37" tire width... 12.5 or 13.5?

GoldenJK

GoldenJK

New member
Have the Nitto trail grappler 12.5 on Atx slabs and prefer the look over the 13.5s. Overall stance of a the jeep is wide and looks great plus I think the narrower tires handles better on icy roads. No rubbing at all.
 
dunn81

dunn81

New member
My wheels are 17x8.5 / 4.79 BS, but I am running 1.5" spacers, so I guess 3.5 real BS. These are Toyo 37x13.5 with JKS 3.5 springs. I haven't had time to finish my install of all the lift components, but haven't had any issues with rubbing from turning.

Also, wanted to note how much different the 13.5 tire looks on a 8.5" vs. the slab 9". I'm not saying good or bad just different. When I upgrade wheels I plan to go with increased BS to lose the spacers also...
ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1465874295.687834.jpg ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1465874322.614390.jpg
 
cartertripp

cartertripp

New member
After having 37/12.5/17s, I wish I would have gotten 37/13.5/17s... I'm missing the wide look that I really wanted :furious3:
 
Jimmypaget

Jimmypaget

Member
37" tire width... 12.5 or 13.5?

ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1471549185.881388.jpg mine are 12.50 and I like it. I never noticed how pizza cutter they are. But they look good to me ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1471897068.344599.jpg
 
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MOOK

MOOK

New member
Speedy_RCW said:
I may be off base but I think you have backspace and offset confused or I'm not understanding this. Backspace is backspace regardless of wheel width.

Medix, I went round and round between wheels and tires before I finally just sprung for Slabs due to the rubbing issues. From all the reading I've done on it it seems two identical jeeps could run the same setup and one rubs and one does not. I went the 12.5 route on tires strictly due to rating. I believe the 13.5 TG was E rated while 12.5 was D. I thought the D would have a little more sidewall flex. With my tire and wheel combo I'm pretty sure I would have rubbing issues with less than (or more than depending on how you look at it) backspace even with the 12.5. I know that probably doesn't help your decision, just giving you my take on it.
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I'm just now seeing this and wanted to elaborate. Back space is back space but in terms of rubbing it's different. I'll exaggerate to explain. Think of a civic stretching a tire for the "look". The more narrow the rim, the more balloon effect. The more wide the rim the more stretch. So therefore if you have 2 wheels and 17in tall, one 7in wide and the other 14in wide the 7in wide wheel will come closer to rubbing significantly more than the 14in wide wheel due to ballooning effect. It's not the actual wheel itself anyone worried about running. It's the tire. Just have to visualize this and can see it. The more narrow the wheel, the more sidewall is pushed out from the rim lip. It's how you see a mall crawler with 40s on 20in rims work and stock axles, not rubbing. They use a 20x14 wheel with maybe 4-4.5 backspace and don't rub as far as street driving goes
 
bonedaddy

bonedaddy

Member
Facing the same Dilemma as Matt was ...

RT231 Raceline Monsters 17x9.5 -32mm offset and 4 bs or XD229 Machete BLs 17x9 -38mm offset and 3.5 bs and running 37/13.5's on them ... Anyone running either?

4" Enforcer Kit (to be installed prior)

What do you guys think? Rubbing issues?
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
bonedaddy said:
RT231 Raceline Monsters 17x9.5 -32mm offset and 4 bs or XD229 Machete BLs 17x9 -38mm offset and 3.5 bs and running 37/13.5's on them ... Anyone running either?

4" Enforcer Kit (to be installed prior)

What do you guys think? Rubbing issues?
Click to expand...

If you're gonna run 13.50's, I would recommend 3.5" of back spacing to help prevent rubbing. At 4", you will most likely see rubbing at a full flex and turn.
 
bonedaddy

bonedaddy

Member
Thanks Eddie ...

Thats kind of where my minds at, and if I decide to go with the Racelines I should factor in the cost of the wheel spacers as well ... With the Machete BLs, I see I might still have a little rubbing, but hopefully nothing we can not make a few adjustments and correct ... maybe with some luck we won't need to ... :thumb:

I just hung up on the look and stance of the wider tire, but maybe I can convince myself (and the wifey) to switch to the 12.5's ...
 
MedixJK

MedixJK

-
wayoflife said:
If you're gonna run 13.50's, I would recommend 3.5" of back spacing to help prevent rubbing. At 4", you will most likely see rubbing at a full flex and turn.
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Im getting rub against my lca's at full turn now. 37x12.50 on 4.5BS. Glad i didnt go 13.50. You think adding spacers would make my BS too low?
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
MedixJK said:
Im getting rub against my lca's at full turn now. 37x12.50 on 4.5BS. Glad i didnt go 13.50. You think adding spacers would make my BS too low?
Click to expand...

Being that you really want to run 1.5" spacers on a JK, that'd put you at about 3" of back spacing and in my opinion, that might be a bit too low. But really, all it would do is wear out your unit bearings and maybe your ball joints sooner than later.
 
Basscat

Basscat

Member
MedixJK said:
I couldnt find a convo about this anywhere so id like to hear your thoughts, opinions and reasoning as to why you would prefer one over the other.

Edit: let me add that they would probably be going on a non-beadlock wheel with a width of 8.5-9". BS on those wheels looks to run between 4.25-4.5".
Click to expand...

I tend to lean toward the narrower tire. Weighs less and seems to perform better for me across all scenarios


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