sidewall preferences

Chairokey

New member
I'm a little stumped when it comes to choosing the size of wheels on my jeep. Curious as to the pros and cons of having more or less sidewall. Is there a point where it is just unnecessary? I'm sure there is probably an understood size of wheel for what ever size tire you want, i'm just not familiar with it. What is the best size rim for a 35 inch tire?
 

Prime8

New member
I'd stick with 17's on a jk unless you are running bigger than 37" tires. 40" tires run 20" rims typically. Anyways, most guys running 35" tires on the trail will have 17's, so that is handy if you need to bum a spare. Stick to common sizes.
 

Chairokey

New member
Thank you sir, that is exactly what I needed to know! I know some people like to have a monster truck set up with small rims and big tires, so "common size" is exactly what I was looking for
 

StrizzyChris

New member
17" seems to be the standard that many of the tire manufacturers are going to. The instant you go between 17 and 20 the tire selection is slim. 20's have a good selection but that number instantly hits the wallet in tire cost as well. All preference of the user, but beware going smaller sizes, as you may have brake caliper clearance issues.
 

ichthus

New member
Rule of thumb: double your wheel size for tire size.

There are 15" wheels that clear a JK caliper and tires will be in abundance and cheaper than those for a 17. 16" wheels limit tire availability a bit. Most maintain the 17" wheels on JK's though
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I'm a little stumped when it comes to choosing the size of wheels on my jeep. Curious as to the pros and cons of having more or less sidewall. Is there a point where it is just unnecessary? I'm sure there is probably an understood size of wheel for what ever size tire you want, i'm just not familiar with it. What is the best size rim for a 35 inch tire?

the biggest pro of running something like a 15" wheel with 35" tire is that they are cheap and available just about anywhere. aired down, you can get a nice wide footprint and have a lot of rubber to work with. the con of this is that more sidewall means more sidewall flex and in off camber situations, this isn't a good thing. another con is that the brake calipers on a JK are big enough that some 15" wheels will not fit without making contact. griding can be done to make this work but, i personally would prefer not to do that. 17" wheels and tires for it are pretty common and can be found for them easily as well and at a reasonable price. they offer less sidewall flex and you would have no clearance issues with them. 16" and 18" wheels offer a limited selection of tire choices and i typically try to avoid them. if you run 40's or bigger, 20's are nice to have but, you will find more tire options with 17" wheels.
 

Chairokey

New member
wayoflife said:
the biggest pro of running something like a 15" wheel with 35" tire is that they are cheap and available just about anywhere. aired down, you can get a nice wide footprint and have a lot of rubber to work with. the con of this is that more sidewall means more sidewall flex and in off camber situations, this isn't a good thing. another con is that the brake calipers on a JK are big enough that some 15" wheels will not fit without making contact. griding can be done to make this work but, i personally would prefer not to do that. 17" wheels and tires for it are pretty common and can be found for them easily as well and at a reasonable price. they offer less sidewall flex and you would have no clearance issues with them. 16" and 18" wheels offer a limited selection of tire choices and i typically try to avoid them. if you run 40's or bigger, 20's are nice to have but, you will find more tire options with 17" wheels.

Thanks Eddie, really seems like 17's are the way to go. Btw i heard that suspensions lifts void the power train warrantee. Do I pretty much need to just forget about the warrantee when building a jeep? Lol
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks Eddie, really seems like 17's are the way to go. Btw i heard that suspensions lifts void the power train warrantee. Do I pretty much need to just forget about the warrantee when building a jeep? Lol

a lift "shouldn't" void anything but, depending on your dealership, they can and more times than not, will do just that. while it can be fought, it really isn't worth it. for me, i just forget about it.
 

Bullwinckle

Hooked
wayoflife said:
a lift "shouldn't" void anything but, depending on your dealership, they can and more times than not, will do just that. while it can be fought, it really isn't worth it. for me, i just forget about it.

My dealership was saying anything your lift touches voids the warranty although anything it does touch I would want to upgrade to a better part anyways. Haha
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
My dealership was saying anything your lift touches voids the warranty although anything it does touch I would want to upgrade to a better part anyways. Haha

while nothing could be further from the truth, what they are telling you is true for them and that's all that matters. what i can tell you is that if you were to take your jeep into them for every oil change and become a good customer of theirs, they will most likely bend on what they told you.
 

Bullwinckle

Hooked
wayoflife said:
while nothing could be further from the truth, what they are telling you is true for them and that's all that matters. what i can tell you is that if you were to take your jeep into them for every oil change and become a good customer of theirs, they will most likely bend on what they told you.

True If you give them money they'll do just about anything for you, but I would rather do it myself anyways that way I know it's getting done right.
 

knnphillips

New member
A question for Eddie. You mention more sidewall flex with 35s on 15 inch wheels. When you take 15 from 35 you get 20 divide 20 by 2 you will get 10. When you do a 37 on 17 inch wheel you also get 10. Is there something I don't know or understand that gives more sidewall flex in a 35 then 37?
 

ichthus

New member
Load range of the tire will affect flex, but I think he was saying a 35 on a 15 will flex more than 35 on 17.
 

knnphillips

New member
ichthus said:
Load range of the tire will affect flex, but I think he was saying a 35 on a 15 will flex more than 35 on 17.

Guess I had a temporary brain lapse figured he was talking about 37s on 17s. I know the load range will have some effect.
 

Indefatigable

New member
A question for Eddie. You mention more sidewall flex with 35s on 15 inch wheels. When you take 15 from 35 you get 20 divide 20 by 2 you will get 10. When you do a 37 on 17 inch wheel you also get 10. Is there something I don't know or understand that gives more sidewall flex in a 35 then 37?

15" wheels usually have tires that are C rated.

17" wheels usually have tires that are D or E rated

The heavier the rating (ie D or E) the heavier, thicker, stronger, the sidewall is. These tire ratings were primarily designed for full size trucks - work haulers. 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

It takes alot more pressure on the tire when aired down (assuming similar air down pressure) to make a D or E tire bulge compared to a C rated tire.

Just as 20" are alot more $$ than 17. So goes for 17 compared to 15.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Load range of the tire will affect flex, but I think he was saying a 35 on a 15 will flex more than 35 on 17.

yup, this is what i was saying.

15" wheels usually have tires that are C rated.

17" wheels usually have tires that are D or E rated

The heavier the rating (ie D or E) the heavier, thicker, stronger, the sidewall is. These tire ratings were primarily designed for full size trucks - work haulers. 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

It takes alot more pressure on the tire when aired down (assuming similar air down pressure) to make a D or E tire bulge compared to a C rated tire.

Just as 20" are alot more $$ than 17. So goes for 17 compared to 15.

again, this is correct. a range D or E tire will not flex as much.
 
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