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17" wheels on a CJ?

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Rogue401 View Drop Down
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    Posted: Aug/18/2014 at 8:19pm
My son and I have been rebuilding his 79CJ with 89 Yj tub. It has a mild 304 and an old 4" Skyjacker lift kit.

He's having trouble finding 15" tires he wants and wants to switch to 17" x 32-33". Does anybody have any experience with this? All he can find in 17" is load range D and E and worried they'll be to trucklike on the light CJ.

Thanks!


Edited by Rogue401 - Aug/18/2014 at 8:22pm
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PlazinJavelin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote PlazinJavelin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/20/2014 at 5:30pm
I'm doing similar work on my ZJ. What tires/sizes have you shopped already?
I've seen post from others going as high as 32" on 15x7 inch rims using 32x10.5x15 tires.
With your 4" lift I'd think moving to a to a 16 or 17 inch wheel would make things even easier.
If you haven't already, you might try a search like this on the Jeep forum.
Plenty of similar builds.


And some ideas just from tire racks search engine....



Edited by PlazinJavelin - Aug/20/2014 at 5:35pm
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tufcj View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tufcj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/20/2014 at 8:19pm
With a 17" wheel, you'll have less sidewall on the tire. This will give a little better on road manners, but make the ride a little stiffer, even when aired down off-road. With most manufacturers going to at least a 16" wheel from the factory, I think there's a better selection of sizes in the 16 and 17 inch sizes.

I had 12.5x37X15" tires on my CJ (Goodyear MT/Rs). I bought the 15" bead lock wheels before 17s were popular. If I had to do it again, I'd go 17".

Bob
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Rogue401 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rogue401 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/21/2014 at 12:14am
Right now it has 33x12.5x15" mud tires. These tires must be 20 years old. They look fine but probably aren't safe. I would stay with the 15", but he says there isn't much of a selection anymore. He wants something that's really good aggressive off-road and OK on the street as he is planning on it being strictly a toy now. I think he's leaning too far to off-road. He's still got to be able to drive it on the road to get there and will still probably be on road 95% but that's what he wants.

He's looking at Nitto, but I'm not sure which one. I'm not crazy about Korean or Chinese rubber. I've read a couple of articles saying a rule of thumb is tire diameter should be at least twice the wheel diameter, plus the bigger wheels weigh more and the last thing the thing needs is more unsprung weight!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carnuck Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/22/2014 at 11:49pm
On my MJ I run 33/9.5/15 tires that were made by Avon and sold under different names. Trailcutter is only back east so it cost me $250 extra, but I got 60,000 miles out of them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote amcglass Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/25/2014 at 11:05am
most tire places can order tires and have them in a day or so if you want to stay with the 15"
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Rogue401 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rogue401 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/25/2014 at 11:13am
He hasn't made his mind up which way to go so it's pretty much ready to drive, but no big round things...
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