JeffD

I am beginning to plan for my next upgrade, going to 33"x11 or 11.5 tires. Probably go with a mild MT or aggressive AT since that best fits my use.

However, I am having trouble deciding which direction to go on the tire/wheel package.

Spacers, allow me to use my Sahara's 18" wheels, which I personally think look pretty good with a 33" tire, and would be content with them. They are about $200.

The Procomp Series 97 wheels, however are not much more than that, and allow me the option of using a mail order dealer (although not having much luck finding the right combo of wheel and tires). The Procomps on one sight are less than $60 each, so say $300 for 5 of them (to keep the spare consistent).

Cosmetically I am fine with either approach, but unsure of considerations of weight, reliability etc.

Appreciate some guidance from the collective....

Chris_CH

The steelies are heavier but keeps you CG lower, can be abuse and easier to repair and on top of it they are affordable, which is not bad.

I had the same questions and finally I ordered steelies rims mostly for the price and the fact that they are easier to repair. I planning some trips in North Africa desert and if you damage you rims, fixing steelies is something you may consider, aluminum wouldn't be possible.

DPJK

I have 4 steel series 97 with Pro Comp MT on them (33") that I don't use them on my Rubicon, if you end up deciding on the steel wheel option let me know and you could have mine at about half the cost. I loved running them on my X compared the the racing slicks it came with, but when I moved to a Rubicon I just decided to keep using the stock BFG's with spacers.

Stuka

You are asking to snap wheel lugs with wheel spacers. All the weight of the vehicle is on the studs instead of the hubs (when hub centric wheels are used), and a lot more leverage is applied to them.

A 16" steel wheel will have about the same rotating mass as your 18" aluminum wheels. A 17" steel wheen is going to have more. So accelleration and braking will be hurt a bit.

Plus, off road, steel tires are far superior. Way way stronger.

jkinva

Most 16" and 17" tires will be cheaper than an 18" tire. Just food for thought further down the road.

Dr.McNinja

The spacers are hubcentric too.

JK-linux

I just installed Spydertrax 1.5" spacers on my '09 Sahara and couldn't be happier. I don't bang mine around all that much (just deep mud and snow) so I'm not terribly concerned about damaging them. There are many folks with 10's of thousands of miles running spacers on Jeeps and other vehicles. Personally, I like the look of the OEM rims which is why I went that route. Cost wasn't really an issue as the price is not all that different. I wouldn't be too concerned with breaking one unless you bang on rocks often or are really rough with approach angles in ravines.

Foo

A lot of places will not put tires on if you have spacers, as as long as you don't mind doing 1/2 the work for free, then spacers may be an option.

I'll go with steelies myself when I slap on 35's....

Sell my rubi rims at that time.