1968 CJ5 Wheels

I have a 1968 CJ5 that I'm in the process of restoring. My idea is to land somewhere between stock and fun on the trail every once in a while. Thus, my recent quandary is what to do with the wheels. I don't know rims and tires that well. I plan on installing a 4" suspension lift, and I wanted 33" tires. So I have a few stupid questions for a guy that doesn't know that much about rims/tires. Can I get 33" tires to fit my stock rims? Can I get wider tires that fit my stock rims? Finally, how do I know if my original rims are restoreable? I really like the look of the bright white rim with the soup bowl hubcap. Please see the pictures of the rims I'm thinking of having sandblasted or dipped. The last picture is what I am to do--taken at a recent jeep show. Thanks.

 

Might want to post in the "Early" section.

But I'll take a stab and say, get the wheels sandblasted, then paint them. They'll look beautiful.

As far as 33" tires, I think it's unlikely given the width of the rim. However, there might be some tall skinny tires out there that I'm not aware of.

 

There used to be 33x9.50x15 tires available but not sure if they still are. I believe they are discontinued. I "think" the narrowest you can get now are 33x10.50x15. Without knowing what you have now it's hard to say but if yours are 5" wide the tires will be way too wide. You could use some later CJ stock type wheels (7" wide iirc) that you might be able to get away with. Whether a tire store will mount them is another issue though. Not sure if the later stock wheels will work with the wheel covers you want to use.


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swampers can be bought in a 32 x 9.5 if you can find em.

 

You may be able to locate a set of stock Renegade rims, which have the same look but are wider, thereby accepting wider tires. It would give you sort of a stock-but-slightly-modified look. If I wasn't going for a 100% stock appearance on mine, I would definitely score a set of those for it.

 

I mounted Interco Narrow SS tires on my 7 inch rims. They are 34", 34x9.50-15LT. Not sure if they are still available, they are still on their web site, http://www.intercotire.com/tires.php?id=8&g=1

I like these tires, they are not for daily comuting, but for mud, rocks, lumpy trails they are great. In the sand they are adequate, they sink not float. I can use them on the street, they walk a little and are noisy. Newly wet pavement is downright scary.

 

The KO is available in 33x9.5R-15 http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ATAKORWL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Not cheap, and still a little wide for a 6" rim. But these are good all-around tires and look fairly rugged.

NB - back ordered.

 

Is there a company out there that makes a wheel that is larger, but will still fit the Jeep hubcaps? I talked to a guy at the Midwest Willy's reunion who had this setup, but he had his wheels custom made. They were 17x12 if I remember correctly. I cannot remember which company he said made them.

 

I acquired some Jeep hubcaps on ebay, and I think I'm going to price out custom rims for wider tires. Has anyone ever cut the center out of these types of hubcaps for the locking hubs in front? What would be the best way to do it?

 

Don't cut them. They were available from the factory without centers. Just find a matching pair with holes and sell your other pair.

 

I've been searching for a little while, and all the hubcaps I have seen have the emblem. Does anyone know where I can find Jeep hubcaps with the hub-hole. I check ebay all the time and Craigslist. Are there any after-market suppliers?

 

Back in the day I cut and widened quite a few stock rims. I still have a set of 15" wide jeep rims. You don't cut the center out, you lathe cut the rim in half just outside the center and roll up a piece to weld in. We did it primarily for off road but I had a 72 Chevy pick up that I widened the 6" stock rims to 8 front and 10 rear. It gives you a deep offset that looks real cool with a moon hub cap. There used to be a shop near by that did a lot of race car rims and would stock 8' Kellsey Hays blanks and make you any width and center you want. Or replace the outer lip if we did a little to much rubbing. Even in todays liability world i am sure there still is a shop that will widen out your stock rims. I would go to 10" for your 33s. Check with some of your local speed shops that deal with the Sat. nite oval guys. Tell them they are strictly for off road though. After that what you do is up to you. They will look cool.

 

I am new to this site and can' figure out how to post pics. I use other sites and it is usually in the go advanced section. I will post some pics of my homemade 15x15 wheels if I can figure out how.

 

You have to have them on a photo hosting site like photobucket.com (free). Then you copy the IMG tags & paste here.

 

That makes it kind of tough. Other sites you do it direct. What is different about this site?

 

Hackers and spammers created major issues so attachments were disabled
Why does it make it tough? It's actually quite easy. More steps, yes, but not hard and photobucket is free


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I'm a member of about a half-dozen different on line forums (this site is the best one of course!)
They are all set up that way. A site like photobucket is kinda cool anyway cause you dont hafta clutter up your personal computer with a bunch of pics.

 

Hang in there. What you are looking for is out there, just not readily available. It will take some time, just make sure every one here knows you are looking and you'll have a hundred eyes on the look out!!!