Razor thin clearance between calipers and inside barrel of wheels - am I in trouble?

I tried fitting 15x7 aluminum wheels (3.75" BS) on WJ brakes and knuckles. The side of the calipers clears the inner barrel of the wheel by exactly 0.05" (1.3mm). I don't want to grind the calipers. Am I asking for trouble? I do a lot of offroading so I'm worried that rocks will jam between the calipers and the wheels. Has anyone run such tight clearances and done a lot of desert offroading?

If it becomes an issue itl self clearance and resolve itself quickly. Good reason to run balance beads instead of wheel weights

If you offroad alot the tire will move on the wheel making weights pointless anyways

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Wheels can sometimes be out-of-round. I'd mount the
wheels and rotate by hand to check for rubbing.

You can always dress up the caliper with a file if
needed.

Wheel clears all the way around when rotating by hand. I guess I'm just worried about rocks jamming between the caliper and the rim. Anyone have any experience running this kind of super narrow clearance and not having problems?

How close is it in a stock xj? I know its close enough that I have to clean up the insides of my zj canyon wheels when I rotate them, the drums allow more mud build up. I knew a guy who had to grind down his calipers to clear some custom wheels on a pick up once, ran it for years with no issues, but it was strictly on road too.

On my latest WJ Big Brakes, mine would bind. Since I planned the 16 inch XJ rims anyways, that solved the problem. On my other I used spacers on the 15" Canyons. Then I went all WJ, as in hub and rims. No spacer on the front.

If it clears, send it!
But seriously, wouldn't it stand to reason that a tighter clearance would be LESS likely to have any rocks/ pebbles get stuck in there? The rim isnt going to get smaller, and if it does you hot bigger problems than that clearance.
I too am running wj brakes and 15s. 15x10 3.75 bs (I think) 35.12.5 tires. My clearance is minute. But it spins freely so calling it good. I have few miles on it wirh the akebonos, but the teeves calipers I just replaced were pretty much the same in that regard.

Maybe I'm not calculating something that could raise an issue.. but even a 16" rim, you think an extra ½" would change much? Only thing I could see is if the rims/ tires were balanced and needed weight right where it could be a problem. My rims are balanced and all clears, sounds like yours clear too.. just be cautious who you have balance em, and up front about the clearance tolerance in that area should they need to add weights

I had to grind an 8th inch off my wj calipers to fit 15" steel rims with I believe 3.75 backspacing. 5 min with a flap disc on each caliper no issues.

May I ask what brand and model of wheel you are running? I wanted to switch to alloys but didn't think it would be an option. Thanks.

Been running WJ Akebono calipers with 15x8 MT Sidebiter 2 wheels for about 5 years. I had to grind off just a little on the outside edge of the calipers to avoid wheel contact. They are tight and I run balance beads inside the tires for weights. I have never had a problem with rocks getting stuck in between the wheel and caliper.

gordonganders said:

May I ask what brand and model of wheel you are running? I wanted to switch to alloys but didn't think it would be an option. Thanks.

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Not sure who this was meant for. I am running the 2000-2001 16 inch XJ rims on my 2000 XJ with WJ Big brakes.

gordonganders said:

May I ask what brand and model of wheel you are running? I wanted to switch to alloys but didn't think it would be an option. Thanks.

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AR172 Baja.