Narrow trac vs Wide trac

[rielly]

Rebuilding my CJ7 wide track and realizing I really prefer the look of the narrow track CJ's. I know, their not as stable but I only putt around town anyway. So what is the best way to get that look? I have a lot of $ in my existing axles with gears, locker, one piece, ball joints etc. Can I buy custom inset rims???? Will my tires rub if I do? I'm running 35's via soa.

thanks,
tom

 

[SteelHeadz]

Yes, you can compensate that with the rims and yes it might rub on the leafs when you turn the steering all the way to the locked position. I really like the stance of your Jeep but if you really want some narrow tracks, let me know where you park it so i can park mine next to yours and maybe the axles would mysteriously just swap out. I have the oh so great piece of crap 2.73 gears on the 20 rear and 30 front..

 

[rielly]

Man, how do you run 2:73 with those tires? I guess with a 360 it doesn't matter. Yeah I'd like to tuck them in 1.5-2" I've got 15x10 eagles. Wonder if 15x8's would do it but not sure if they'll hold a 35x12.50???

thanks,
Tom

 

[SteelHeadz]

Yes it will. I have two other sets of tires and wheels in my shop. One set is a 15X8 with the BFG Mud terrain baja champions. 35X12.50 15". The one on the pic that i'm currently running on are 15X10 with 35X14.50 15" Pitbull Krawlers.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

The wheels you have in the pic have very little backspacing. Go with an 8" wide wheel with more backspacing and you'll probably achieve the look you want. You can measure your current backspacing by placing your tire face down on the ground. Hold a flat edge across the rim from edge to edge and measure down to the wheel mounting surface.

 

[redrooster]

It will not work and your Jeep looks terrible with that wide stance. I will do you a favor and take it off your hands.

 

[Shewilly]

That is one slick rig...I wouldnt change a thing! Tire rubbing aches and pains arnt worth it, and if your driving in town, you still need to turn! An "optic" option could be wider flares? But again, wouldnt change a thing!

 

[Saddle Tramp]

The wheels you have in the pic have very little backspacing. Go with an 8" wide wheel with more backspacing and you'll probably achieve the look you want. You can measure your current backspacing by placing your tire face down on the ground. Hold a flat edge across the rim from edge to edge and measure down to the wheel mounting surface.

I've got to agree with BH as the difference between narrow and wide track on a CJ is only 4" so that’s 2" on each side. Back spacing can make up most if not all of the difference there.

 

[Shewilly]

Agree, that would be the logical fix, but when your springs start eating the lugs off those tires =


Mikey, this guy is alot closer for me, if you cant make the trip.....

 

[SteelHeadz]

Lol, I'm on it!.

 

[rielly]

That's good to know... looks like I won't need to hand it over to redrooster for now. Still though is it as simple as just going with an 8" rim? Most rims seem to come with similar back spacing. Not sure if you can buy ones with more backspacing off the shelf. Anyone know where you can?

Thanks again,
tom

 

[SteelHeadz]

You can go to a Discount tire store and tell them what your looking for as far as back spacing and the style wheels you prefer it on. They should be able to look up the specs. and order it for you. That's what i did.

 

[rielly]

On 4WD the Procomp alloy 15x8 has 3.75" backspacing but they also mention an offset of-19mm. What's that???

 

[jps4jeep]

My suggestion is, if you go narrow trac, look for a set of 15x6 steel cj wheels, toss on some special service swampers and run it like that. IMHO, the coolest look for a jeep. the special service tires are 34.5" tall, 9" wide. they are ment for the older narrow track jeeps and are reall narly. if you go offroad with them, you only issue will be that 12 PSI is about as low as you can go with out blowing a bead every 2 seconds, but since this is your putt around rig, should be no issue.

 

[jps4jeep]

also, what I said would work well with wide track. If you can find someone who has this setup and will let you try it out, I would do that before putting the effort into an axle swap.

 

[redrooster]

Borrow a 15x8 wheel and mount one of your tires (or spare) to see if it gets you the look you want.
A friend of mine has 36TSL's on the factory CJ steel wheels and it looks good.

 

[rielly]

12.50 on an 8" rim must balloon on the sides terribly?? Wish the made a 35x10.5.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

12.50 on an 8" rim must balloon on the sides terribly?? Wish the made a 35x10.5.

No, not really, looks like they were made for each other. The 8" rim really keeps the rim away from damage when offroad and helps hold the bead when aired down. Very popular if you wheel your jeep.

There are some skinny tires in the 35" range, like the Super Swamper SSR in 35"x10.5", Special Service TSL in 34"x9.5", TSL in Q78, etc. The SSR is a streetable radial and the latter two are bias ply tires better suited to the trail.

 

[redrooster]

The 8" width makes the tire stand up taller vs. the 10" width. At least it appears that way to me.

 

[jps4jeep]

This is a friends rig, he runs a 15.5" wide tire on a 15x7 rim. because of this, he can air down to 6 psi and never had an issue. also Street drives this.. well until he broke the truck in half, not it is a trial only rig.