Cherokee Wheels

[Parker8]

I just purchased a 2001 Cherokee Sport and currently have those Ecco wheels. I am looking to put a bigger and wider rim and tire on it, but hopefully without a lift at first.

Was wondering if i could help on a nice set of fairly inexpensive wheels that look good and the recommended size tires?

Also, does the truck have to be lifted in order to put bigger and wider tires on?


Parker8

[Chris S]

235/75 R15 is the tallest you can go and still off-road hard without rubbing the fenders.
If you don't push your rig hard and you leave the sway bars attached you can get away with 30x9.5" tires with minimal rubbing.

With no lift you have to stick to 5" or 5.25" back spacing. Any less and your tires will hit the flares under compression.

[Parker8]

Thanks Chris. Do you have any recommendations on a nice set of wheels and tires that would be the correct size and look good? Or maybe some nice wheels you have seen that will fit also?

[Chris S]

Personally I like the US Wheel "Hammer" on newer XJs.
One though though - if you plan on serious wheeling aluminum wheels will get beat up.

http://www.rocky-road.com/media/uswheel6.jpg

http://www.rocky-road.com/wheels.html

[Parker8]

Thanks a lot Chris. But i have one more question for you.

What size wheels would fit best, 15x8 or 15x10, that would still not rub anywhere with the stock hieght?

Also, you recommended possibly 30x10.5 tires if i didn't change the sway bars, well i am not changing anything so would those tires rub on say 15x10 with a 5" backspacing?

Thanks man, i appreciate your help.

[Chris S]

Actually it was 30x9.5 I mentioned, so a 10" wheel is out :)

A 7" wheel is actualy recommended, and a 8" would be OK.

Another option is to go with a metric size that works out to be 29x10. This would be a better fit on a 8" wheel. You wouldn't gain ground clrearance, but the wider tire would actually make your rig look taller and more agressive.

With any 8" wheel you may find the tire lightly brushes the fender liner if you compress both sides together. This will be slightly worse with the 29x10 tires, but it should not be bad enough to do more than rub a spot smooth. If it becomes a problem you can extend the bump-stops slightly.

A final note - many truck tires fit larger than street tires. For example a BFG MT LT235/75R15 (29.5x9) is about the same size as most 30x9.5" street tires.

[Parker8]

Chris, i appreciate your help, but i still have some more questions.

I am looking to make the stance of the truck wider and for the tires to stick out a little past the fenders. Will 235/75 R15 on 15x7 wheels with 5" or 5.25" backspacing, do that? Or will i need to get wheels with a smaller backspacing to push them out of the wheel well a little bit, something like a 2" or 3" backspacing?

Or, I was thinking of putting in a 2" or 3" lift, to fit bigger and wider tires?

What is your opinion? If i put a lift on it, should it be a body or suspension lift? Which is cheaper? And will it void any part of the warranty if i put a lift on it?

Thanks for your help. I hope you don't mind all these questions, but you seem to know a lot about these rigs.

[Chris S]

Well, your XJ is a "uniframe" vehicle. This means that there is a frame, but it is lighter than a normal frame and the body is welded to it. In other words, body lifts are out.

XJs are designed with a lot of wheel travel, and on a stock rig a lot of that travel is upward. This means that if you stick the tires outside the fenders you risk doing body damage if you go off-road. So, the question is - do you plan to go 4x4ing? If so, you need to keep the tires under the fenders.

A lift can eliminate the warranty on affected components. This includeds anything you replace, plus anything like U-joints and the t-case ouput which are directly affected.

If you really want the look and don't plan to 4x4 on anything tougher than a maintained forestry road then I would recommend an inexpensive 1.5" or 2" lift, exended bump-stops, and 255/70R15 tires on 8" rims with 5.25" backspacing. These are 11" wide tires, so this will place the outside edge of your tire 2.5" farther out, but be the same diameter as stock so you will have minimal loss of acceleration or braking.
If that is the case then I would recommend the Pirelli Scorpion A/S. It's an all terrain tire with exceptional street handling that is still able to handle the bumps and bruises of a dirt road.
http://pirelli.pearlcomm.com/Canada/Images/Images/scoras.jpg

[Parker8]

Chris,

In your last reply you said wheels of the same diameter would work well, but with a 2" lift you don't think taller tires could be put on? Also, would extending the stop bumps, would that decrease the turning radius, and by how much do you think?

I have seen many pictures of XJs with about a 4.5" or 6" lift where the tires stick out past the wender wheel. Are those people doing some serious wheeling?

I have thought about doing some serious off-road, but nothing crazy like going over huge rocks and stuff. And i want the look of a husky and tough rig. With this in mind where the truck would be used most of the time on the road and some of the time wheeling, what setup would you put on a 2001, with a warranty?

What are some ideas you could give me including hieght, lift, wheels and tires? Like i said i am not going to do anything crazy, but a solid truck in rough terrain and decent on the road is what i am looking for.

Thanks man! I appreciate all the help.

[Chris S]

OK, here's the thing... As I mentioned, the problem is getting the tires to go into the fenders when the suspension is compressed. The bump-stops limit the upward travel of the axle, so they keep your tires off the fenders. If you want your tires outside the fenders you need even more bump-stop extension since the tire is not going to stuff inside. A guy (or gal :)) with a 6" lift and 33" tires sticking out should have extended their bump-stops by at least 2 inches, maybe more. Many of these guys have also removed their fender flares, trimmed back the metal, and re-installed the flares higher on the side of the Jeep. A 3" taller tire is 1.5" closer to the fender and they have a 4.5" lift, so there is plenty of room to add a bump-stop extension and still have some upward wheel travel.

As a loose rule of thumb you ned an inch of lift and 1/2" of bump-stop extension for every inch increase in tire size AND you need an inch of lift and 1/2" of bump-stop extension for every inch wider your tires stick out. This means that you can fit a 33x9.5" tire on a 3" lift, and you can fit a 30x12.5" wide tire on a 3" lift, but for a 33x12.5" tire you need six inches of lift and a 3" bump-stop extension. Confused yet?

Bump-stops do not affect your turning, the steering stops do that.

BTW I made a goof when I said the tires would be 2.5" farther out in my last post. They would be 1.5" farther out, since half the width of the tire will stick out on the inside of the rim and half will stick out on the outside of the rim. This means that the tire will rub the control arm when turning and reduce your tunring radius. To eliminate this you would have to go to 4" backspacing and your tires would be back to being 2.75" farther out.

[Parker8]

What size lift do you have on your XJ? And what size tires and wheels? And do they stick out past the fender flares?

Do you incur any rubbing? And if you do when?

[Chris S]

I have 30x9.5s on stock 5.25" BS wheels with a 1.5" lift and no bump-stop extensions.

In the front I have rubbed through my fender liners and have cut a groove in the tread on a seam on the inner fender.

In the rear I have polished a spot on the fender liner and on the flare, but no damage.

You can really see what I mean about the tire fitting inside the fender in this pic
http://members.home.net/mudpup/xjpics/91flx1.jpg

[Parker8]

Chris -

It looks like i am going to keep the stock hieght, because i purchased an extended warranty and i don't want to void any of it by putting a lift on it. Especially the transfer case, i don't want to void that because it is fairly expensive to repair.

With that in mind, what is the biggest i can go in tire and wheel size?

I don't think i am going to get the side collapsed so i am not worrying of rubbing a little, if it is caused by compression.

So, with not much compression and the stock hieght, what is the best size wheel, including backspacing, and tire i can put on it? I would like to get something that would make the tires sit about .5" to 1.5" outside the fender and still have a lot of width to the tire as well. Please let me know, what my options are.
Thank you

[Chris S]

How agressive a tire do you want?

You can get more width in tires like the pirellis above than in typical AT tires. You could run them on 4.75" BS wheels without a lift, but if you put a heavy load in the back you will hit the flares on every bump. A 245/70R15 (29x10) on wheels with 4.75" backspacing would be a better fit with no lift. This would move your tires out about an inch from where they are.



BTW, I'm surprised nobody else has jumped in with an opinion on this thread. I would encourage you to get a second opinion on any information you get off the web (including from me :)). After all, for all you know I might be a 12 year old kid playing Jeep on his daddy's computer :D.

[tgrossmith]

hi...

i was just wondering if you ever managed to buy some new wheels and tires, and if so, what size did you settle on?

do you have any pics of your jeep with the new wheels? i am interested in doing the same thing to my '97 XJ...i want to go wider, w/ a 2" budget boost.

thanks.