Are the 18's a worthwhile upgrade over the 225 16's? The main advantages I see are 1" more ground clearance and no snow chains required. Any opinions?

Thanks

 

rubber will cost more

less selection too

MAW

 

I can't see much advantage.

 

bigger wheels will have less sidewall on the tires (assuming same size tire) and therefore a better ride on the road. off-road, however, will be opposite.
it all boils down to 1) which do you think looks better 2) how much time you will spend off-road 3) what can you afford.
some people will even advocate bigger wheels for off-road driving, because there is less sidewall that can possibly be damaged. there is a trade-off here of less sidewall exposure vs. flexibility.
i know people who will argue either side of small vs. big wheels for hours if you let them. there really is no definitive answer. buy what you think looks best within your budget.

 

Yep. The bigger the wheel the more expensive the tires will be .. 16's for me

 

I meant the tires not the wheels. On the jeep.com website the Sahara and Rubicon both have better Ground Clearance, Ground Clearance- Breakover Angle, and Ground Clearance- Departure than the X. I imagine this is due to the tires and not the suspension.

Also, why did Jeep offer 18" tires and wheels on the Sahara, but not the Rubicon? Is anyone out there satisfied with the 18" setup? The reason I am asking is I have the option of purchasing the factory 18" tires and wheels (all five) for only $500. Otherwise, I will have to shell out $160 a tire for 16" procomp or bf goodrich off road tires. Which is a better deal? I do not want to spend the money for a lift.

Thanks

 

you have to ask yourself what you need from your Jeep. Do you wanna go off roading often? Or is this just gonna be your everyday driver?

I have the Sahara with 18" rims cause I thought it looked better and off roading for me would be quite rare. So far so good. I'm satisfied with the look and from all the different types of weather i've experienced in Chicago i'm sure this set up will get me anywhere I need to be with no complaints. Gosh, I love my JK.

so, just ask yourself what you plan on doing with your JK and then make the decision.

 

I have the 18" Stock Sahara wheels not satisfied with the Bridgestone Dueler a/t. The cost difference for the 18" Meats VS 16" for the same tires is anywhere from 100$ to 160$each! so I would stay with the 16"

 

I also went with the 18" wheels because they look great, and the ride is fantastic. The limited off-roading I've done so far they have performed really well. I'm not a hard core off-roader, don't do much more than difficulty level 5, so for what I'm doing, I love the 18"ers.

The stock 32" AT tire performes well, but isn't as attractive as mudders. I'm not planning on changing my meats for a while, and expect that the performance in the snow/ice of the AT tires will be really well.

Like someone else said, this is a preferance question, not really a performance one since performance is subjective to what you like to do most.