Wheel spacers or differing backspacing?

I am about to bolt up a front dana 30 from an '80 CJ5 into my '67 cj5. I have, and am keeping for now, the stock rear dana 44. The WMS look to be about 4" off from front to back, and I'd like to get things evened up. Should I get a set of aluminum 2" wheel spacers or would it be better to just run a deeper backspaced wheel up front. I need to get all new wheels anyway. This jeep will see mild to moderate trails and will be the "fun jeep" for getting groceries and running errands with my boy. It will be on 33x12.50s with 15 inch rims. Powered by a healthy 225 with stock drivetrain components. Thanks for the insights.

 

Check state and local laws, several don't do spacers or shims whatsoever.

 

Why do you want the rear and front the same? Many solid axle 4x4's have narrower rear axles than front. Tracking in turns can benefit from a wider front axle.
In any case different offset wheels front to rear is a marginal idea at best. What offset would your spare be? All 4 should be the same.

An offset on the front wheel to match the rear width will negate one of the advantages of the 30 front also. Getting the tires away from the spring and frame. Especially with 33"x12.50"x15". May as well keep the closed knuckle front axle if you do that.

 

FYI, this is the way the stock cj's from 72-75 came. It is actually 3" wider. Almost all solid axle 4x4 came this way, look at any pickup built in the 60s or 70s. My 71 cj has been this way since 2005, most people don't even notice.

 

You know, I hadn't even thought of the spare wheel issue. This was a pretty ignorant question I guess...I didn't really think things all the way through there. Thanks for all the information.

As an aside, in looking at wheel spacers initially, it seemed the general census was that a couple inches in width really helped the tipsy feeling in off camber situations. Is this just horde-speak? Since my jeep only has 3" OME springs and the 33s, no sway bar, and a top speed of 55mph (4.88 gears w/3spd) does this so called "huge stability gain" even exist? I don't want to get sucked into thinking I need something that I don't.

Thanks again.

 

I had an 81 CJ7 which I fixed up for my son to drive to school. I bought 2" spacers for front and back, which added to the stability on road and gave it a nice wider look, ran 31x10.5x15s on it. Sold the jeep but kept the spacers.

I now have my diggerjeep, which is a 68 cj5, and I tried the 2" spacers on the front (I have duals on the back). Great look, but it sure steered harder on dry pavement. With the narrow 6.00/16 tires, the 2" offset meant I wasn't turning at the center of the tire, but more at the edge. Not much difference in sand or snow.

The big difference is the 81 CJ7 had power steering, the 68 cj5 has no power steering, so the extra effort is much more noticeable.

 

Echoing Nick's comment, most every car has a wider front track than back. This helps with turning radius and maneuverability. A rare few vehicles have a wider rear track, including the Jeep trucks ... in this case said to be for other practical reasons.

 

Thanks again guys. I guess I should get the thing all bolted back together and driving before I make any decisions. I am currently putting power steering in and was only planning on adding spacers to the rear, just to be clear. Sorry for lack of clarity.

On that note, what degree of backspacing will I need to keep the rear tires from rubbing the inner fender walls if I get 33x12.5x15 tired on an 8-10" wide wheel? I can tell the stockers had rubbed at one point with the PO.

 

Wider up front as others have stated is just fine for a non-sophisticated suspension system such as a Jeep would have..........Most if not all new cars do have similar tire width tracks both front and rear.

On your 33x12.5x15's they will probably hit but that depends more on your wheel and how much lift you have...............in order to get 33's in there you will be trimming the fender well opening in size both up and to the rear and adding some lift to further keep them away from body parts..........A 9.50 or maybe a 10.5 sized tire even in a 33" fits much better........spacers are an option as you mentioned, just depends on the look that you are after.

 

I'm not a big fan of wheel spacers but I do run them on the rear so my tire chains will clear the inner fenders. Cheap, 5/16" spacers from NAPA. No extended wheel studs needed and no problems after many years.

I would prefer getting wheels with a better offset but just haven't figured out the optimal numbers yet.

 

I run a 33X10.50 set on my '70 with a 2 1/2 lift. No rub in the rear, like them a lot.

Don