List your stock Backspacing here....

Hey everyone, I ordered my 3.5 Rubicon Lift. I have a 97 XJ. Now I am on the tire hunt, along with MAYBE some wheels. ($) I have the alloy Jeep 5-stars, I am told they are 5.25 Backspace and that really so they don't rub the outer fender I will need 1.25 spacer, well, I assume that I will do all 4 wheels with the spacers, and that will be around $180! (anybody run just front spacers? how's it look?) Seems like once I spend that much cash I can get some new wheels, but all the ones that I LOVE are the Mickey Classic II style, like the Eagle alloy 589's etc. (polished, big holes going around)

I got to thinking, what about OTHER stock 4.5 bolt pattern rims, what backspacing do they have? I have seen TJ's with aluminum with the big 4 holer, ZJ's with different stuff etc, etc. What about other 4x4 (not jeep)

Does anyone know what these other wheels have for backspacing?

Does anyone know of a rim that looks anything like the 589's that can get a backspacing of around 4 to 4.5?

Thanks Guys, you rock

Jason

Only wheels I can think of that are 4.5" BS and look like the 589s are the Mickey Thompson Classic I's, but good luck finding a set since they're not in production anymore.

If you're planning to run 31" tires you will be fine with stock wheels, it will rub the inner fenders at full compression and the LCAs at full steering lock, but I always thought that both were bareable.

It seems that running 4.5" BS with 31s and a 3" lift will cause the tires to stuff into the fender flares rather than the wells, so you would have to trim your flares a bit.

Other OEM wheels in the 4.5x5 flavor include Ford Exploders/Rangers, Chevy Blazers/S10s, but most of their wheels are also around 5" BS. All stock XJ, TJ, ZJ wheels are 15x7 with 5.25" BS, except the TJ canyons (sunk -4n 5 spokes) which are 15x8 with 5.25" BS.

Hope this helps, good luck.

SyCo said:

All stock XJ, TJ, ZJ wheels are 15x7 with 5.25" BS, except the TJ canyons (sunk -4n 5 spokes) which are 15x8 with 5.25" BS.

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My '90 XJ came with stock 15X6 factory steel wheels. I believe these were 5.25" BS as well.

Ford Rangeer/B2's of the late '80's/early '90's had 5 on 4.5 wheels with 4" of backspacing. There's your inch and a quarter.

got to a 16" wheel ... most have 4-5" bs...

Red97XJ said:

Hey everyone, I ordered my 3.5 Rubicon Lift. I have a 97 XJ. Now I am on the tire hunt, along with MAYBE some wheels. ($) I have the alloy Jeep 5-stars, I am told they are 5.25 Backspace and that really so they don't rub the outer fender I will need 1.25 spacer, well, I assume that I will do all 4 wheels with the spacers, and that will be around $180!

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Somebody's steering you wrong. I notice you didn't mention what size tires you plan to run, and that makes a difference. Ed Stevens has proven that 31x10.50s on stock Jeep rims will tuck up inside the stock fenders and flares both front and rear. When I say stock Jeep, I'm referring to any Jeep 15x7 rim ... they are all 5.25" back spacing. I'm not sure what the back spacing is on the TJ 15x8 Canyon rims.

If your concern is hitting the outer fender, the LAST thing you need is 1.25" spacers. That would guarantee that you'll drive the shoulder of the tire into the lip of the flare every time the suspension compresses.

Eagle is right.

Also, S-10 Chevys have a 5 on 4.75" bolt pattern, not 5 on 4.5".

Rangers and Explorers have less backspacing than Jeep wheels. I currently run some 5 spoke 15x7" Explorer wheels for my street tires. They seem to have about 4" of backspacing, but I haven't measured them. Stick to the stockers, they work great and make clearing the flares much easier. Plus those 5 spoke Jeep wheels are just a classic.

Jaredatriot:

I can verify the TJ Canyons being 15x8 with 5.25" backspacing and also that the S series Chevys had 5 on 4.75".

OK, sounds like I am going to go with the stockers for now.... I think... Maybe....

Latter I may go to a 32" with a BB and a little trimming, anybody run a stock 7" rim with those? I am getting Goodyear MTR's.

Thanks,
Jason

P.S. By slim chance, anyone out there have or know of someone with a red XJ that has about 3.5 lift with 5-star stock wheel pics? Please post or/and E-mail me is so.... [email protected]

Red97XJ said:

...Seems like once I spend that much cash I can get some new wheels, but all the ones that I LOVE are the Mickey Classic II style, like the Eagle alloy 589's etc. (polished, big holes going around)...

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Centerline Eclipse but like Eagle said with 4" backspacing you will be getting on your fenders. FWIW I have those same wheels but 15 x 7 with 4.5"bs and they fit perfect (same lift)

:sunshine:

we had a ford ranger with the offroad package, anyways the wheels looked like rubicon wheels sort of. i always thought they would look nice on a clean jeep.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43956&item=2473277804&rd=1

there is a set of what i was talking about. i always thought they looked a little closer the rubi wheels but in that picture they dont resemble them as much as i thought

I'm running ranger "deer hoof" rims with 31 MTs and it will sit on the bumpstops with only minor rubbing. my lift came with longer LCAs and the tires rub the lower front plastic while on the bumpstop. It is going away in the next week or so because of the homemade winch bumper.

I also have a set of 15X8 wheels with 3.75 bs and they work well as well. They rub, but none of the plastic has ever gotten torn off.

As for putting big tires on the 7inch wide rims I don't think you will have any problems with the mounting/tire wear. The reason I say that is because a lot of the SuperDuty Ford guys run the metric equal to a 33-12.50-16 on 7 inch factory rims. I have a cousin on his second set and they wear fine.

backspacing smlackspacing

This is and old thread, but it had some of what I was looking for and missing something too. i dont understand why the 15x8 jeep canyon wheels have the same bs as the 15x7s, that would make them no longer hubcentric. i would expect that they would have MORE backspacing.

another thing i noticed was about the topic of Ranger and Exploder wheels. the explorer rear is considered a great swap for us, except that it is .75" inches narrower than stock. if you were to order up some steelies in stock BS for the front and Exploder BS in the rear, you would have the rear being 1.75" wider overall at the edge of the tires. with 4.5" backspacing, you would have the front being .75" wider per side and the rear being .875" narrower per side, for a total of 1.625" (1 5/8") per side difference. damn, no wonder people need spacers.

Does anybody have pics of a Cherokee on OEM Ford wheels? These can be had cheap and would set the stance a little wider, so I am curious how the new stance would look. There are a few good looking designs on the Ranger and the Explorer to choose from. Maybe I get some Cobra Rs for the bling! Hahahah

Red97XJ said:

I have the alloy Jeep 5-stars, I am told they are 5.25 Backspace and that really so they don't rub the outer fender I will need 1.25 spacer,

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I think you misunderstood something.

First, all Jeep 15x7 rims have 5-1/4" backspacing. That basically includes all XJ, YJ, TJ and ZJ rims with the exception of the 15x6 steel rims that were the base wheel on early XJs and on YJs, and with the exception of the 15x8 rims used on TJs with the 30" tire option. It also includes the 16x7 rims used on the XJ Classic and Limited, and on some Liberties.

Adding 1.25" spacers with stock rims is NOT the way to ensure that your tires won't hit the outer fenders. In fact, it's a good way to ensure that they WILL hit the outer fenders. Ed Stevens has done considerable reasearch and found that the stock wheels tuck inside the stock wheelwells when the suspension is compressed. Push the tires out an inch and a quarter and they won't fit up inside, they'll hit, Spacers help when running Ford Explorer rims, and spacers help when running tires large enough that they rub the shock turrets, but in exchange for the inner clearance you have to trim the outer fenders to allow the tires to move up when the suspension compresses.

Re: backspacing smlackspacing

PapaPump said:

This is and old thread, but it had some of what I was looking for and missing something too. i dont understand why the 15x8 jeep canyon wheels have the same bs as the 15x7s, that would make them no longer hubcentric. i would expect that they would have MORE backspacing.

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"Hubcentric" has nothing to do with backspacing. Hubcentric means that the rim is located and centered on the axle by the center hole of the rim being a snug fit on the raised portion of the hub center, rather than being located entirely by the lug nuts.

What you're thinking of has to do with offset, whether the center plane of the tire and wheel is located within the bearing, or is inboard or outboard thereof. Someone, I think MaXJohnson, a long time ago produced a drawing showing that with stock wheels and tires the center plane of the XJ wheels does not fall anywhere near the bearing centerline. I think it is inboard, but I don¿t remember. If so, less backspacing (or spacers) would tend to improve the condition ... until you go far enough to put the center plane outboard of the bearings.

so that everyone knows what they are talking about...
taken from http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/backspac.html

ok, here is some actual expierence. a friend with a 93 Explorer and a 99 TJ had 31x10.5's on the explorer and wanted to put the wheels on the TJ, and the exploder wheels didnt fit because the hub on the TJ axle was just a hare to big. and he was a weenie and dindt want to get the grinder and make them fit. So it may not be a direct bolt on, as the hubs MAY not fit. the difference between the two was so close...

i dont know how this stands for XJ axles, but yeah, just thought id give what i know...

Thanks for the info Eagle. I do know what hubcentric means, I don't know why i used it there. I did mean centered on the wheel bearing. I am curious about this drawing you are talking about.

Do you think having the wheel centerline inboard of the bearing would decrease bearing loads under cornering? Perhaps that is what they were thinking. With the stock setup, the intention was probably to center the wheel close to the steering center line, to decrease scrub radius. I hear that increasing this scrub radius (less backspacing), makes steering easier because your tires roll when turned.

Glad to know I can decrease BS without going too far outboard of the bearings, since the tire in stock form is inboard apparently. What I was mostly wondering was about the stock Jeep 8" wheel backspacing. The wheel is 1" wider: did they increase backspacing .5" to recenter the wheel or did they leave the BS and add the 1" to the outside side of the wheel?

About the Explorer wheels: how would spacers help? They already sit out further because they have less backspacing, that would make them sit out even farther and rub the fender lips more. Another note: I have tried to fit Ranger wheels on a Toyota PU and had the same problem with the hub being too big for the hole in the wheel. Ford must use puny wheel bearings.

PapaPump said:

About the Explorer wheels: how would spacers help? They already sit out further because they have less backspacing, that would make them sit out even farther and rub the fender lips more. Another note: I have tried to fit Ranger wheels on a Toyota PU and had the same problem with the hub being too big for the hole in the wheel. Ford must use puny wheel bearings.

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My bad!

I was thinking axles when I was writing about wheels. The Exploder 8.8 axle is slightly narrower than the XJ rear axle, so when doing an 8.8 conversion you either need to run wheels with less backspacing or run spacers on the rear axle.

Thanks for keeping me honest.