steel wheel opinons

[JeepJK2011]

Hey Guys, I am looking at going with a set-up, or I should say more of a style since my JK will be mostly all stock for now, as the rims on the famous JK-Overland. I know it sits on the Mopar winter wheels which are 17' rims. I bought my JK with the stock 16" wheels and upgraded the tires but kept the stock steels. Does anyone know of a similar steel wheel that is a 16". I have done a bit of research and found that some of the WJ rigs came with a 16X6.5" steel rim with a 5X5 bolt pattern on their spare. anyone have these in your WJ or better yet mounted on a JK? I really dont want to get a new set of rubber just for my wheels and I like how the 32" tires sit on 16" rims.

thanks

[Frank]

You can find take off Rubicon wheels in 16" for about $500 shipped on various forums. That's a pretty economical way to go and looks good!

[JPK]

JK Rubicons have 17" wheels, TJ and LJ Rubicons had 16" wheels, but the bolt pattern is different.

Here is a thread on the topic on JeepForum.com, some good info: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/s...heels-1317051/

Cragar Soft 8's are the closest I can think of, there's a link to Sunnit showing the Cragar Soft 8's on the link to JeepForums.

How wide of a tire are you thinking about? The 6.5" wheels limit your choices.

[JeepJK2011]

235/85 should fit right on the rims good, just curious of the backspacing / offset as i never really understood that aspect of rims. i know its a really tall skinny tire but i like the look.

[JPK]

Here, also from JeepForum:
"16" wheel
factory 16" wheels are 7" wide with 5.5" backspacing. (standard and optional X)
most/all aftermarket 16" wheels will fit reguardless of backspacing.
up to an 11.5" wide tire can be placed on the factory wheels but 1-1.5" wheel spacer will be needed"

The backspacing is a little less on the 16" wheels you want to use, so you should be fine. FYI, you could go with 255/85/16 piza cutters, which are 33" tall. Worst case is you have to add Spider Trax wheel spacers and live with some very minor rubbing.

Also, Spider Trax has adapters which would allow the use of the 16" Rubicon wheels from a TJ.

Another helpful JeepForum link:
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/j...8/#post4342379

[grecy]

Can anyone comment on the durability of steel wheels compared to alloys?

Which one will take more punishment?

Which one is lighter?

Thanks,
-Dan

[Frank]

I was unaware they were different BP. Sorry about that.

[Black_ZJ]

Can anyone comment on the durability of steel wheels compared to alloys?

Which one will take more punishment?

Which one is lighter?

Thanks,
-Dan

Steel wheels are more durable but aluminum is lighter for obvious reasons. If you smack an aluminum wheel on a rock the aluminum will crack, whereas a steel wheel will slightly bend but still keep going and likely not break the bead. I have bent a few steel wheels on the trail and just kept on driving, I know I would have been stranded or at least had so use my spare if I had been running aluminum wheels.

[Idlehour]

steelies can bend, but they can sometimes be bent back enough to limp home.

the only alloys i have ever seen bent are street racers who hit curbs with low profile tires. there are lots of DUI "set of 3"s on craigslist.

a good thing about steel wheels is you can run smaller diameter wheels and they will still clear the brake disk. guys on the jk forums are running 15's(only certain size/brands will work). the price difference in tires can pay for new steel wheels when going from 17, or 16 to 15 inch wheels/tires. Sahara 18 --> 16 can pay for new alloy wheels.

what do you like about the winter wheels? the lack of lip? the industrial look? round holes? white paint?

procomp has round hole steelies, but they have a lip on them.

one of the rugged ridge sema jeeps has steelies with a lip, but they painted the centers and the rim black so it blends in with the tire, creating a similar look.
http://www.fte.co.uk/sema11/cell_sho...jk_snorkel.jpg

[mrshish]

I just ordered my JKU and also like the winter wheel look. The thing I don't like is they really need a spacer but I'm a little worried about safety doing that. I would also like to stay with alloy to help keep the weight down and MPG up.

I'm thinking about using the AEV Savegre wheels and painting them white to match the Jeep. Here's a thread of someone who started with the winter wheels, made the swap to AEV and painted them tan to match. I think they will look on a white rig as well.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/o...build-1170305/

Page 8 is the first shot with the tan mounted wheels. AEV seems to have done a good job designing the wheel for the Jeep and I think it looks great and everything I've read leads me to believe it performs great as well.

Of course if you do the same thing I was planning then I can see if it really does look good before I layout any cash.