro comp mt2 and potentially looking for something different. I do want to hear your ideas and thoughts but more specifically thoughts on maxxis bighorn.

Another concern I have is backspacing... can someone please break that down for me??

Thank you.

 

Stay away from the maxxis big horn tires. I've got a friend who put a set on at the same time that I put on my coopers and he had significantly more wear and noise- with fewer miles on them.

Craigslist for wheels! You want 4.5" backspacing. Lower number equals more wheel/ tire hanging out from the fender. The 5.75" wheels will sit very close to your rear sway bar links.

 

Wheels: 17x9 American Outlaw Marshal 5.7" backspacing. 315/70/17 Duratracs. Simple Teraflex 1.5" Leveling kit. No rub. All you need.

 

Tires are subjective because everyone does something different. Some never 4 wheel, some wheel rocks, fire roads, etc. As far as wheels are concerned you first need to decide on a couple different factors. Steel?, Beadlock ? Forged ?, Chrome?, Busy?, plain?, all Black? If you can answer these questions first, then it's just a matter of what style you like. Don't forget size, generally the bigger hole in the middle means a more expensive tire.

 

The general recommendation for a 35x12.50 is 4.5" backspace. (stock backspace is around 6.25", so this moves the tires out roughly 1.75".) Remember that is only a general recommendation, higher backspacing can work.

MC's 3.5" coils will give a ton of lift - unless you have added a bunch of weight? Way more than you'll need for 35" tires. More than I need for my 37" stt pro's even with stock fenders ...

I ran 315/75/16 Bighorns for a while. I liked them fine. Good tire both onroad and on Colorado trails. The price was great, about $100 less per tire than the other mt's I was considering at the time. Didn't notice the tread wearing faster than normal, but I did end up with a problem with cracking down between some tread blocks. Discount tire said it was bad luck, not a widespread issue, and warrantied.

 

While their are general rules of thumb for backspacing amount already mentioned, the amount can typically be lift dependent. For instance, for 35"x12.5" tires, the Mopar 2in lift I installed stated in the install instructions that 5.5in of backspace or less wheels were needed. I got wheels with 4.5" of back space and have no steering rub, running 315/70/R17 tires.

Also most wheel manufacturers will list the wheel with the amount of "offset". Backspace is provided in inches and offset is provided in metric mm. They're the same measurement just using a different reference point as to where you measure from. Backspace is measured from the back of the hub of the wheel to the back side rim edge. Offset is measure from the center of the wheel to the back of the hub, where negative offset values, the back of the hub is moved forward towards the outside of the wheel. You can convert from one to the other, there are conversion calculators on the web.

Offset to Backspace convert.
Take offset (mm), divide by 25.4, then add the overall rim width divided by 2. The rim width is typically the width of the rim plus 1in. For instance, a 17"x9" wheel, the total width would be (9in+1in)= 10in. The 1in added is for the rim outer edges, which are typically 1/2" each.

 

Lol! He's looking at a Metal Cloak Game Changer and you are telling him all he needs is a teraflex leveling kit. How do you know that's all he needs? A leveling kit doesn't add flex or improve ride quality.

 

I personally think you should choose the wheel first, then the tire. You're going to have that wheel a lot longer than the first set of tires that go on it. Also, you should be very honest with yourself in what kind of use that jeep is going to see. I originally put some Fuel Boost wheels on with 4.5" backspacing. They were all nice and pretty till the first wheelin' trip about 2 weeks after putting them on. Now they are scraped up to high holy hell 3.5 years later. My wheels are now about worthless in regards to resale. I wish that I had either 1) put on a cheap set of wheels or 2) just put the money in to beadlocks originally rather than spending money on nice wheels that I just trashed. To make matters worse, 4.5" backspacing was fine for a time, but now I really wish I had less as I'm rubbing my newly powder coated Ace inner liners up front under full flex. Ugh.....I'm not thrilled with the idea of running spacers, and I don't really have the money to pour in to a proper wheel at the moment either.

My preference is also a 17" wheel. Looks great with both 35s and 37s. Not sure what the love fest is with all the 20" wheels I see rollin' round town. I think the dealers love to put those on.

 

I am set on metalcloak, no changing my mind on that one. I agree that getting a some nice and shiny flashy wheel is not the best idea. When I had XD Rockstars those shits got so banged and scratched up it was pointless to even try to make them look nice.

Nthinuf it sounds like you have a MC lift, correct? I was wondering and questioning the same idea of how much lift I will actually gain from either the 2.5 or 3.5 GC. I am not planning to make this thing a tank in terms of weight but the standard front/rear bumper and skids is about all I'm gonna do.

 

I buy for fit and function. Thats about it. I really don't care what they look like.