can you run a 12.5 inch tire on an 8 inch rim? if i purchase a rubicon i would like to put a 35x12.5 inch mud terrain on the 17x8 mojave teflon by american racing.

will it work?

 

Sure....tons of people run 35 x 12.5's on even 7" rims...no problem....an 8" rim would be fine.

 

really a 12.5 inch tire on a 7 inch rim? would it make a difference if it was a 33x12.5 inch tire on a 7 inch rim?

i would like to go 35 but do not know if they would be in the budget at this point.

 

I have the same set of 33 x 12.5's on the same set of 7" rims for ~ 80 k miles now...they are wearing nice, and work great on / off road.....and so do lots of fiends...so, sure 33's, 35's...all good to go.

That's in real life....for off roaders.

If you were a mall crawler/road only person who didn't have any use for a sidewall bulge, etc...generally...for a car...you have the rim width closer to the TREAD width...(12.5" or 305 - 315 mm is the SECTION WIDTH)....but, for a truck/jeep user...you want to have a bit more tire outside the rim, etc.

Tread width is typically a few inches LESS than the section width.