What width Rim.....?

Ok, I have almost convinced the wife it is time for new tires and rims, now the question is what is the best width for these,,, 15x7, 15x8, 16x8 I have 16's on all my other trucks and like the availabilty of the sizes,
SO what does everyone have, and experimented with and what works best?
Thanks
Joe

 

I like to run 15x8 or 15x10 with my 33x12.50x15 tires. A lot of which wheel size you go with will depend on width of tire you want to run and availability of size/tread you want to run. Between the two I mentioned I prefer the 15x10 as it flattens the tread out and makes the tire slightly shorter. Some prefer 15x8 because the tire protects the wheel better and less likely to pop a bead at low air pressure. Just depends on what look you are after. Here's a couple pics of my Jeep with the 15x10 wheels and Kumho 33x12.5x15 tires. Sorry they aren't clearer but taken with a camera phone. Nickmil

 

I've been running 33 x 12.50's on 15 x 7 for several years - however, I would not recommend it. Planning to change to 15 x 8 for the reasons Nickmil mentioned.

 

Joe, one thing I like to keep in mind is what are you going to be traveling on, which I think a lot of people forget about. In our part of the world (mountain rocky roads, snow-ice) we like narrow tires because it gives better grip on our roads (more psi agains the rocks), and on ice, wide tires will give you a heart attack. On the other hand down south or something with a lot of mud, etc, then you want a wide tire to keep from sinking. Some of the best mountain cars I ever saw were old model Ts with very narrow tires and they could go almost the same places we go now in JEEPs (granted they had to go backwords up hills some times for the gas R)) In mud, they could not go anyware. I am not recommending any size, just want you to keep that in mind
Mike

PS Semper Fi F-2/7 67 to 69

 

Joe, that Jeep is so stock and clean, IMHO keep the original wheels that are on it and just put some new sneakers on 'em.

 

I went with 15x10's, just because the 35 12.50 MT's were paid for. But if I was going to buy wheels and tires, I'd go 16's. 16x7 if you were to run 255 85 16 MT's or 16x8 if you were going to run 285 75 16. Both are about 32" tall, but obviously one is wider.

 

Well, I am not planning on lifting it, would just like a wider stance, the stock ones look like they are about 15x5, I was thinking about going with a 30x9.50x15 or a 235/75/15 I have 255/85/16s on my 77 F-150 4x on DC-1 16x8 rims, put 2 on Willy to see,,, WOW really looked good, but a 33" tire is way to much.

 

All I can tell ya is, when I bought mine in June it came w/ 33x10.50's on 15x7's. They are too big ... I like them. They provide a measure of overdrive (57 mph @ 3500rpm) and work great in the rock field (rip rap) I am building in my creek on my back acrage ... nothing like "wheeling" on your own property

 

Are you able to turn lock-to-lock, and does it articulate without to much rubbing, and does the 4cyl turn them?

 

Lock-to-lock: zero rubbing.

Articulation: full articulation w/ no rubbing. (see attached test on edge of my shooting berm)

For my Jeep, 2.43 D18, 5.38 D44, and a T90 (that I have reason to believe has "c" gears, ie, ~3.3:1 1st, I have NO shortage of gears/lo end power. It's unbelievable. I only run out of traction, not power.

Now, more of the story. I believe that I have 1/3 to 1/2 full-lock steering at full articulation w/o rubbing. Again, I'm running AT's and don't mind some rubbing. If I were running MT's I'd expect the outer lugs on the tire to tear my fenders up. But I don't know. When I got the Jeep I was anxious to get some 31" MT's and dump the 33's. I'm holding off now. I'm also not recommending 33's to anyone cuz I don't have enough experience yet.

 

Is that stock, no lift?!

 

Per my profile, I have a Rancho 1" lift ... which I was told, when "worked in", would be about stock. Now that I have moved my spare tire to the left side and after working Willy everyday, the RR sits 1" lower than when I changed springs. All other corners are the same as when changed ... yeh, I probably didn't need the new springs but the shackles were slapping around and I just did it all.

 

Ok, sweet, yep I think Willy is saggin a bit, where is Dunlap, CA?

 

I'm just down the busy road from ya ... 2/3 of the way from Fresberg to Kings Canyon Nat'l. Park on Hwy 180

 

Just wondering what you decided to do ...

 

Whoops. Looking through some notes this weekend I see my wheels are 9" wide - not 7".

 

Sorry, I don't usually get a chance to logon on the weekends, especially with such nice weather!
I am going to go with a 16x8 DC-1 black, with about a 245/70/16 tire.... about a 30x9.50 =
That way, all the vehicles in my "fleet" are running 16" tenni-shoes. I am thinking about the Toyo Open country A/Ts

 

Sounds good. I'm very curious how my BFG AT's handle the Sierra mud this winter ... I'm not expecting to be impressed but am pessimistically hopefull

 

Just depends on the rain, got stuck with bfg at's once, always went with a mud tire after that, cept on her Excursion, at's are nice and quiet and do a good job on it. http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displayalbum.php?albumid=24664
These are a really good tire for the goo up here also, this is my 77 F-150, not loud at all, nice look and not extremely aggressive, now we'll see how long they last.

 

Yep. I know what works. My Jeep came w/ 5 new AT's so, I'm willing to give them a try before I dump them at a poor price

Attached is a pic of my ranch truck w/ TSL Thornbirds (bought used, 50% tread, $25/ea) ... very impressed w/ the tires ... the Ram pulled the overloaded dump trailer (visible in background) out of the bottom of my creek when I dredged it last winter ... unstoppable w/ 7K+ load in the rain