steel whees v. aluminum - weight?

Guyute1210 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:01 pm

LibertyCRD wrote:

My stock aluminum wheels are 16x7 with 5.5" backspacing.

These steel wheels you guys are talking about in this thread are awesome wheels, and they will fit the KJ in a 15x8 size with 4.0" backspacing!! I've seen two KJs with these 15x8 wheels on them. Supposedly, these steel wheels are one of only two 15" wheels on the market that will work on the KJ! And in 15x8, they are only $43 each!!

I'm really thinking about getting some of these in 15x8 for my KJ.

Can we get the info posted as a sticky with pictures for the 15" rims that work?

pixeldzn · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:24 pm

I found the Cragar Soft 8 in 15x8 5x4.5 Bolt Pattern in 4" backspacing. $33.95 each

http://www.quadratec.com/cgi-bin/sgin01 ... 1814581261

And the 342 Series. $38.95 each ...

http://www.quadratec.com/cgi-bin/sgin01 ... 1814581261

Eddo · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1214

My stock limited wheels are 5.5" Backspacing. It says on the back of the rim. Take off the tire and take a look.

lilmatty · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:04 pm

Eddo wrote:

My stock limited wheels are 5.5" Backspacing. It says on the back of the rim. Take off the tire and take a look.

Its pretty easy to measure when its off. Inside depth to the edge of the rim.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:18 pm

They only make the 16x7 in a 4" BS. 16x8 is 5" BS. If I wanted to stay with stock width which is recommended by my tire company BFG, then I'm looking at moving the rim out 1.5". that seems like a lot! Might accelerate bearing and even BJ wear, no?

Gotta find more pics that show how much wider the stance is. Matt, got any from front angle? (or rear)

Neatus · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:22 pm

AdamIsAdam wrote:

that seems like a lot! Might accelerate bearing and even BJ wear, no?

Yeah but it looks so much better than stock and it is functional too. It helps get that mud every where!

bennybmn · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:23 pm

Aluminum rims aren't gonna be much lighter unless they are forged, in which case they are strong enough that they can make them out of less material... Not too many cars come with forged AL rims stock! Pretty pricey I would imagine.

lilmatty · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:31 pm

bennybmn wrote:

Aluminum rims aren't gonna be much lighter unless they are forged, in which case they are strong enough that they can make them out of less material... Not too many cars come with forged AL rims stock! Pretty pricey I would imagine.

Those Cragars are noticable heavier than the stockers I took off. But when you swap 235 SRAs for 245 MTR what's a little more weight increase? :lol:

lilmatty · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:33 pm

AdamIsAdam wrote:

They only make the 16x7 in a 4" BS. 16x8 is 5" BS. If I wanted to stay with stock width which is recommended by my tire company BFG, then I'm looking at moving the rim out 1.5". that seems like a lot! Might accelerate bearing and even BJ wear, no?

Gotta find more pics that show how much wider the stance is. Matt, got any from front angle? (or rear)

Adam, does the pic at
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3601&start=0
give you an idea? Or do you want me out in the wind and rain to take another.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:57 pm

Pics just don't do it justice. How soon can you be here?

Seriously, are you worried about bearing or ball joint wear?

Also, are you SURE you're not rubbing the outside edges of the tires anywhere now? 1.5" is A LOT to move out a tire. no?

pixeldzn · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:02 am

lilmatty wrote:

AdamIsAdam wrote:

They only make the 16x7 in a 4" BS. 16x8 is 5" BS. If I wanted to stay with stock width which is recommended by my tire company BFG, then I'm looking at moving the rim out 1.5". that seems like a lot! Might accelerate bearing and even BJ wear, no?

Gotta find more pics that show how much wider the stance is. Matt, got any from front angle? (or rear)

Adam, does the pic at
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3601&start=0
give you an idea? Or do you want me out in the wind and rain to take another.

Hey picked up this quote from that thread, lilmatty:

lilmatty wrote:

Those beautiful plastic bumpers are crap with 4" backspace Cragar wheels on it. Scrapin' and rubbin'

What caused the rubbing, really - tire size or rims them selves, or both - and are your running 15x8 or 16x8 cragars?

lilmatty · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:46 pm

Adam: I can be there next Spring. I'm not a cheap date though.

I'd worry about the ball joints in general and that's why I just put JeepinAl's Moogs in the LBJ position. At 40,000 the right LBJ was out of spec. Left perfect. But no, I'm not worried about it otherwise as plenty of others out here are wheeling in this config.

Meanwhile here's some pics. The first one has an arrow to show the one rub I have in front. That'll go away once I trim that spot. The second pic shows that the flare itself is not getting rubbed. An no, the scratches didn't come from the mall. :roll:

These next two show how the wheel and 245 MTRs sit in the well. Note the arrow in the rear points to a rub under fully stuffed conditions. For what I mean by fully stuffed see
http://www.lostkjnorcal.com/100_0298.JPG

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:55 pm

Great detailed info. thanks.

I never did get any rubbing on the front by the inside edges of the tires. And now that my ARB is going on, i expect that to still not be an issue.

The rear: mine rubs where your arrow is too. I'm surprised you still do with the 4" backspacing. But do you not rub the rears on the fender flare part that's attached to the rear doors? Or the opposite side from there? I do pretty hard when stuffed like this:

But look how much my tire is stuffed up there. If it were 1.5" further outboard, doesn't look like it would just hit right into the fender flare and limit it's upward travel?

lilmatty · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:05 am

No sign of rubbing on the rear flares Adam. I think I might have knocked of the flares at Calico if I did.

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:42 am

Matt-Do you put in new rear bumpstops with the lift? Any pics of that tire stuffed? I think Adam posted somewhere he didnt add the bumpstops with his lift?? I guess you sacrifice travel or rivets/flares?

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:14 am

I'm not sure if I have the bumpstops. I think I do. I'll check when I get it back from the shop.

But I do seem to get decent stuff and very good RTI scores (703 I think).

lilmatty · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:34 am

No bumpstops. Have Daystar pucks for a lift. Expact it to be less of an issue once I put the Frankenlift on. No stuffing pics.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:52 pm

I have bumpstops too.

BTW, Khaki ARB pics as promised are here.

Eddo · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1214

AdamIsAdam wrote:

I have bumpstops too.

BTW, Khaki ARB pics as promised are here.

But do you have extended bumpstop in the rear? All KJs have bumpstops in the rear. However, alot of people add extra bumpstops on the bottom when lifted so you can not stuff as much. This prevents a larger tire from tearing up the wheel wheels.

I know when stuffed w/o any kind of extra bumpstops I rubbed slightly even with stock tires. 245/75 rubbed pretty good w/o extended bumpstops, knocked off a couple rivits and you can bottom out the stock if you hit it hard. I added some home-made 1/2" extended bumpstops. Now it dosen't bottom out the shock and fixes a little bit of the rubbing.

With the daystar puck in the back, you can not stuff as much because the springs just binds and it is physically impossible to compress it any further.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:54 pm

I didn't do anything that wasn't provided with Rusty's full lift kit. Rubbing on fender wells doesn't hurt anything. And rubbing on the fender flares is no biggie.

Heck, I even carry extra plastic rivets and rivet gun to reapply them on the trail (which I do periodically). It's worth it. I suspecxt this is why I keep all 4 wheels on the ground over the same spots that at least one other lifted KJ pulls a rear wheel up. In the end, I get through on one pass and he doesn't. Yes, I'll take some rubbing at full stuff for that as a trade off.

steel whees v. aluminum - weight?

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