Wheel-tire help PLEASE!!

[ndnatty]

When I bought my 79 CJ-7 it had aftermarket wheels already on it. They look exactly like the Outlaw II series. After some searching around I see that there are a couple of companies that make the exact same wheel. After taking the advice from a previous post I made, I looked on the inside of the wheel and saw this " 15 X 10 3350 MADE IN USA". So I figure I have 15 X 10 wheels. Now, the tires that are on it, and were on it when I bought it are 31 10.5 R15 michelin at's. Since Sears sells the Outlaw II and was having a sale I went in to check the price. Idiots! But that's another story. Well, they called American Racing and asked them about the correct wheel with the info I gave them, and they said that the wheel was too big for the tire and a 15 X 8 was what I should have on there. My wheels and tires do not look abnormal. Am I mis-reading what is on the inside of the wheel. I measured it as 10" wide. Is it possible that the tires on my jeep are retreads that are mislabeled?? I am trying to buy a spare and want it to match what I have on my jeep now, but want to make sure I have the right wheel size. Is there anyway to determine exactly what wheel I have? Sorry for the length of the ?, but I am really confused by this process!!!!

[Bounty__Hunter]

Those tires will fit on the 10" rim but it's not the preferred way. 10" rims put the rim edge too close to harms way with anything less than about a 13" wide tire. Most jeepers even use an 8" rim with 12.5" tires.

If you want to match you'll be fine by sticking with 10" rims, just be careful when offroad that rocks and such don't chew up the rim.

[Inspector-Gadget]

Hi-Ya ndnatty,

You didn't do anything wrong, and I doubt that your tires are mislabeled. Whoever originally put those 31x10.5-R15 Michelins on the 10-inch wide wheels erred.

According to tire manufacturer guidelines, those tires are too wide for those wheels. I ran into exactly the same problem with a Goodyear dealer.

Here is a generic table listing recommended wheel width to tire width.



Per the table, your tires should be mounted on 8 or 8.5-inch wide wheels -- confirming what the Sears guy was told by the American Racing Wheel representative.

If you look at your tires, you will likely notice there is little or no bulge in the tire sidewalls. With no tire sidewall bulge, your wheel rim edges and possibly the inflation valves are more subject to being nicked/damaged by curbs and rocks, just as Bounty mentioned in the post above.

Regards,

Gadget

[ndnatty]

Thanks for the helpful info. Thing is, the tires as they are mounted look normal to me. The side wall does extend out from the rim, I would say around 1-2". Guess my biggested concern is getting the correct wheel to match my others. Guess I'm going to have to take it in, and I hate to let anyone else work on my jeep, don't trust 'em especially here in the city!

[hi_c]

If you tire sticks out 1-2" from the lip of the rim, then you don't have 10.50s on a 10" rim. Somethings weird. Most tire/wheel shops have large scale calipers that can measure the actual rim width. Go to a mom and pop shop, not Sears.

C