Wheel spacers: Good or Bad decision?

[Reece]

The wheels I want only come in a 0 offset and I’m not sure is going to give me the desired look I want with the lip of the tire extending and inch or two past the fender. Currently running my stock rims and tire on my 2021 JLU Sahara Altitude 255/70/18. Will an upgrade to 35/12.5 with a 0 offset wheel give me the desired look I want or do I need to get some wheels spacers?

They wheel also come in a -19 offset but not sure if this will make my wheels stick out too much.

Sponsored

 

[blnewt]

If you're planning on going w/ new tires & wheels I'd go w/ 17s, much more selection, better variety of tires, and the cost is also less. 17s will give you a bit more sidewall too which is a plus when 4 wheeling. A zero offset in 8.5" width should work well depending on how much lift you have but may need a bit negative on the offset if you go up much higher than 2" for example.

 

[6th Floor Mule]

Your above stated combo will push the sidewall out nearly 3”. Play with the below link and you can simulate many combos.

https://tiresize.com/wheel-offset-calculator/

 

[rcadden]

100% agreed you're going to want to drop down to 17" rims. It'll save you so much headache and $$ over the long haul. 18s are an oddball size.

That being said, if you're on a budget (as I was when I went through this), here's my unrequested advice:

1. Get on FB marketplace and look for a set of Rubicon take-off wheels/tires. These will be a 17" rim with 33" KO2s most likely. If you shop a bit, you can get them for ~$1K-1.2K, the full 5-pack. The ones I got had less than 300 miles on them. Still had the little nubs on the rubber.

If you get real lucky, you might could even get Rubicon XR take-offs, which would be more expensive, but would be factory 17" rims with 35" KO2s. Easy peasy.

2. Go to Discount Tire and get them to swap the TPMS out of your old ones into your new ones. This cost me ~$300 out the door.
3. Sell your old rims/tires. I got $600 for mine, but they had <10K miles on them. YMMV here, but mine sold quick.

Supposedly you could put 35s on the stock Rubicon rims with no problems - there are dozens of threads about it. The 33" will give your Sahara a much meatier look anyways, and let you split the purchase of rims and tires, vs having to do them both at once.

I have before/after pics in my build thread.

 

[blnewt]

100% agreed you're going to want to drop down to 17" rims. It'll save you so much headache and $$ over the long haul. 18s are an oddball size.

That being said, if you're on a budget (as I was when I went through this), here's my unrequested advice:

1. Get on FB marketplace and look for a set of Rubicon take-off wheels/tires. These will be a 17" rim with 33" KO2s most likely. If you shop a bit, you can get them for ~$1K-1.2K, the full 5-pack. The ones I got had less than 300 miles on them. Still had the little nubs on the rubber.

If you get real lucky, you might could even get Rubicon XR take-offs, which would be more expensive, but would be factory 17" rims with 35" KO2s. Easy peasy.

2. Go to Discount Tire and get them to swap the TPMS out of your old ones into your new ones. This cost me ~$300 out the door.
3. Sell your old rims/tires. I got $600 for mine, but they had <10K miles on them. YMMV here, but mine sold quick.

Supposedly you could put 35s on the stock Rubicon rims with no problems - there are dozens of threads about it. The 33" will give your Sahara a much meatier look anyways, and let you split the purchase of rims and tires, vs having to do them both at once.

I have before/after pics in my build thread.

Good plan regarding Rubi takeoffs, might also get the suspension as part of the deal to give you some lift (if you haven't lifted yet.)

If you plan to do 4 wheeling on a regular basis you'll probably need spacers if you run stock wheels w/ 35s as the Sport/Saharas have 1.5" narrower axles vs. the Rubicon, so you may have clearance issues at the inner fender/LCA area when flexing the suspension. If you keep your wheeling mild you may be ok just running as-is, YMMV.

 

[SH556JL]

Here’s my poke with 0 offset. I personally wouldn’t run spacers, I have no particular reason, only I don‘t like the idea.

My fenders are now chopped, so they stick out a bit more.

EDIT:
Noticed you have a Sahara, my axles are wider. So they probably won’t stick out as much for you.

 

[aldo98229]

Quadratec wheels come with the right rim width and offset, and are usually cheaper than Rubicon takeoffs to boot.

Sponsored