Im curious as to WTF the designers were thinking when they deceided to put 17"wheels on the X and Rubi model but put 18" on the Sahara?
Wouldnt it be more cost effective to use the same size for all three?

 

Yes but they probably put the extra wheel size in there to try and sell the Sahara model as a kind of "luxury" Wrangler. All the electronic bells and whistles but not the 4wd capability of the Rubicon. Not that it is incapable but you get my point.

That's my theory.

 

It's all marketing. People equate larger wheels to being 'better' than smaller ones. Pretty much what 4x4jkx said.

 

If only the tire companies would stop raping us on tire prices of the 17" and 18" tires.

 

The 18" wheels were used by other models too.

 

When I got my 01 Ram it had the 4X4 Off Road package on it. At that time I think it was an upgrade to 17 inch wheels from what came on the normal trucks. When they introduced the 20's on the Ram I read the 4X4 Off Road package still offered 17's and I can understand why. Not sure why but it looks to me like Chrysler loves 17's for certain applications. I'm not complaining.

 

Your not kidding... when I get my new tires, I am buying the 16" soft 8's with the tires and will be pretty much the same price as just the 17" tires.

 

18" wheel on the Sahara lets the factory use a tire with a shorter stiffer sidewall while still maintaining the same tire diameter. This way they use the same speedo calibration and gearing, but get a more precise and sportier road feel for the soccer mom's buying Sahara's. When they do their test drives, it feels more like like the H3 or Santa Fe they just finished driving at the other dealer.

 

The Sahara is a 1/2" higher than the Rubicon, so obviously the tire diameter is not the same. There are no speedo gears.

For whatever reason the Sahara is sporty, handles well on/off road and turns on a dime. All HAIL the Sahara!!!

 

When I was looking to buy my JK the base X model came with 29" on 16"steel wheels and the 18" sahara tire and wheel was the upgrade.

And yes I purchased 5 - 315/75R-16 ProComps complete tire and wheel combo installed for cheaper then I could get 4 - 33x18" tires installed and balanced. Then I would have also needed spacers on top of that. At least now the 17" are coming down to a reasonable price.