Why do you want your tire doing work your suspension should be? I can't adjust the valving in my sidewall.

because your suspension wont soak up washboards, you know? those little bumps on a dirt road that rattle everything inside... thats just a little bonus when aired down it makes it ride smoother on top of suspension.
the best part is the tire forming around rocks for more traction.

Your suspension just sucks then.

Not really. I was trying to say a 32 inch tire with a 17 inch rim sounds like something that belongs on a mall crawler.

To each their own i guess

Rule of thumb for wheel diameters is half or less of the tire height. So for wheeling a 32 inch tall tire should have a wheel diameter of no more than 16 inches max.
That will give you a reasonable amount of flex when aired down, and will also have enough sidewall to take a medium hard curb hit without busting a tire.

93XJLI, Yes you can adjust the valving in your sidewall, it is called airing down and most tires and wheels have a valve stem that lets you air down and back up.

Airing down + going fast = blown beads and bent wheels. Ill keep my 17s.

Stlavguy I think your answer is go with what ever you feel you'll be doing the most, mild trails will be fine with 17s, harder trails where you need more sidewall flex to for your tires to bite the rocks go with 15s.

Im not sure what that other guy is thinking besides that he wants to be an ***** and crash the thread by arguing with the rest of us. The taller sidewall will soak up some of the small bumps.

if you have driven a car with low profile tires you know what i mean. just because you feel more bumps in the road with low profile tires does not mean that the suspension on the car sucks, its the nature of that type of tire. That is the type of tire you will have with 32s and a 17 inch rim.
32s with bigger wheels will corner easier, 32s with smaller wheels will allow for better traction when aired down.

/thread for me

You can't compare a low pro tire on a sports car running 35+ psi and 1" of sidewall to a light truck tire running 25-30 psi and 6"+ of sidewall.

32s on a 17 have as much sidewall as 30s on a 15. You don't see anyone complaining about stuff sidewalls, feeling every bump, etc on 31s. Running larger wheels lets the suspension work better Offroad, and is safer and performs better on road. Why do you think manufacturers are fading out smaller wheel sizes? Larger brakes, less unsprung weight, better handling... All benefits of larger wheels.

I find it funny that the OP never relayed the width of these two wheel sets, nor their offsets nor any concerns for brake fitment - as if that won't play a significant roll on fit and function. I personally think 17's on a 32 would look very typical JK owner; I feel cool in a lifted Jeep-looking.

Think about why you need one over the other. What a concept.

That was my thought exactly... IIRC you can fit a 15 with enough backspacing onto a JK... but I'm pretty sure he is going to be putting the JK rims on the XJ?

this ****** is arguing with himself... that's the point we are making. 32s on a 17 is the same as 30s on a 15, sure... but 32s on a 15 and 32s on a 17 is not the same. also nobody was asking about 30s so where did you pull that from? I wouldn't say they let your suspension work better, they would let it work MORE though, and the less work it does, the longer it will last.

to the OP... do whatever you want. I think JK wheels (or any wheels above 15s) look stupid on an XJ, that's just me though. I also think spacers, ESPECIALLY cheapo ones like were suggested here, are a horrible idea. Imagine yourself running 70 down the highway and snapping a few lugs off.

lol...I vote for the cragers. Fancy rims trailer queen/mall crawler. The more rubber to grip around rocks the better I think the comments about r15 being phased out is just silly. Like they are going to stop production of them ever.

I've held a snapped lug from a spacer in my hand. forget that.


good arguments on both sides. I wont be messing with 17's until I'm at a 37"+ tire purely because of tire cost. is the average guy really going to need the added "betterness" of a 17? nah. a few years ago the guys on 17's were laughed at for their blingin rims. now the guys on 15's are dumb for running too small of rims

just do whatever is cheapest or whatever you like. we all just drive station wagons

Just about nothing today comes with 15s from the factory. They've even stopped making some tires in larger sizes on a 15" wheel. Like a 37" mtr.... No longer available in 15.

Your mom!

I love your proof point of a 37....Your talking people willing to spend a TON of money at $350 (and that's just a BFG AT)plus per tire. Coming from Florida I can tell you just from the full size truck trend to run 37's and 20's as some sort of weird blinged out mud truck. There are an absolute ton of them down here. These guys are running basically lifted street trucks. That seems to me more why you see that trend. You can't have a $50k rig with 15's. Bottom line there are so many people running 15 inch rims if they stopped production of all 15 inch rims today you still have 10-15 years plus of a market place. So I don't buy that argument that the market is going to disappear due to lack of demand.