Tag: Uwharrie

So, the tires for the 4.5” lift had seemed a little too skinny and awkward. Like she just had these skinny legs and she could tip over at any time. It was a decent set of Kenda Klever M/Ts LT255/75R17, but I felt like she needed something beefier to fill her out. (man as I reread this, I think I need to cut back on the “she”, these are starting to sound like borderline innuendos)

Now the rims (17×7.5 5×5), though not original to an XJ, were from a JK (2007-2018 era) and I still generally liked the look of them. I figured my next steps were to get a wider tire that would fit these rims. Should be easy right? Wrong. Upon further inspection, I realized that these bad boys were on 1” Orion spacers and, from the research I’ve done, I am not a big fan. I mean it all depends on needs and circumstances, but I wasn’t looking for a quick n’ easy alternative. The problem was that if I wanted to keep these rims, I simply could not get a bigger tire unless I kept these spacers or got even thicker ones*.

Well, it took me about two days to learn pretty much everything there is about tire/rim sizing, and choosing a good brand. I didn’t want to get another set of mud tires, Jeep of Theseus was mostly going to be a daily driver on weekdays. Between the loud road noise and gas chugging, I just couldn’t justify it. I also came to the realization that I would have to give up this style of rim because no matter where I looked at the time, there was no 15” version with a 5×4.5 pattern of these JK rims available.

Ultimately, I decided to go with All Terrain tires and American Racing Rims (33×12.5 15 BF Goodrich KO2 T/A and AR23 15×10 5X4.5). A chrome look with added beef, overall, I was happy (check out the last pic). The problem, I only found them online at CustomOffsets and while they offered them pre-installed the cost was way too high (about $2,500 with shipping). Not to mentioned I would still have to get them mounted and balanced at a shop. Thankfully a buddy of mine introduced me to a place called Get Ugly Off Road. They didn’t have them in stock but they were able to order both tires and rims, install them, and align them for $2000, saving me $500.

Huge shoutout to the guys and awesome lady at Get Ugly. They were very helpful, had a ton of experience, and were clearly Jeep off-road enthusiasts. I believe all the guys there were Army Veterans that stayed around after leaving Fort Bragg. They even introduced me to the beautiful wonder that is the Uwharrie National Forest and its many OHV/ATV/Off-Roading trails, a must see if you are ever in town.

*For the totally novice like me, I learned that when picking a size of rim and tire, you need to account for wheel well space, turn radius, fender rubbing, and lug pattern.

Tires are sized by width, height ratio, construction type, and wheel fit. For example, LT255/75R17:

• LT = Light Truck
• 225 = Width in millimeters
• 75 = Height percentage
• R17 = Diameter of the rim fit in inches

Rims are sized by diameter, width, and lug pattern. For example, JK 17×7.5 5×5:

• 17” = Diameter
• 7.5” = Width
• 5×5 = Lug pattern (5 lug holes arranged in a circle with a diameter of 5 inches across lugs)

In my case, this is why the previous owner had to put 1” spacers: 1) because the width of the 17×7.5 rims would be attached to the wheel hub in a way that would cause the tire to be too inside the wheel well and cause it to rub the walls and hinder turn radius 2) because the lug pattern of a XJ is 5×4.5. The spacer serves as the middleman between the hub and the back part of the rim to accommodate for width and adjust to the different lug pattern.