1990 Wrangler Rims on 1992 XJ?

Hello Everyone,
I am having a string of bad luck with my newly acquired XJ. :hang:
The sidewall blew-out of my LH Rear tire wednesday night, driving in a thunderstorm coming home from work.
Guess what, It happened again last night on my RH Front tire!!!
Hmmm what happens when your spare in on....and you get ANOTHER FLAT!!
I know it may seem dramatic but I was just short of having a nervous breakdown.
Thank God the second blow-out happened pulling into my community, so I parked it in front of someone else's house in the street....mini spare in rear & rim on ground in front.:anon: I was hoping my "neighbors" didn't see me as I dashed to my front door.

Well to the good part....I was originally going to replace just the one tire that popped, it was $120 installed. But now needing two.....I started searched craigslist for a deal.

Just as I was going to sign off, I refreshed the screen and a "JEEP Wrangler Rim & Tires" thread was up top. I called the guy and low and behold he had FIVE Wrangler rims (87-95 five star aluminum style with the Jeep inscribed).
I was filled with glee when he said four of the five tires are brand new!
I wasn't so happy to find out he lived fifty miles away, being determined to get to work this morning, I borrowed my neighbors pickup with a promise to fill up his tank and off I went.
When I got there I was amazed to see his Wrangler on 35's! parked in his driveway.
I started inspecting the rims/tires and they looked good, however, two are Dueler APT II's and two are Road King Grenadas? What the hell are those? He said he wouldnt take less than $250 and guess what I brought $260 so we made the deal official.
The rims are in good condition for their age and history of off-roading, with a little aluminum polish they will be like new again.

I finally got home at eleven-ish and started my roadside repair. As I was mounting the new rim/tire onto the studs I realized the rim seemed to have a different offset...is that true? The center of the front hub wasn't as tight as the original oem rims. This concerned me a bit, but it mounted up without a problem/rubbing.

I drove to work today very slow (50mph for 15 miles) and everything seemed fine. Now I have a full size spare to boot. Should I be concerned with the rim not seating the same?

Thank you for reading my long rant.....Be safe,

Danny

some rims are hub centric meaning they center on the hub and some are lug centric meaning they the lug nuts center them, if they don't sit tight on the hub then they are lug centric wheels.

thoes rims oughtta work just fine for ya...

they are 15x8's and your XJ rims are 15x7's.

Ive always been a fan of that style rim.

good luck! and make sure to check tire pressure often - most times that is the culpret when blow outs occur...

XJ_ranger said:

thoes rims oughtta work just fine for ya...

they are 15x8's and your XJ rims are 15x7's.

Ive always been a fan of that style rim.

good luck! and make sure to check tire pressure often - most times that is the culpret when blow outs occur...

Click to expand...

I know about psi's, I check my tires weekly nevertheless it was a catastrophic failure of the sidewalls due to dry rot. They are all like that from the previous owner. That is why I "scored" by getting five tires/rims for $250. I could always save them or sell them if I upgrade in the near future...no money lost right.

Thank you for the quick responses and I have one additional question.
I was under the impression they were 15x7s not 15x8s. They do seem to stick out more. Does anyone know who else has these on their XJ, could you post a pic?

Jmax- I looked into hub/lug centric and that is def what I was talking about. I went to the tire shop before and they looked at me like I had two heads...lol.:huh: They didn't understand, but you guys did.

Thanks again,

Danny

They are 15X7 and not 15X8. There were no 15X8 rims put on pre 97 Wranglers.
I think what you are describing when you say they didnt bolt up the same is the fact that the aluminum wheels are thicker at the hub than steel wheels so when you get them on, the studs wont stick out as far as they did with steel wheels. The offset or backspacing is the same for all 15X7 Wrangler and XJ wheels so the wheel and tire shouldnt stick out of the wheelwell any further than it did. Could be an optical illusion based on the shape of the wheel or tire size.

EDIT: beause your studs dont grab as many threads as they did, take special care that they are torqued as they should be.

Ray H said:

They are 15X7 and not 15X8. There were no 15X8 rims put on pre 97 Wranglers.

Click to expand...

Im just the king of bad information recently... I thought i remembered that all the wranglers came with the 15x8's in that style - but I guess that could be a TJ thing...

I installed them tonight and then drove 14+ miles home.
No vibes or shaking so far, my friend told me that lug centric is fine as long as I tightened them in an opposing pattern. You know 1-3-5-2-4 ect. ect.

We will see what the weekend brings, with the rain I hope there will be MUD!

Thanks again,

-Danny

HIGH CALIBER said:

I installed them tonight and then drove 14+ miles home.
No vibes or shaking so far, my friend told me that lug centric is fine as long as I tightened them in an opposing pattern. You know 1-3-5-2-4 ect. ect.

We will see what the weekend brings, with the rain I hope there will be MUD!

Thanks again,

-Danny

Click to expand...

Im surprised that factory Jeep wheels arent hubcentric. Hmmm, oh well.

Ray H said:

Im surprised that factory Jeep wheels arent hubcentric. Hmmm, oh well.

Click to expand...

some are

I could be wrong but I also thought all the Jeep wheels were hubcentric. I have had problems with mine not seating on the hub or getting rusted to the hub (steel & aluminum) but i've always had them seat on the hub. I've cleaned the hub with emery cloth & put a little never sieze on the hub to make it easier to remove in the future. I would check for corrosion inside rim opening & on the hub to be on the safe side.