Wheel and tire question

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Wheel and tire question

Postby Paul Kinneberg » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:52 pm

Hi all I am doing some research for an upcoming build and have two questions regarding wheels/ tires. I will be pulling my teardrop with a Wrangler Unlimited and only want to carry one spare for both the truck and the trailer. My first question is does the rim/tire combo have to be identical to work? So if I want to go with a 16" rim and 31" tire on the trailer will that work for an "emergency" spare on the jeep if I have 17" rims and 33" inch tires on it? Second other than bolt pattern and backspacing what do I need to watch for, if anything? Thanks in advance for your help. I am a fairly decent woodworker but the auto stuff is definately not my strong suit :)
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Postby jss06 » Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:10 pm

I went the opposite direction. I planned my build so that it uses 30x9.5x15 tires and stock Jeep steel wheels. I then made sure my plans allowed sufficent clearance to use the 31x10.5x15 inch spare that I carry on the Jeep. Thankfully the different offset of the aluminum unlimited wheels makes up for the extra tire width.

I would rather have my spare match my tow vehicle than the trailer. The trailer won't care if its slightly off-kilter.
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Postby Yuri4x4 » Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:06 am

For the Jeep:

It also depends if you have lockers... If your diffs are open, than you would be alright running one smaller tire on the Jeep, on the road (2wd). You shouldn't run in 4wd like this tho. (But, if it's not too large a difference, you could 'limp off the trail'.)

That being said: your Wrangler Unlimited probably has a rear Dana44 and Trac-loc (limited slip) at the least... So I would say you need a spare tire the same circumference (or close) to the Jeep's size. If you don't want to have a full-size spare, than you will need to make sure the spare goes on the front axle, without the locker/LSD. I've seen people 'get home' like this.

Also: Up to 06, you could get away with a 15" rim... 07 and above, you'ld probably need at least a 16" rim or larger to clear the brake calipers.

Running a full-size spare for the Jeep is the best way to go. It doesn't have to match the same tread/width/rim size, but it does have to be close to the same circumference. If we're only talking about an inch difference in the height, I would make sure the smaller tire is aired-up a little higher than the others and call it good.

For the trailer:

As long as you have clearance for the 33" tire on the trailer, you should be fine. The bad part about Jeep wheels is they tend to be off-set pretty far inward. (5.5" for stock 8" TJ wheels). Aftermarket rims are normally less by an inch or two, which sticks the wheel further out from the body. But if you have stockers on the trailer and it works, than an aftermarket rim from the Jeep should stick out far enough to clear the frame.
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Postby Paul Kinneberg » Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:50 pm

Thanks guys! I based on these comments I think I will go with 17x9 Mickey Thompson Classic II Wheels http://www.quadratec.com/products/92605_00X_A_PG.htm and
LT265/70R17 Dick Cepek Radial F-C II Tires http://www.quadratec.com/products/92606_2XX_PG.htm all the way around. Thanks again for the info!
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Postby Steve F » Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:28 pm

I thought about running the same size tyres on the camper as the Jeep but since my trailer has the tyres slightly inboard it would mean some big arches or huge lift to run 35's. In the end I went with 31's on the trailer as there was no need for more as this gave it equal, if not greater clearance, than the Jeep as there is no diff housing hanging down.

The teardrop has it's own spare which can be mounted underneath.

Cheers
Steve
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