Tires on 5.5" wheels

[craveman85]

My 81 CJ8 came with the 5.5" wide base wheels. I'd like to keep them on there. For now I tHink I'm having the iron duke rebuilt. What's the tallest tire I can put on the 5.5s? Any specific recommendations? I've been Considering the coker sta super traction in 7.00-15. They say it's 30" tall and best on a 5.5" wheel. Downside is it's bias ply. Anyone know how the road manners are on this tire? Also considering the tsl in 29x8.50. Again also a bias ply. Some have told me a 9.5 is too wide for a small wheel like that. But my third choice would probably be 30x9.5 bfg km2. Is that going to make the center wear too much? I know I could run lower psi but don't want to force the tire into an unnatural shape.

 

[mtnwhlr]

I don't think your Jeep came with a 5.5" wide wheel. The 5.5 is the lug measurement not how wide it is. It should be 7" wide and I run 31-10.5 on them.

 

[craveman85]

I don't have the wagon wheels. These ones quick I've had several people tell me 5.5
I know the bolt pattern is 5.5"

 

[hole]

Not sure what you have, but I have no issues running 32" 11.50 BFG's on my stock 7" wagon wheels. If you do have a 5.5" wheel, I would think you'd be right in the wheelhouse(pun intended) with a 8.50-9.50 tire

 

[Peanut Butter]

I don't think your Jeep came with a 5.5" wide wheel. The 5.5 is the lug measurement not how wide it is. It should be 7" wide and I run 31-10.5 on them.

Here is a clip from a stock brochure. The white steal wheel was 5 1/2 inches wide. They used passenger car tires on them. If you want a larger tire, you'll need a bigger wheel. The tire that came on those is the P205/75R15.

 

[Posi]

They look like KH rims. A closer pic and I can confirm, they should be stamped as well.
They don't look original to your Jeep
If their 5.5 wide their from an earlier Jeep late 60s-70s.
The 50s early 60s came in the 4.5 flavor.

Personally I wouldn't install anything wider then an 8.5 wide tire on that rim especially if it's used on road. You may not find anyone to mount the tire if its any wider then 8.5 for liability reasons as well.

The bias tire will be stiffer, will ride a bit ruff in cold weather until they warm up. Then again it's a Jeep not a caddy.

 

[craveman85]

I found a picture of the 81 brochure that listed 15x5.5" wheels. I've seen them on other scramblers too. I think mine might have 235/75r15 tires on it currently. Not sure though. They look too small but I like the fact that it will probably be the only scrambler I ever see with those wheels on in person.

 

[Posi]

Could you post a link or pic of the brochure?

 

[mtnwhlr]

Here is a clip from a stock brochure. The white steal wheel was 5 1/2 inches wide. They used passenger car tires on them. If you want a larger tire, you'll need a bigger wheel. The tire that came on those is the P205/75R15.

I guess I stand corrected.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

The white spoked(styled)steel wheels were 15X7. Ran mine for many years.
LG

 

[Peanut Butter]

The brochure was from an 80's CJ series.

 

[craveman85]

Decided to check and make sure. They are 5.5" wide. My spare I believe is an original Goodyear radial. It's 215/75/15 which I saw as an optional size for them. I may go with that size when I get to that stage. It will probably never drive anywhere my rwd ranger can't go anyways.

 

[Hedgehog]

Some regions of the country prefer a tall thin tire over wider tires. Wide tires go over or float (some, is relative) over snow, mud and sand. Thin tires dig down to the bottom, in snow that can be an advantage.

 

[craveman85]

Mines only going to see fair weather. I'd go taller but there isn't too much taller I can go with these wheels unless I go bias ply. Which could still happen. I won't drive it in ny when it snows. They use tons of salt here. Actually enough that one year they killed my favorite trout stream

 

[Hedgehog]

OMG - I grew up in upstate NY next to Lake Champlain. It would take a LOT of salt to kill a trout stream. Was the state sand pile right next to the stream? I bet the environmentalists' had a fit. In my neck of the woods they almost completely stopped the use of salt on the roads. The old military tires were very tall and thin like yours would be.

 

[craveman85]

Not much happened. It was in the southern Adirondacks. Luckily it wasn't a huge stream. It was a small feeder into a larger stream. It was at the bottom of a large gully which they heavily salted the hills where it crosses and there was a steep road along one side that got heavily salted too. I was in high school at the time and they had my ffa restock before season opened. It stayed pretty hush hush though. It's back to normal now but trout can't tolerate much salinity. We had mostly ice that year and very little snow so when it started melting it spiked quick. There was enough to build up salt residue on the rocks for over 100 yards. Still a good stream but now it's just Brown's no brook trout left.

 

[007]

The white spoked(styled)steel wheels were 15X7. Ran mine for many years.
LG

As an add-on to what LG states above, the narrow track wagon / spoke wheels were 15x8's. I "believe" the wide-track 15x7's had holes drilled for center caps whether they had caps or not, making it an easy way to distinguish between the two wheels.