What spacer size do I need?

walrond

walrond

New member
I'm stuck in Kuwait right now which has delayed my JKU Sport purchase by a few months. I will be buying a 2013 model year with 3.73 gears with a LSD and auto transmission. The seller (my step-father) is going to put on some new tires as part of the deal. The JKU has the stock 17" rims and changing rims at this time is not an option. I have asked him to put the Cooper Discoverer STT Pros on in one of the following sizes: 285/70R17 or 295/70R17. I won't be able to get a lift for at least 6 to 8 months after the purchase and I'm planning on the Rock Krawler 2.5 Max Travel when I'm ready. What I really need to know is what size spacer do I need to buy for the different tire sizes? I don't even know if the 295 will work without a lift.

Any guidance would be appreciated! :drinks:
 
People run that tire size (about a 33") without a spacer. I did for a very short time on a previous Jeep and I had no trouble.

Now, a spacer doesn't hurt, just buy good quality and stick with a hub centric 1.5 inch spacer.
 
Napalm said:
People run that tire size (about a 33") without a spacer. I did for a very short time on a previous Jeep and I had no trouble.

Now, a spacer doesn't hurt, just buy good quality and stick with a hub centric 1.5 inch spacer.
Click to expand...

A spacer will create a larger moment between the tire and your balljoints. Which will in turn cause more wear on your ball joints and unit bearings, requiring a more proactive maintenance plan. People run 1.5"-2" spacers all the time. :thumb:
 
I had 285/70r17s on my 08 wrangler and was running 1.5 inch wheel spacers to clear the suspension when turning. Without the wheel spacers you will need to mess with your steering stops to keep your wheels out of your lower control arms. I didnt want to do that so I went with the Spydertax wheel spacers. Best in the business, dont cheap out on those. I was not running any type of lift and did rub on the fender flares. I was starting to look into purchasing at least a leveling kit but ended up trading the jeep in on the 2014 I got now. I never really looked to see for sure where it was rubbing, I was already debating about a lift of some sort and the first time I heard it rub I decided I was gonna lift it. Then traded it in a few weeks later. So it may not have rubbed with flat fender flares.

DWiggles said:
A spacer will create a larger moment between the tire and your balljoints. Which will in turn cause more wear on your ball joints and unit bearings, requiring a more proactive maintenance plan. People run 1.5"-2" spacers all the time. :thumb:
Click to expand...

Spacers wont cause any more damage than a wider/more offset wheel.
 
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Thanks for the input. It sounds like a 1.5" spacer is the way to go. Now to see if I can track down a good price on the Spydertrax spacer.
 
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