Can I switch to 17" wheels from my 18" wheels?

Gavlillie

Gavlillie

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My 2012 Sahara came with the stock 65x70 r18 in rim , can i switch to a 65x70 r17 in rim without any noticeable difference or problems? Or should I stay away from that? Thanks
 
Gavlillie said:
My 2012 Sahara came with the stock 65x70 r18 in rim , can i switch to a 65x70 r17 in rim without any noticeable difference or problems? Or should I stay away from that? Thanks
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nope, youll be fine.

A 17inch rim is the Lords wheel size in the offroad community. You will have the most options for wheels and tires.
 
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Yep, all the cool people use 17s

Depending on what tires you want to go with can effect what wheels you would want to get. If you are looking to put taller, or more importantly wider tires on, you need to pay attention to backspacing so that the fatter tires don't rub.

Feel free to put the tires you are looking at, or if you are just looking for stock size then the numbers are not going to be the exact same numbers on the new wheel.
 
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MacGuyver said:
Yep, all the cool people use 17s

Depending on what tires you want to go with can effect what wheels you would want to get. If you are looking to put taller, or more importantly wider tires on, you need to pay attention to backspacing so that the fatter tires don't rub.

Feel free to put the tires you are looking at, or if you are just looking for stock size then the numbers are not going to be the exact same numbers on the new wheel.
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these are the rims i am looking at to start out with for a while (I am new to this jeep thing), they come with some 265x70 r17's as they show in the picture, planned on keeping those on through the winter until i get bigger tires to put on? Sound like a good idea?

rockstarrims.jpg
 
I'm a bit confused by the numbers you put in your first post. 65/70/r18 rim size? I'm curious where you got that number.
 
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Gavlillie said:
these are the rims i am looking at to start out with for a while (I am new to this jeep thing), they come with some 265x70 r17's as they show in the picture, planned on keeping those on through the winter until i get bigger tires to put on? Sound like a good idea?
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I think it depends on the price you can get them for.

If they are cheap enough, sure. However, if you're paying regular money, I would say see if you can get just the rims and mount your existing tires on them.
 
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IndominusHuman said:
I think it depends on the price you can get them for.

If they are cheap enough, sure. However, if you're paying regular money, I would say see if you can get just the rims and mount your existing tires on them.
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I'm confused on what you mean, the rims and tires i have now are 18inch, these rims and tires are 17 inch? thanks
 
IndominusHuman said:
Oh pff. You’re right. I had a brain dump. 😂
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It's all good, i have those all the time haha. So in conclusion the 17's are a good way to go, lots more choices and I can mount bigger wheels later on. There is nothing major i have to change when I get 17's? It's a smooth transition?
 
Gavlillie said:
It's all good, i have those all the time haha. So in conclusion the 17's are a good way to go, lots more choices and I can mount bigger wheels later on. There is nothing major i have to change when I get 17's? It's a smooth transition?
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Yep. You should be good.
I’m not sure what backspacing those wheels have, but when moving to a bigger (wider as well) tire, you may run into issues like @MacGuyver mentioned, but a quick search and it looks like those will have a 4.5” backspacing so that will work great. I would verify though since I don’t know the exact model number of those rims.

In the chance they don’t have enough backspacing you can run a small wheel spacer, but make sure they are torqued correctly. Some people don’t like spacers (I really don’t prefer them), but when it’s a small spacer and they are done correctly there should be zero issues.
 
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I am one of those that don't like wheel spacers, as they add a touch of "if this isn't done right your wheel falls off at 60 mph" to the system. And to check them you have to take the tires off.

Ok, so 265, I thought that may be it, but I don't like to assume. In part because I thought the stock tires for that year of sahara were 255/70/r18

I'm guessing that the reason for this is that the price is right. I would certainly check the backspacing before purchase. Here is a video explaining in exhausting detail how to measure. Click here

A tool I use when thinking about tire size changes is Tiresize.com I have it linked to the comparison area that gives you a visual measurement of the two tires. This is an amazing resource in learning how tires and wheels are measured and what all the numbers mean. I suggest doing a bit of digging before going too far down the rabbit hole these forums represent. 🤣
 
I did a quick search for tire replacements and found some new take-offs...four 17" Jeep Rubicon factory rims with new (300 miles) 285/70/17 Falken AT3s for $1200 on my 25 mile radius facebook marketplace. I think you can easily find something like that. Ebay, Facebook, etc.
 
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