Wheels and tires question

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New to the Wrangler community and have been researching wheels and tires without a clear piece of mind. I am sure a lot enthusiast are annoyed by threads like these but I’d appreciate some education. Sooooo……I have a stock JL unlimited sport.
I currently have Ironman All Country A/T
Lt 285/70R17, 33”. They came with the Jeep when I bought it, new tires. Don’t want to replace. The approved rim width for the tires are 7.5-9.
I started purchasing a 17x9 wheel. Through what I have researched and talked to some people about the tires will fit the wheels. Now that being said, the stock JL wheel is 7.5 so I am assuming going up 1.5 inches in width will give it a little bit more aggressive look. Still inside the wheel well?
Is there anything special to do when I mount and balance them? Use beads? I’ve also notice some Wrangler with 17x9 but have 12.5” tire with no lift. That is the confusing part about wheels and tires that I don’t get. Can you buy wider tires if the wheel supports that width? Appreciate anything.

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[aldo98229]

Wheel offset matters. 17x9 wheels are likely going to poke past your fenders. All of that extra width has to go somewhere; usually outward.

My wheels are 17x8.5, 5.2-inch b.s.; my 35x12.5 tires poke about 1+ inch.

 

[kah.mun.rah]

@Discount Tire can help you a lot when it comes to your tire sizes and recommended limits with different wheel sizes.

As far as keeping it in the wheel well, tire and wheel width is one thing but the wheel offset/backspacing is another thing to consider.

 

[Chefwink]

Wheel offset matters. 17x9 wheels are likely going to poke past your fenders. All of that extra width has to go somewhere; usually outward.

My wheels are 17x8.5, 5.2-inch b.s.; my 35x12.5 tires poke about 1+ inch.

I’m fine with the going past my fender, I like the look. Do I need to adjust the b. S. myself? I know my tires are 33” x ?? How do I know the width like your 35”x12.5”

 

[LOBBS]

17x9 w/-6 offset or 4.75" backspacing and 12.5" tire for comparison with the above pics. A little more poke. Only straight on shot I could find happened to be a day we had a pop up storm roll in and I didn't have my windows with me so I stuck the Jeep under some trees behind my work lol.

 

[aldo98229]

I’m fine with the going past my fender, I like the look. Do I need to adjust the b. S. myself? I know my tires are 33” x ?? How do I know the width like your 35”x12.5”

No, the backspacing is the wheel offset; it is fixed.

For instance, the OE wheels are 17x7.5, with 6.2 inches of backspacing. My guess is your 17x9 wheels have 4.5 inches or 3.75 inches of backspacing. So they are pushed farther out.

Your 285 tires are 285 mm wide. 285/70R17 tires measure 32.7 x 11.2 inches.

 

[Discount Tire]

Thank you for the tag @kah.mun.rah!

New to the Wrangler community and have been researching wheels and tires without a clear piece of mind. I am sure a lot enthusiast are annoyed by threads like these but I’d appreciate some education. Sooooo……I have a stock JL unlimited sport.
I currently have Ironman All Country A/T
Lt 285/70R17, 33”. They came with the Jeep when I bought it, new tires. Don’t want to replace. The approved rim width for the tires are 7.5-9.
I started purchasing a 17x9 wheel. Through what I have researched and talked to some people about the tires will fit the wheels. Now that being said, the stock JL wheel is 7.5 so I am assuming going up 1.5 inches in width will give it a little bit more aggressive look. Still inside the wheel well?
Is there anything special to do when I mount and balance them? Use beads? I’ve also notice some Wrangler with 17x9 but have 12.5” tire with no lift. That is the confusing part about wheels and tires that I don’t get. Can you buy wider tires if the wheel supports that width? Appreciate anything.

First off welcome to the community! Glad you decided to join, and always feel free to ask questions, most members and vendors are happy to answer or point you to a thread that already does a great job of explaining it.

Aside from the wheel diameter to ensure the tire will work. There are 2 really important numbers to look at with a wheel. The first is the wheel width. This is universal and straight forward, however when visualizing fitment keep in mind that half of the wheel is in front of the mounting pad and the other half is behind it. So when you look at a 7" wheel and compare it to a 9" wheel, remember that although the 9" wheel is 2" wider, it is only going to move 1" out on each side of the mounting pad (roughly).

The next very important number is the offset, (sometimes listed as backspacing) This will tell you where in the barrel of the wheel is the mounting pad. KAh.mun.rah posted a great visual for this. Offset and backspace are 2 ways to describe the exact same thing, just measured differently.

For example, if you were to consider a 17x9 with a -10 offset. If you were to put a tape measure on the outside lip of your stock wheel and measure out 2 7/8", this is where the outside lip of the 17x9 wheel would sit.

Yes, there is an acceptable range for tire to wheel fitment that is considered safe.

We can help further. PM on the way.

 

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It’s all making sense now guys.

 

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I'll send some pictures once these bad boys get on. Should I use beads or the normal weight?

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