Hi Guys...I'm new here, but I have built up some experience with wheels and tyres for the KJ...My low milage (51K) 2005 2.8 CRD came with stock steel rims fitted with with 235/70R16's on the front, and oddly, 255/70R16's on the back! They fitted without rubbing but of course running different sizes front and rear can mean damage to your gearbox when in 4x4 mode, so I told the used car dealer I got it from and he sent me two brand new Three-A Ecolander 106T A/T tyres (he initially wanted to give me part worn tyres but he couldn't find them in 235/70R16!). They look the part, and have an amazing 480 treadwear rating so would last a very long time...But they only have a F rating for both economy and wet grip, so I wanted something better...Ended up buying 4x Alfamotors DK365 235/70R16 106H SUV road tyres (my KJ won't be going off road anytime soon), which have an almost as good 440 treadwear rating and yet have a much better B rating for both economy and wet grip. The set of four cost £118 on ebay and I got them fast with free next day delivery! I didn't like the stock steel rims though so I wanted to by some nice alloys to put them on. Now, if you have been looking for 16" Jeep alloys on ebay you will have come across some lovely five spoke alloys with slim spokes which ebay sellers mistakingly refer to as Orvis alloys...They are not Orvis alloys though...They are 1998 Grand Cherokee Limited Edition Ultrastar alloys! Orvis alloys are completely different, being designed for the Grand Cherokee Orvis Edition.
Here is a Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited edition with it's Ultrastar alloys:
You must be registered for see images attach
and here is an Grand Cherokee Orvis edition with its Orvis Alloys:
You must be registered for see images attach
As you can see, completely different.
I found a tidy set of five 7J16 ET25.4 Ultrastars with a 114.3x5 PCD going for £169.99 +39.99 postage on ebay. They were not that far away though so I knew I could save on the postage price by collecting them. I also made the seller (a part worn tyre fitting company) an offer of £150, which they accepted, and I took the DK365's down there so he could fit and balance them for me. I weighed one of the Ultrastars with a digital luggage scale I took with me. It weighed 9.76kg...At least a KG or more lighter than the stock steels rims. Before I left home I had weighed one of the DK365's...It weighed 14.3kg, so I knew the tyre and rim together would weigh 24kg...More than 6kg lighter than the each of the 255's and steel rims on the back! When I got there I first had to make sure the Ultrastars would fit my KJ (they were from a Grand Cherokee after all). I asked him if he could check the official wheel offset tables for my KJ online, and he told me that according to the official tables I would need to use 25mm spacers with these wheels. Damn! Not to be put off, I immediately started looking for wheel spacers online...a set of four 25mm spacers was £72 on ebay. Not bad but I had no more money and of course it would have meant I would have to drive home on my steel rims again whilst I wait for the spacers to arrive, and then I would have had to pay out again to get the new tyres fitted somewhere. Then I thought, why not simply try one of wheels on to see if it fits...To everyone's amazement, it did, perfectly! To say I was relieved would be an understatement. I could not understand how was this even possible, but anyway they did, so all four tyres were fitted to the rims and balanced in no time. Driving home was a revelation...The ride was firm, as before, but much smoother and there was no steering wheel wobble at all...Handling was greatly improved...I used to fear taking a sweeping exit ramp off the motorway at over 40, but now I have complete confidence in taking the same exit ramp at 50, and where it felt like a real handful cruising at 60, it now felt smooth and composed at 80! It was quieter too. It was like driving a lightweight hatchback, rather than a 2 tonne plus yank tank! So if you are looking for alloys for for your KJ, vintage Grand Cherokee rims are what you should look for...Far better looking than the ugly six spoke alloys most KJ's seem to have, and much nicer than the five spoke alloys with wider, flat spokes too. (IMHO):
You must be registered for see images attach
20180602_193131 by
Alf Beharie, on Flickr