31x10.50 of a factory 15x6 steel wheel?

JPR4LFE

Adventurer
For my 1997 cherokee I purchased a set of factory steel wheels from a 80's cherokee xj, only to find out that they are 15x6 inch wheels while I was in the middle of prepping them for paint. I have a 3.5" RE super ride lift on its way, and was planning on running 31/10.50-15. Will these tires work with these rims, safely? Does anyone have any experience/pictures of this set up? Is there a better sized tire that will work with these rims and lift that I am forgetting? I think 30x9.50 will look too small with that amount of lift. I plan to pack this jeep full of camping gear, so weight capacity is also a factor I am worried about.

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Cityslicker

Observer
Yea they should take a 10.5 wide tire.. I have 15x8 and run 12.5 I seen people put 35s on a 8 inch wide wheel....
It will actually be less likely that you pop a bead. there will be a good bit of pressure on your beads.
 

jeep-N-montero

Expedition Leader
Used sets of stock 15x7 Jeep wheels are dime a dozen in the classifieds, I would not run a 10.50 width on a 6in wide wheel because you lose contact patch and it will bulge the sidewall a lot.
 

4lowdean

Observer
BFG says not to run their 31x10.50s on anything less than a 7" rim. I would assume other worth-while brands would have similar rim specs.

I run my 31x10.50r15 ATs on a 15x8 rim. I didn't like how they looked or felt on a 7" rim, I couldn't imaging what they would be like on a 6" rim. :Wow1:

Not a good idea IMO.
 

drgnhrt1979

Adventurer
My personal opinion is that you should not run a 10.5 tire on a 6 rim, not that it cant be done or done safely, but if you plan on airing down with that setup, plan on using beadlocks or blowing your bead every time you air down. as it was said before, I would look for a 7 or larger rim for a 10.5 tire. Basic rule of thumb, tire should not be more than about 2.5 inch wider than your rim to be safe.

They make a weld on beadlock kit you can buy so you can have beadlocks for offroad and then remove the outer ring when you air up and go back on road. Some states beadlocks are illegal to run, so this is a good compromise to get around that.
 

JPR4LFE

Adventurer
Yeah, I figured that I could "get by" with those rims, but I do plan driving 3+ hours loaded with gear and airing down off road and I don't want to use these rims if there is too many compromises, though I do think they would look and function well if they were just 15x7. I have seen a few guys using these exact wheels on a 31x10.50 but I can't find any real world feedback. I will probably just play it safe and stick with the 5 spoke steelie.
 

jeep-N-montero

Expedition Leader
I have ran both 31x10.50 and 33x10.50 BFG A/T's on my stock 15x7 wheels and never had an issue with the 3 or 4 sets I have gone through in the 13 years of owning Jeeps. Man that makes me sound old!
 

Ford Prefect

Expedition Leader
at 50-70 per wheel I would go and get new wheels. You should be able to find them around if you look for them.

Anyhow, I want to agree with most everyone up there that you should most certainly NOT run that tire on that narrow wheel.

to give you an example, check out this wheel. It is 49.99 per http://www.jcwhitney.com/black-stee...ID=froogle&86JeCJRou293464#prodDetailTabPanel and is a darn site better than what you have for a really pretty good price. Even if you buy the same basic super simple steel wheel, you are better off and it will be worth the money to be safe in that rig. Remember you have a lot of metal and glass up high thus higher COG than, say, a wrangler or CJ; no need to reduce your contact patch down low.

Regards
 
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brevity_thing

you know, the Dude abides
FYI I have used 31x10.5 on 15x8 rims and popped the beads several times, at 20psi. I also had issues with wood fibers jamming into the beads.

With a 33x11.5 tire on 16x7 rims I have had no issues. I would feel comfortable running 31's on a 6" wide rim, but no more than 7".
 

88Xj

Banned
I have ran both 31x10.50 and 33x10.50 BFG A/T's on my stock 15x7 wheels and never had an issue with the 3 or 4 sets I have gone through in the 13 years of owning Jeeps. Man that makes me sound old!

This thread has me worried lol. My old 15x8 steelies, look like the tire end to end would lay flat on the ground. 31x10.5 & 33x10.5. This go around I'm on stock 15.7s and the edges d ont touch the ground when sitting static but wear evenly. I thought it was better to run the 7 wide vs 8 for airing down..seems opposite?
 

Gaucho919

Adventurer
I have ran 31x10.50s on those same wheels without issue, I like the wheels and the factory look so I used them. When I put 33x10.50's on 6" wide crown vic wheels the tread bulged in the center around the circumference. I switched the tires to 8" wide wheels and it didn't change a thing. Here are a couple pictures of 31x10.50 MT/R on that same wheel.

DSC_0132.jpg

DSC_0135.jpg
 

JPR4LFE

Adventurer
When I talked to tire shops about mounting 31x10.50's on those rims, several were not even willing to do it because it was outside the tire manufactures recommended specification. 7"was as narrow as they wanted to go. I had the original jeep 5 spoke steel wheels that are 7" wide, so I personally ended up just using those even though I really liked the utilitarian look of the 6 inch wide rims. Are there tire shops that will mount to a 6" wide rim? Sure, I am using one of these wheels for my spare and I have seen several others using this tire combination. but for a jeep that I drive several hundred miles of mixed on an off road I didn't want to take any chances. The people that I have seen run this set up don't seem to have any issues but I have heard a few cases that people will run the street pressure a couple psi lower than factory specs to compensate for any wear issues that may occur for possible budging of the tread.
 

mortonm

Expedition Leader
if you want to keep the 15 x 6 wheels,

235 85 R 16 might be worth a look.

~31.5 inches tall, just shy of 9.5" wide. Would look great on an XJ
 

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