Wheel Decisions for New (to me) Rubicon

[Thehammer9899]

I just got home from picking up a 2018 Unlimited Rubicon, driving nine hours from a dealer in Kentucky to my home in Virginia and I absolutely loved every minute of the drive. I’m already wrestling with a dilemma though around the wheels and I would appreciate some objective viewpoints. I’m trying to decide between sticking with the stock Rubicon wheels or putting on the Venomrex VR501’s in Coal Black.

While shopping Jeep options, I fell in love with these wheels. However, part of my argument to spend the extra money on a Rubicon was that I liked the Rubicon wheels a lot and would not feel like I should buy aftermarket wheels. Then I saw a picture of another user on here (I can’t find the name now) who has the same Sting Gray Rubicon that I got tonight, with the VR501’s. It looks really sharp. Thanks to some creative Amazon shopping, I was able to get a brand new set of VR501’s for $795 out of pocket. My thought was that i could choose the one I liked the best, then sell the others to recoup the costs.
Below is a picture of the Jeep that I found on here with the exact tire/wheel set that I will have. The second picture is my new Jeep. Would you stick with the stock wheels or go for the VR’s? If I sell the stock ones, what sort of price do you think I could get?

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[cOtter]

Welcome aboard. Sting Gray made it to my top 2. Ultimately I went with Ocean Blue. It just fit my personality better.

Personally I don’t care for the stock wheels on ANY of the wranglers. Just the switch to the VR’s completely change the appearance of the rig.

In my opinion, one of the many enjoyable things about the Wrangler is the ability for each owner to make it theirs.

I would absolutely make the switch to the VR’s.

Also related to the wheel switch..... will you be doing the same with the spare or are you going to delete the spare.

I have heard both sides of the discussion. For me I prefer to keep the spare on the back. My view it is part of what makes a Wrangler a Wrangler.

It goes hand in hand with..... Grill, Top off, Doors off, roll bars.

As for your take off wheels there is a market for them. I own a ‘20 Sahara and was able to sell them locally (southern Indiana) for $850. That was for the wheels and tires, minus the sensors. The tires had right at 500 miles on them. I switched to Fuel wheels and went with 35s (TOYO Open Country A/T II XTREME, 35X12.50RTLT). That in addition to the Mopar lift was a huge improvement.

Best of luck!!!! Enjoy the journey and again welcome aboard!!!!!

 

[Goin2drt]

Welcome. Great color but then I am biased. Absolutely get the new wheels.

 

[Jamrock]

It is easy to choose when you have one good choice and one bad choice. That is not the case here.

Drive the Jeep for a month with the stock wheels. Drive it for a month with the VR wheels. See which one grows on you. Ask friends and family for their opinion.

I prefer the VR's but my taste may differ from yours. The Jeep is going to look good either way.

 

[Thehammer9899]

Welcome aboard. Sting Gray made it to my top 2. Ultimately I went with Ocean Blue. It just fit my personality better.

Personally I don’t care for the stock wheels on ANY of the wranglers. Just the switch to the VR’s completely change the appearance of the rig.

In my opinion, one of the many enjoyable things about the Wrangler is the ability for each owner to make it theirs.

I would absolutely make the switch to the VR’s.

Also related to the wheel switch..... will you be doing the same with the spare or are you going to delete the spare.

I have heard both sides of the discussion. For me I prefer to keep the spare on the back. My view it is part of what makes a Wrangler a Wrangler.

It goes hand in hand with..... Grill, Top off, Doors off, roll bars.

As for your take off wheels there is a market for them. I own a ‘20 Sahara and was able to sell them locally (southern Indiana) for $850. That was for the wheels and tires, minus the sensors. I switched to Fuel wheels and went with 35s (TOYO Open Country A/T II XTREME, 35X12.50RTLT). That in addition to the Mopar lift was a huge improvement.

Best of luck!!!! Enjoy the journey and again welcome aboard!!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Your Jeep looks awesome! I love that shade of blue. My first Jeep was a blue 08 Sahara, so I’m always partial to blue Jeeps.

I am definitely keeping the spare in the back. My son and I just had the conversation yesterday that part of the coolness of the Jeep is the spare on the back. We laughed and said you could put a spare on the back of a Subaru and it would look cooler.

Thanks for the advice on the VR’s. You make a great point about making it your own.

 

[blnewt]

Welcome Aaron, great looking JLUR, your adventure and the unlimited things you can do w/ your new ride are endless. Good luck keeping your wallet full!

 

[Jamrock]

What do you mean? He is only going to change the wheels, nothing else

 

[Gladius Nova]

Welcome aboard. Sting Gray made it to my top 2. Ultimately I went with Ocean Blue. It just fit my personality better.

Personally I don’t care for the stock wheels on ANY of the wranglers. Just the switch to the VR’s completely change the appearance of the rig.

In my opinion, one of the many enjoyable things about the Wrangler is the ability for each owner to make it theirs.

I would absolutely make the switch to the VR’s.

Also related to the wheel switch..... will you be doing the same with the spare or are you going to delete the spare.

I have heard both sides of the discussion. For me I prefer to keep the spare on the back. My view it is part of what makes a Wrangler a Wrangler.

It goes hand in hand with..... Grill, Top off, Doors off, roll bars.

As for your take off wheels there is a market for them. I own a ‘20 Sahara and was able to sell them locally (southern Indiana) for $850. That was for the wheels and tires, minus the sensors. I switched to Fuel wheels and went with 35s (TOYO Open Country A/T II XTREME, 35X12.50RTLT). That in addition to the Mopar lift was a huge improvement.

Best of luck!!!! Enjoy the journey and again welcome aboard!!!!!

Love the look of your Jeep! That is the perfect riding height I will be looking for! How is the road noise with your Toyos (compared to the stock tires)?

 

[cOtter]

Love the look of your Jeep! That is the perfect riding height I will be looking for! How is the road noise with your Toyos (compared to the stock tires)?

Thanks. It also has the Mopar 2” lift. Between the lift and change to 35’s it worked out to be +5.5”.

Concerning noise, my opinion is “Road Noise” is in the ear of the beholder. So I can say for me that is it not bad. My wife, daughter and I can very easily have conversations in my Jeep. It is also very easy to have phone conversations over blue tooth, that is unless you happen to be talking to a person that likes to whisper while in the phone, like they are hiding from someone. Never have understood that. I get not yelling while on the phone. But come on put a little passion in you voice.

There is what I would call a nice hum from the tires. Again, my opinion, but necessary. Part of the fun, at least for me, is to have a little music from the tires. Just an add to the joy of owning a Jeep with bigger tires. Music to my ears.

 

[Gladius Nova]

My opinion is “Road Noise” is in the ear of the beholder. So I can say for me that is it not bad. My wife, daughter and I can very easily have conversations in my Jeep. It is also very easy to have phone conversations over blue tooth, that is unless you happen to be talking to a person that likes to whisper while in the phone, like they are hiding from someone. Never have understood that. I get not yelling while on the phone. But come on put a little passion in you voice.

There is what I would call a nice hum from the tires. Again, my opinion, but necessary. Part of the fun, at least for me, is to have a little music from the tires. Just an add to the joy of owning a Jeep with bigger tires. Music to my ears.

I understand. There will be “some” noise with those tires. You can’t get past that and it is a compromise when owning a Jeep.

 

[Shots]

.... If I sell the stock ones, what sort of price do you think I could get?

Welcome aboard, this is a great site. You'll get the occasional spat between members, but it seems to be more civil than a lot of sites. Lots of knowledgeable people here to help answer questions too.

As for the decision to keep the stock set or switch. That's a tough choice but wheels/tires are so subjective that only you can really decide. I see you've had a few people say switch, but I like the stock set better. Not that the other set is bad. In fact they look great, but I've never really been a fan of black rims, so I'd keep the stock set.

Regarding price. It wasn't really clear if you intend to sell just the wheels or with tires. FWIW, bought a set of 5 stock Rubi rims (same style you have) for $400. You should be able to get that or a little more for them depending on the demand in your area. If you're selling with tires and/or sensors price will vary greatly depending on the tires and the tread left on them.

 

[Thehammer9899]

Welcome aboard, this is a great site. You'll get the occasional spat between members, but it seems to be more civil than a lot of sites. Lots of knowledgeable people here to help answer questions too.

As for the decision to keep the stock set or switch. That's a tough choice but wheels/tires are so subjective that only you can really decide. I see you've had a few people say switch, but I like the stock set better. Not that the other set is bad. In fact they look great, but I've never really been a fan of black rims, so I'd keep the stock set.

Regarding price. It wasn't really clear if you intend to sell just the wheels or with tires. FWIW, bought a set of 5 stock Rubi rims (same style you have) for $400. You should be able to get that or a little more for them depending on the demand in your area. If you're selling with tires and/or sensors price will vary greatly depending on the tires and the tread left on them.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. I really love the Rubicon wheels, so I think I’m going to keep them on for a while, and maybe change them out when I change the tires. It came with 35’s which appear to have a lot of mileage left, so if I sell the rims, it will be rims only. If I can get $400 for them, that would be great.

I actually have another Jeep to sell, and I thought I might offer the losing set with the other Jeep. It’s a long story, but I traded my 15 JK for an 18 JL Sahara. The upgrades I wanted on the Sahara started piling up, so I decided it was better to buy the Rubicon that had everything I wanted, and trade away the Sahara. Unfortunately, the DMV here is behind due to Covid, so I’m still waiting to register it so that I can sell it. Sorry, long story.

 

[DWS44]

I switched to Fuel wheels and went with 35s (TOYO Open Country A/T II XTREME, 35X12.50RTLT). That in addition to the Mopar lift was a huge improvement.

Not to hijack the thread, but good looking Jeep, man! I'm in the Ocean Blue club, too, and also looking at Fuel wheels (different style)...sometimes hard to tell from pics, but are yours 18" or 20"? Happy with the Fuel wheels so far? I've been leaning towards 18" for mine as I'm not planning a lift or vastly larger tires from the stock JLR tires.

 

[cOtter]

Not to hijack the thread, but good looking Jeep, man! I'm in the Ocean Blue club, too, and also looking at Fuel wheels (different style)...sometimes hard to tell from pics, but are yours 18" or 20"? Happy with the Fuel wheels so far? I've been leaning towards 18" for mine as I'm not planning a lift or vastly larger tires from the stock JLR tires.

Mine are 20’s. I like them very much. Wanted something a little different. I have only seen two other vehicles with these rims one them. Both were jeeps. One JL and the other JT. I saw both of them in August at Jeep Invasion in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

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