No, and unless your rig is built for rock crawling, it actually hurts the handling.

People buy 15's because the rims and tires are cheaper.

Only certain 15's fit.

And on road handling is diminished.
Side note, offroad handling is improved because of flex. But a 35 on a 17, flexes the same as as a 33 on a 15. Both have roughly 9 inches of sidewall.

But the same 35 on a 15 has 10" of sidewall to grab with.

 

No, and unless your rig is built for rock crawling, it actually hurts the handling.

People buy 15's because the rims and tires are cheaper.

Only certain 15's fit.

And on road handling is diminished.
Side note, offroad handling is improved because of flex. But a 35 on a 17, flexes the same as as a 33 on a 15. Both have roughly 9 inches of sidewall.

But the same 35 on a 15 has 10" of sidewall to grab with.

Thank you. So I guess if my Jeep is on the road a lot, to drop to a 15 may not be a good choice. I don't go off road enough to sacrifice good handling on the road.

 

I see a lot of people putting 15" rims on their JKs. Is there an advantage (besides the cost of the rim, of course) to go with the smaller rim? Is there an issue with caliper clearance? I'm guessing that if I ran 15's, I could also have 33's and not have to recalibrate my speedometer? Kind of like that idea, but I was kind of curious if that's the reason.
For those running the 15's, what rim width and tire size are you running with no lift or with a leveling kit? Not doing any hardcore rock crawling, just a lot of sand and mud.

If you don't plan on running a tire larger than 35", get a set of 15"s. a good size is 15x8, 3.75 back space. No wheel interference, works and handles great. I'm currently running that combination on my wife's '12 Rubi, and ran that on my '08 Rubi for 40,000 miles before going to 40s. Tires are $100 less than the tires for 17" wheels.

 

We've been running 35x15s since last September. Now granted, ours is not a daily driver (about 300miles a month) but w the 35s and 15s, I can't tell the difference in handling.

I did it cause the tires were $100 cheaper

I paid $1600 for all 5 wheels and tires.. From DTD
Then had $200 in rebates, then sold my stock wheels and tires (GY SR-As) for $400. So $1000 for complete 35s w lighter wheels.

It would've cost close to 1500 just for 35s for a 17" plus then needed wheel spacers.

 

And I am not planning on running more than 35s.

 

I originally had my 17" stockers so when i bought my 33s i went with 17" wheels...decided to do some more serious wheeling and now that i have 35s i went to a 15" wheel..i didnt notice any difference in handling from one to the other.

 

I went with 15's and didn't notice any on road changes myself. The only disadvantage that I have seen is some tires can have balance issues more often on larger 15 tires. Had trouble balancing the 33X12.5X15 Duratrac's but haven't had any issues with the stiffer side wall 35X12.5X15 MT/R's

 

I went 17" and 33" tires myself due to the amount of weight I haul - I can upgrade brakes in future and plan to.. traveling with gobi rack loaded 4 adults and gear for multiple days along with all the weight in bumpers, sliders and such is hard on my stock brakes

 

I run 15s. runs 80 down the interstate with zero issues.
i also get 19 mpg doing 70.

my tire combo weights less than 87lbs per corner. similar setup out of a 17 is heavier which means more rotational mass which means i need more skinny pedal for the same effect.

and when i air down it is awesome!!

 

With a 35" MTR on a 15" wheel, you have 9" of sidewall, with a 40" mtr on a 17" wheel, you have 10.5" of sidewall.
My jk with 40s is a daily driver and I have no issues with balance or drive ability.

 

Here are a couple pics of my 35x12.5x15 BFG's with no lift. These pics are on the bumpstop and were a little close so I added some 3/4" spacers. The front had no issues as long as the sway bar was not disconnected, I haven't disconnected to test it yet.

View attachment 279829

View attachment 279830

 

How would 15s sit on a 10A? There is a little bit of lift already. I am considering 15x8 rims and 33x12.5x15 good years.

 

Won't be an issue just get the wheels with 3.75" of backspacing and you shouldnt have any rub at all.

 

Just be advised there will be some mods that you will not be able to do with a 15" rim that you could do with a 17. most of them are steering and brake related.

 

Thanks for all the input. I actually love how my Jeep handles stock. I have driven trucks all my life, and in comparison, it rides like a Cadillac. By the consensus on here, I think I will shoot for 15s and run a 33. Gotta keep the cost down. Don't anticipate doing much other than a budget lift for a couple inches and some rock rails/ winch and bumpers. This Jeep modding stuff is too damn addicting!