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Photos Jon Maib |
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Unfortunately, since I have to travel so much for work, the Jeep has not seen too many trails here in Texas (hope that changes soon!). Since the Jeep sees more pavement then dirt, the Swampers we have on it have really become racing slicks. The tires still worked  amazingly in a recent snow day here in Texas. But with all good things they must come to an end, or do they? With all the new tires on the market which ones do you choose? I am a creature of habit and know what I like. Tried and true is the way I like to go. We have had the Super Swamper TSL Radials on our Jeep for the past 5 years and have not had a single problem. Although the Jeep saw much more trail time in California, the tires did their job in rocks, mud, snow, rain, and every day driving. So, we contacted Interco and ordered a new set of TSL Radials. With the new tires on the way, we wanted a way to really make them stand out and make the Jeep shine. To do so, we contacted Axis Wheel Company. Axis makes some really nice looking rims. We decided to go with a faux bead lock rim, the 'Regulators'. Why did we go with fake locks? As we stated earlier, the Jeep sees more street than dirt, but we also have not needed bead locks. Plus, you know how far Johnson Valley is now! We won't be hitting the Hammers anytime soon. There are some advantages to the faux bead locks though, they tend to provide a stronger rim bead, and this means the bead will be less likely to bend when slammed up against a rock or other hard surface.The rims turned out to be the perfect compliment to our new Swampers! We are really excited about the new set of sneakers on the Jeep and the clean bead lock look! Axis offers the rims in several sizes so you can pick the one that fits your needs. Not only do they have different sizes, you can also get the bead in different colors - Red, Blue, and get them so you can paint them to match your truck.
For our application though we ordered the 15x7.50 Regulators (Why the smaller rim? We'll discuss this in a later article). However, the rims come with a 4 3/4" back spacing. This created a small problem with our tires and lift. With that back spacing it pushes the tires right into the Skyjacker lower arms when we turn. It also creates a problem with flex as you can see in the pictures. More rubbing than we like! To correct this issue, we contacted M.O.R.E for some custom spacers. M.O.R.E has their wheel spacers custom made to the customers order... any thickness and any bolt pattern. We had our custom 1" spacers in about a week and a half.
The Jeep now has that show like look, but is ready for a good trail ride (if we can ever get out!). Look for the Jeep on a trail near you soon....if not, come to my door and drag me out! PLEASE!!!!
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