Bullits for the cause of Liberty
Rationale:
My 05 Liberty came to me pretty much barefoot. And I wanted to go 8” wide on the rims before buying tires.
I wasn’t put off by the look of the stock 5-spoke aluminum wheels, in fact I looked diligently for some of the “unicorn” 16x8s to no avail.
I finally settled on late Mustangs as my source. I selected the “Bullit” style from an 05. They are 17x8. I would have preferred to stay with 16s, I just couldn’t find any I liked.
There are some later Mustang rims that look very similar, but I passed them over because the spokes protrude past the rim, and I’m not lucky enough to avoid the curbs.
I wanted to retain stock diameter, so I selected 255/60-17s. Same height, about an inch wider.
With the 255/60s installed, the rear clears perfectly, but the front is very close to the upper A-arm.
Also, the Mustang hub (70.3mm) is slightly smaller than the Jeep hub (71.5).
My old lathe will not swing rims, so I elected to go with hub-centric spacers.
A ¼ inch spacer would be plenty, but I couldn’t locate any that were hub-centric, which I wanted. I bought a set of 12mm spacers to fit the Mustang. The I.D. fit was slightly sloppy, so only about a .020 pass was needed to slip them onto the Jeep.
Wheel Spacers Adapters 5X114.3 5X4.5 70.3 CB 1/2-UNF 12MM 0.472MM
Next problem: Lugs too short. Only 3-4 threads catching.
I found that you can’t just step into “The Zone” and grab longer studs.
No Sir. Here’s what I found. Your mileage may vary…
Front:
The Dorman 610-287 will fit, provided that you slightly flatten the head on one side.
It provides about 3/8” more thread than the stock lug, plenty provided that you use the lugs cited below.
Some off-roaders have had some broken studs, if that is your experience take a look at the Dorman 610-389. It is slightly longer than the 610-287, and is 9/16 vs.1/2. It is fitment for a ¾-1 ton Dodge pickup. It will be necessary to disassemble the hub to fit the 610-389 for sure.
Rear:
I couldn’t find a normal source for this. I ended up with ARPs intended for the rear of a late Mustang. These are part # 100-7705, and are intended for racing. They are 3” long, so I cut 7/8 off of each stud. I spun them in the lathe & whacked ‘em with a cutoff wheel. If you leave them any longer, you will have to pull the axles to get them in.
Unless you have a fancy stud tool, figure on wasting at least 1 lug nut for every stud you pull in. Lube ‘em up good….
For lug nuts I ordered from ebay:
20pc Silver Chrome 1/2" Lug Nuts - Acorn Conical Seat ET Style Closed Ended
Note: You will have to slightly drill the wheels to accept these lugs. As I recall 5/8"...
I am quite satisfied with the result.. The ride, steering, and handling are all noticeably improved. I worried about the plus-1 ride, but losing the Badyears made up for the reduced sidewall.
Prolouge:
After all that, I fell into an 18” Cobra rim. Due to a couple of anomalies, the Cobra rim bolts right on with no mods!
1. The Cobra 18x8 has slightly more offset, so spacers are not needed.
2. The Cobra 18x8 has a bigger bevel on the hub, causing it to clear the Jeep hub entirely. Note that you won’t be hub-centric, but it might not matter.
I sure hope this posting works… I'm no IT guy…
