jeepfreak82

So, I am nearing my purchase of a 2001 xj 4.0 auto with a 231. Those are the small details as I have a perfect shape rebuilt 242 to go in it, and planning to lift 3 or 3.5 inches. I was looking to run 31's but I found a set of 17's off a new wrangler with nearly brand new tires for an extremely good price. My question is what are your thoughts of running adapters to fit the newer wheel lug pattern? Also, is anyone currently running anything like this already? What are your experiences?

gpXJ

I have spacers on my WJ, running the JK Rubicon take-offs. Spacers/adapters are fine so long as you are willing to put in the time and effort to maintain them. Install them correctly and then check the torque after a few hundred miles, and then every oil change/tire rotation afterwards. Understand that if a spacer/adapter fails, you will be losing a tire, and if that happens at freeway speed in traffic could be catastrophic for you and/or other drivers. This is the reason they must be checked periodically.

With all that said, I have had them on my WJ for over 15k miles and have never had an issue with them, and I've driven it on a couple of 2k mile road trips along with daily driving for 2 years.

Omnipotent Octopus

I bought a set of the 17" wrangler rubicon wheels recently and needed adapters to fit the 5x5 pattern and to push them out a bit since they have 6" of backspacing. I know there are many people running the same setup so you shouldn't have any problems

jeepfreak82

Would you run loctite or anything on the lug adapters (factory studs) or not?

unidentifiedbomb

Yes. I put a dap of loctite on each stud when I take mine off/on.

jeepfreak82

Awesome! I thought this would work well, and figured the loctite wouldn't hurt. What size tires are you running currently on them? The ones I am looking at have 25 miles on the brand new tires and wheels. The size is factory on the new wranglers (32" diameter i believe) and I am gathering that they will fit with 3" lift and minimal rub on the lca. Also, how thick are your adapters?

gpXJ

They should come with some loctite for installation. You absolutely want to use it. Typically they should be torqued to 100 ft lbs, so when I do my tire rotations/oil changes, I will check them for 90 ft lbs of torque, that way the loctite seal is not broken if they are still good.

Make sure when you purchase them, you get ones that are both hub and lug centric. Don't cheap out on these if you plan to daily drive this Jeep.....get some quality spacers. I went with the Synergy's, but Spidertrax makes good ones as well.

Mine are 1.25". I'm running the 255/75/17 Rubicon BFG MT take-offs on my WJ with a 3" lift. If you put these on an XJ with a 3" lift, you will either have to bumpstop a bit to keep the tires out of the fenders, or trim your fenders.

unidentifiedbomb

1.25" with 31s, but will eventually be 33s with no worries. You'll have to do some fender trimming if you don't want to rub while flexing, the adapters should correct the width from the lcas.

jeepfreak82

I will plan on the bump stops rather than cutting. My personal taste is that I do not like trimmed fenders

andrewmp6

For the price of good adapters you can buy rims that fit.The cheapo ebay specials will break and mess your jeep up.

Fred/N0AZZ

You can buy decent steel wheels from Summit or Jegs for cheap and then run the proper wheel/tire combo for your XJ. Spacers are only a Band-Aid at best for those not wanting to do it right the first time.

But then again if you plan on no trimming and a lot of bump stop I guess it will be fine for a "Mall Crawler" and no off roading.

unidentifiedbomb

Are you saying spacers = mall crawlers? Spacers are fine if tightened right. The weight of the wheel is pushed out either spaced or offset wheels.

gpXJ

And apparently if you don't hack up your XJ it's also a mall crawler. Come on guys, just because your Jeep is different doesn't mean you have to be labeled. The fact he is asking questions and plans to bumpstop properly (which I'm betting half the "hardcore crawlers" don't do) says something. The "proper backspace" can be arrived at by several methods, and spacers is one. I'm all for steering people away from unsafe and improper mods, but if done right, spacers do not fall into that category.

unidentifiedbomb

It's been over 2 1/2 years since I put on my spacers, driving to school over 300 miles one way 8x in a year and many thee long trips, including wheeling, and have never had a problem. I think they are fine.

jeepfreak82

I am definitely not looking to be labeled as a mall crawler by someone having an opinion different than someone else's. I was simply asking as I am looking for at least a 31" tire and the ones that I could get dirt cheap looked nice as far as wheel and tires, and had almost no mileage on them. I am not putting the bump stops to limit travel, but simply to avoid destroying tires and the body needlessly. I am looking at a 3 or 3.5 inch lift with new lca to help with the rub so I don't have to set the tires far out of the fenders. This will also allow a 31x10.50 to tuck into the fender while flexing. Is it a shame to like the body of my XJ enough to not want to hack it up? I understand that everyone has their own likes and dislikes and I do not bash anyone else's rig for their taste. I simply like function with still having the original look of the body. My new to me XJ has been cared for very well and I have not found one in this good shape in a while. It will need a paint job before too long, but the body is nearly perfect and the interior is just as good. I will be hitting some trails, but also have a wife and two little girls that will be riding in it with me from time to time so I would like to keep it useful for my family as well. I know that a lot of guys see trails, rocks, and mud more challenging than I do, but mine definitely sees the dirt more than people like to believe. I appreciate everyone's input, and I will decide what I want to do. I am looking at a set of 31's for the 15's that are on it for now and really like some of the mamba wheels but just not that close to buying those yet as my second daughter is newborn and we are getting finances back in order