Ok Guys,

I've decided I'm going to lift my Jeep. I wanted to go full on 6.5 lift with long arms, now that I've been adding up all the costs, I don't think I'm willing to drop those kind of bucks until I buy a 2-door 5-speed cherokee (probably later down the road).

Right now I have a 1999 Cherokee sport 4-door with AW4. I'm going to buy The Rustys 4.5 inch lift with full springs, Heres the link: http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-su...-pack-kit.html

This lift seems to have everything I should need, it has a transfer case drop kit and shims, its only 4.5 inches so I shouldn't need an SYE kit or new driveshafts.

I'm getting some BFG Mud Terrains 33x12.5x15 with some 15x 10's to go with them. Seems like a good match right? Or would 15x8's be better?

My main reason for this post is to figure out what is the best backspacing I need. This is my everyday driver, and it has to pass inspection. In Pennsylvania, your flares must cover your tires. I know that with these 12.5's they're going to stick out past my stock flares. Shortly after this lift I will be getting some bushwackers to solve that problem. It's fine if they stick out a little bit, but it can't be to the point where my shop will refuse to inspect it, or I'm repeatedly getting pulled over for it. I'm not looking for backspacing that gives a wider stance just for looks. I want a wide enough stance so that I dont get any rubbing. So what would be best? Please be specific as to what backspacing on what rims. As I said above, I'm not fully sure on 15x10's or 15x8's yet.

Anything else I need or need to know for this lift?

All feedback is appreciated, thanks guys!

 

Go with the 15x8's. Around 3.75-4" backspacing. My wheels are 15x8 3.75" backspacing Pro Comp d window steelies, and I wouldn't want them sticking out any more. But they're far from rubbing the control arms or frame. I don't think I'd have any rubbing issues with them if I had 12.5 wide tires, there's tons of room for wider tires on mine.

 

You're going to need 3.75 backspacing. I can tell you from personal experience. I have the same tires and rubbed with 15x8 with 4" backspacing wheels. It wasn't until I went to 15x8 3.75 backspacing that I was able to remove my wheel spacers without any rubbing problems. Granted, I never messed with the steering stops. If you do that, I'm sure you could use a wheel with not so little backspacing

 

3.75 seems to be the magic number, anybody else have some input?

 

I'm running 3.75 bs on both 33x12.5x15 TSLs on 15x8 D windows and 31x10.5x15 on 15x8 alloys. I have a set of 32x11.5x15 BFGs on 15x10 eagle alloys, but I wish they were 15x8, bs is also 3.75, these are on a zj fyi.