Significance of Wheel Weight

[Trauma PA]

I have spent countless hours researching wheels and tires to find the optimal wheel/tire combination for my needs. One of the considerations was not only the weight of the tire but the weight of the wheel. I selected an 18" tire (Mastercraft Courser MXT, 295x70x18, weight 61 lb) and the Black Rhino Barstow in matte black (18x9 with +30 offset). I wanted a more positive offset as I like my tires more tucked in as opposed to poking out for various reasons. The issue I am now having is that after finally receiving the wheels from Discount Tire Direct (they were special ordered), the wheels in my opinion weigh significantly more than what I was told. The rep from DTD told me 29 lbs. I then personally called and spoke to a Black Rhino rep and he told me 26 lb. These weights had me thoroughly excited about the wheel I had selected. So today I personally weighed the wheel and it weighs 36 lb. That is a huge discrepancy in my opinion. How could the quoted weights be so far off?

So my question is am I making too much of a deal out of how much each wheel weighs? Should I be concerned about combined weight of 97 lbs. on each corner vs the anticipated 87 - 90 lbs. I was expecting? Am I overthinking this? Any advice/opinions are welcome. I tentatively have an appointment for install of wheels and tires in less than 24 hours.

Here are what the wheels look like:

Sponsored

 

[Litfuse]

The weight of the wheel and tire combo makes a significant impact on a vehicles ability to accelerate, brake and handle. 36 pounds is heavy! I guess it depends if you want to tolerate it or not.

 

[Shooting or Jeeping]

The weight of the wheel and tire combo makes a significant impact on a vehicles ability to accelerate, brake and handle. 36 pounds is heavy! I guess it depends if you want to tolerate it or not.

It is- but then again- it isn’t. When people are running 35s and 37s, it’s safe to say that the Jeep can handle it.

From the looks of it, you like a churched up wheel. Those weigh more than a base looking wheel. Is a few pounds going to make that big of a deal? No. But you’ll lose some mpg and you’ll notice it is slower to get up to speed. But the difference isn’t going to be crazy.

 

[Trauma PA]

The weight of the wheel and tire combo makes a significant impact on a vehicles ability to accelerate, brake and handle. 36 pounds is heavy! I guess it depends if you want to tolerate it or not.

Yes, all these things I realize. I guess I just needed validation.

 

[Trauma PA]

It is- but then again- it isn’t. When people are running 35s and 37s, it’s safe to say that the Jeep can handle it.

From the looks of it, you like a churched up wheel. Those weigh more than a base looking wheel. Is a few pounds going to make that big of a deal? No. But you’ll lose some mpg and you’ll notice it is slower to get up to speed. But the difference isn’t going to be crazy.

I'm willing to accept the decreased MPG. After all, it's a Jeep thing, lol! I've seen a boatload of folks on here running heavier wheels (Fuel Vapor, Fuel Assault, Black Rhino Armory, Black Rhino Warlord, Fuel Beast, XD Rockstar 3s, etc) and they claim they haven't seen much if any change in performance. Then again, there's a ton on here that claim their Jeep rides like stock after installing a lift kit and we all know the truth behind that. So I guess it all comes down to what is acceptable and unless I actually mount up these wheels and tires, I just won't know for sure.

 

[WXman]

Weight kills. Sometimes literally. You have to understand that braking distance is increased significantly and acceleration is decreased significantly. The MPG hit sucks...and gets into your pocket every time you drive the Jeep. But the real issue is safety.

I think you are very wise to be concerned about the weight. Keep the weight as low as possible. My $0.02.

Yes, there are lots of guys running 37s and 39s on the street. That's all fine and good until a kid runs out in front of them or a car does a panic stop in front of them. It's the 0.001% of the time that people don't consider.

 

[Vawildjeep]

Do you happen to have a list you made of the weights of the tires and wheels you were considering. I feel like a list like that would be beneficial to a lot of new or future owners of all these ‘19s coming in soon.

 

[Snowjeep]

Do you happen to have a list you made of the weights of the tires and wheels you were considering. I feel like a list like that would be beneficial to a lot of new or future owners of all these ‘19s coming in soon.

That's a great idea.

 

[InvertedLogic]

Geez that is a heavy wheel. Granted if you're at 90 lb vs 97 lb, that's only a 7ish% difference. I have always heard that rotating mass affects the vehicle roughly like putting 4x that weight in the trunk. Meaning, the change in acceleration and fuel economy by adding 5lbs of rotating mass is roughly like putting 20lb of stuff in the trunk.

That said, there's even more motivation for me to keep the stock rubi wheels at ~21lb each. I don't think people appreciate how good OEM wheels really are in terms of quality.

 

[JIMBOX]

YUP, there are a lotta guys running 37" tires/wheels IMMEDIATELY and appear to be "TROUBLE FREE"--however-

After decades of off-road/vehicles/especially jeeps--when you've increased the corner weight/size of the tires/wheels--you will start a longterm wear/danger/over stress on the suspension/brakes/safety--

I don't know how many miles it takes individually, but I'm afraid that the new jeepers are so impressed by the LOOKS of THE JL/W 37" tires, without any concern/update to the JL suspension--things will slowly start to fail !

Heh Heh, kinda like an "O" ring in a SPACE SHUTTLE !

W.E.

JIMBO

 

[JLClt]

Unsprung wheel weight is a major concern for a sporty sedan/coupe. I'm guessing not many people care about it with Wranglers. For me personally it's still a concern and part of the reason why I will choose Sahara with 18" over Rubicon.

I've read in different places that the consensus is something like x8. so adding 20lbs per corner is 80lbs x 8, you're adding 640lbs to the rig. Wrangler is already slow as it is, I can't imagine how much acceleration and passing power would suffer from additional 640lbs

 

[Tech Tim]

It isn't just unsprung weight, it is also rotational weight, which makes a huge difference in power/torque loss. The farther out the weight is, the more power you loose.

So saving 7+ lbs on the tire will make a bigger difference than saving 7+ lbs on the wheel. However any weight savings on that rotational weight is a benefit.

36lbs per wheel isn't horrible compared to many wheels. The non-beadlock wheels will be the lighter, some in the 28lb. range.
Many beadlock wheels are up in the 40+ Lb. range.

 

[butcho]

You can always regear to recover from the sluggishness and MPG hit.

You can always upgrade to the big brake kit to regain your stopping distance. The mopar kit is available to buy.

You can always add adjustable/upgraded “x” to regain your handling after a lift.

Anything can be dealt with with the proper application of a full wallet.

 

[Trauma PA]

Do you happen to have a list you made of the weights of the tires and wheels you were considering. I feel like a list like that would be beneficial to a lot of new or future owners of all these ‘19s coming in soon.

I will compile a list and post it to this thread when I get a free moment.

 

[Trauma PA]

You can always regear to recover from the sluggishness and MPG hit.

You can always upgrade to the big brake kit to regain your stopping distance. The mopar kit is available to buy.

You can always add adjustable/upgraded “x” to regain your handling after a lift.

Anything can be dealt with with the proper application of a full wallet.

Just
Empty
Every
Pocket

Sponsored