Been reading all moring, more confused then ever. My 2011 Wrangler Unlimited has 255/70/18 on it now. I want to go to a wider winter tire. I am buying new steele wheels as well. Is my best bet for price to go down to a 16" steel wheel? I like the look of the bigger tires with small black rim. My main question is what size rim do I need, what bolt pattern, and what size tires will fit without rubbing. Any options would be appreciated. Thanks

 

I have a 2011 2d Sahara without the tow package -aka the lighter springs. I went with 16" rims because the cost of 18" tires is butally expensive. You"re looking for a rim with 5 bolts with a 5" circle diameter (127mm in Canadian metric). I purchased aftermarket wheels with 4.85" backspacing which will move the wheel further back into the wheelwell. Stock rims don't have this backspacing and will have your tires sticking out of the fenderwell. I then went with Goodyear Dura Tracs 285/75R16, these are a great year round tire, with an aggressive tread and yet still "sipped" for winter driving, chance are you'll just sell your "stockers" and keep'em year round. I'm not a hard core "mudder" but I've been unable to hit anything on the road that can make them rub, and believe me backroading through rural New Hampshire/Vermont and Maine can find you some pretty nasty road surfaces! Best price I could find came from Canadian Tire, believe it or not, but pay the extra money to get real professionals to mount them! Check out my picture gallery to see what the look like compared against stock 18"ers

 

This in incorrect the smaller the Backspace the farther the tire sticks out. Factory rims are 6.75" backspace. I have 4.5" backspace and the wheels stick out of the wheel well.

Duratracs are a good choice but I would go with 17" wheels.