I'm just curious, when I mount my rear wheels they seem to compress against the outer edge of the brake drum rather than at the hub/lugs. It seems weird to me because it makes contact at the "spokes" well before the center portion is torqued correctly, essentially deforming the wheel against the brake drum as I tighten the lugs to their specified setting. Is there supposed to be a spacer or something in there that moves the wheel out a little from the drum or is this just the way it is with '89 Cherokees?

Wrong rims!

They will break on you.

And warp the drums.

I run a set of Spydertrax 1.25 spacers, very pleased with qualtiy. My purpose to prevent front tire rub on lower control arms. I also like the stance. No problems whatsoever in all weather. torque 100ftlb. Could resolve your rim fit. Gottem at Quadtrac via mail order, 1 wk to deliver, $145 couple years ago.

What the hell? I've never seen that happen before. Factory jeep wheels right?

Crap. Not what I wanted to hear. As far as I know, these are the wheels that came on the car. I purchased it from the original owner and she made no mention of ever replacing them, although I never asked, specifically. All that she said was that someone had told her it had the wrong lug nuts, I wonder if they told her they were the wrong wheels and she just got confused (she's old).

It's interesting, though, since these wheels have the pre-drilled holes to mount the plastic "Jeep" hub cover, it seems like they must go to some Jeep.

We cross-posted, OddGreen. I assume they're factory wheels but I'm not sure how to tell. Like I said in my previous post, the plastic "Jeep" hub cover bolts to the wheel from the back side using what appear to be stamped holes rather than just a hack-drill job that would indicate someone modified a non-factory wheel to accept the hub cover. This would lead me to believe they are factory wheels but again, I'm at a loss.

Take a pic of the wheel. They look factory.

Here's a shot of the full wheel. They previously had chrome beauty rings on them but I took those off... Just seemed wrong, somehow I think the lugs are actually correct but some of them have a silly chrome cap on them and some have fallen off.

Do they all fit like that or only the one? I would have thought that they would be the same rims as long as they come from the XJ Jeep.

They are factory. My guess is wrong drums on you rig. There are 3 to 4 different drums it can be.

All four wheels are identical and all four wheels do the same thing when mounted on the rear drums.

Just checked out the spacers and it looks like a set of four would be over $200... the drums will be cheaper, if I can figure out which ones I need. What a PITA.

I have 4 XJ'S -all have different rims, some won't fit properly if I switch them around.

I went to a used rim place, they tried several on my '95 till they found one similar to what I have on it - needed a spare. They had one close, it fit, but it too is slightly different.
Must have been several "flavors."

The pads or bumps between the lug holes is where it should contact, no where else. That allows the rim to flex as needed.

I'm guessing (and it's just a guess) that at some point she had the rear drums replaced and whoever did it replaced them with the wrong drums for those wheels. I just turned 107K yesterday... not sure how often the drums need to be replaced. Anyhoo, I'm trying to locate drums (going to take one of my wheels with me to the parts store to try the drum in the wheel) but I'm on a search to figure out what rear axle I have. Following are photos of all markings I could find on the diff cover and axle tubes, hopefully someone can help me identify. Thanks for all your help so far, I'd be lost doing this on my own.


^^Diff cover^^

^^Passenger side axle tube^^

^^Tag bolted to diff cover^^

^^and one of the brake drum, just for the heck of it.^^

its going to be either a crysler 8.25 or the dana 35 use this picture to identify it by the cover



did some googeling and found out that your bill of materials number is 605387 it correlates to a dana 35 non locking 3.55 gears (you can go to the dana website and check it under expert)

Those look like wrangler wheels and the off set is sometimes a little different than cherokee wheels, most wheels will interchange but not all of them. Im guessing the wheels work in the front but rub on the lca's, frame or skid plate when you turn the wheel all the way to one side or the other? You can probably change out the drums and backing plates or get different wheels cheaper than getting spacers... Plus you have 10" drums which were the HD brake drums and are different than the more common 9" drums.
Also check the wear marks on the inside of the drum, some idiot may have stuck the wrong drums on there and if they are wider than the brake shoes there will be obvious wear marks (grooves) in the drum lining. Good luck!