Have a rubicon with std 17 wheels. I am buying new wheels and 35's. Since I am 80% on road I was thinking of 18's. If we disregard price differences and less tire choices are there any other major drawbacks to the 18's? I like the idea of the 18's keeping sidewall height similar to the stock tires for on road handling as a DD.

Thanks

 

Hey

So with disregarding price there is really no issue with going to 18's. But you will lose a little bit of sidewall. I know you said 80% on the road but the 20% off road I'm guessing? In my opinion you would need more sidewall for rock crawling or risk scratching up the new wheels. Also 17's does give you more options of tires and different sizes that are equivalent to a 35.

 

Well I was looking at almost 35's. I kind of liked the nit to 295/70r18's. At 34.2 tall and 11.7 wide, I was thinking the weight is slightly down from a 35 and its a little narrower .

 

From my point of view, disregarding price and tire choice is 100% missing the point. I am looking to get rid of my 18"s my Jeep came with and go to 17" for better pricing and more tire choice. Every set of tires you buy will cost approx. 200 bucks more for a set. That's 200 I can throw into other products that help get me down the trail further.

 

More choices of wheels 17"
More choices of tires in 17"
Tire and wheels are cheaper in 17"
There is NO Benefit to 18" over 17" onroad.

DO NOT be fooled by manufacturers specs. If they say a 295 is 34.2" you will be lucky if it makes 33" installed. Very few tires actually meet manufacturers specs.

 

What jtphoto JK said ^^^^^^

 

I was thinking 305/70r17 s to save some weight. Is that a mistake over just going with the 35's?

 

As stated before they will be undersized, you will have a tire with a mounted height of a hair over 33". Also avoid E rated tires, the extra mass is not necessary.

 

I was leaning towards the nitro ridge grapplers, but notice they only come in E range. I agree that the E's maybe heavier and stiffer than needed. Who else has a hybrid tire like this the ridge grappler.

 

I'm not sure if the rim size makes much difference or not, but I have 18s and they are beat up pretty good from rock rash. I have 35000 miles on my jeep and I would be surprised if 1000 of them were off-road. I have E rated 35" tires on them as well. I have been toying with the idea of going to 37s and the selection is not as good as 17s and more expensive as well. I am now thinking about getting different rims in a 17" instead.