The ISSUES with 16" Wheels on a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Okay, so I've always known that there might be some issues running a set of 16" wheels on a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk due to the larger brake calipers it comes with but I wanted to know exactly what they were and what if anything could be done to address them. Of course, the only real reason why 16" wheels are so desirable is because there are a lot more aggressive tire choices available in that size whereas there's next to nothing in a 17" wheel unless you go with a much bigger tire. That being said, here are some shots that that will help illustrate the problems you will encounter.

As some of you know, we decided to pick up a set of 16x5.5 Chevy HHR steel wheels as they come in a 5x110 bolt patter, have a 65.1 bore and come with a 42mm offset which is just 1mm more than a stock wheel. For those of you who are interested, here's where I got mine:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/191774275540?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

That being said, here's what it would look like installed as is.
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And, here are a few shots that will show you where the problem is with the brake caliper making contact with the wheel.
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Again, these are steel wheels and I can't imagine how any aluminum wheel would fit even with a wheel spacer. While you could easily grind the brake calipers down a bit to offer more clearance, you would still run into an issue with the wheels being too close to the struts. As you can see below, the wheel just barely clears but your tire would sit extremely close to the strut.
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Now, I should note that we do have 1" wheel spacers and initially, I thought we could use them to help things out but as luck would have it, they're just a bit too thin and the heads of the lug bolts stick out 7/32" past the mounting surface.
IMG_4601.jpg

On a set of factory wheels, this is no big deal as there are recesses in it that will clear the heads of the bolts.
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Problem is, on a set of steel wheels and really, on a lot of aluminum wheels, they don't have this recess and so the spacers won't work. Needless to say, I've just placed an order for a set of 1.25" wheel spacers. And, even with them, I may still do a touch of grinding on the brake calipers just to offer a bit more breathing room.
 
Isn't there a new BFG KO2 that is pretty close in size that might fit with the Daystar lift?

Yes, they are supposed to have a 225/65R17. It was supposed to have been available back in October but, I have yet to see it.
 
Man that's a bummer they don't fit right out of the box. Did you still install the lift with the stock tires or are you going to wait until the new spacers show up?
 
Too bad. Hope you don't feel too defeated while waiting on more parts. Either way, at least it will work out eventually. Anxious to see it myself.
 
Man that's a bummer they don't fit right out of the box. Did you still install the lift with the stock tires or are you going to wait until the new spacers show up?

We put the install on hold as we needed to do some work on Rubicat and Moby. We'll just wait till the spacers to come in to start working on things again.

Too bad. Hope you don't feel too defeated while waiting on more parts. Either way, at least it will work out eventually. Anxious to see it myself.

Oh no, we kinda knew there would be a learning curve and that's how we're seeing this little setback :)
 
Where there is a will, there is always a way. I'm certain you'll be able to figure out how to get Renny onto some bigger footwear. Looking forward to see what you come up with. [emoji106][emoji106]
 
Okay, finally got our new 1.25" wheel spacers in today and so I just ran out and did a quick test fit to see how things work out. Here's a shot of what the spacers look like.
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Here are a few side by shot of what the 1.25" spacer looks next to a 1" spacer.
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Now, here are a couple of shots to show the initial test fit of the new spacer. As you can see, the lug bolt sits beneath the mounting surface and solves the problem of running aftermarket wheels without a recess to clear the bolt heads.
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Here are a few shots to show how the addition of a spacer helps to give a good fit and more importantly, helps to clear the brake caliper.
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It's a tight fit but the addition of the wheel spacer does allow the caliper to clear the wheel and without having to do any grinding.
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Finally, this shot will show how the extra .25" was all that was needed to allow the wheel to mount flush onto the spacer.
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Unfortunately, I won't be able to get our lift installed let alone the new wheels and tires until next week at the soonest. More likely than not, later than that due to Christmas. :grayno:
 
Okay, finally got our new 1.25" wheel spacers in today and so I just ran out and did a quick test fit to see how things work out. Here's a shot of what the spacers look like.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to get our lift installed let alone the new wheels and tires until next week at the soonest. More likely than not, later than that due to Christmas. :grayno:

Glad the spacers work out. I am really anxious to see how the tires look on it when it's done.
 
Unfortunately, I won't be able to get our lift installed let alone the new wheels and tires until next week at the soonest. More likely than not, later than that due to Christmas. :grayno:

I think I want to see this lift and tires installed more than you do. Lol

We almost bought a renegade but opted for a second wrangler. This will be the first one I've seen lifted.
 
I think I want to see this lift and tires installed more than you do. Lol

We almost bought a renegade but opted for a second wrangler. This will be the first one I've seen lifted.

LOL!! Well, I'll get to it as soon as I can. Christmas is kind of getting in the way right now :crazyeyes:
 
so these wheels will fit on a latitude no problem then right?

Being that I don't have a Latitude, I can't say for sure. What I know is that for 2015, the Trailhawk was supposed to come with front rotors that were about an inch wider in diameter than a Sport, Latitude or Limited. This was supposed to change in 2016 and ALL Renegades are to come with the same brakes.

That being said, are you running 16" wheels now? If so, I would think you'd be fine. If not, measure your front rotors and if they're 11" in diameter, you will be fine. If they measure 12", you will have the same brakes that we have on our Trailhawk and you will need to run spacers to make the HHR wheels work.
 
Being that I don't have a Latitude, I can't say for sure. What I know is that for 2015, the Trailhawk was supposed to come with front rotors that were about an inch wider in diameter than a Sport, Latitude or Limited. This was supposed to change in 2016 and ALL Renegades are to come with the same brakes.

That being said, are you running 16" wheels now? If so, I would think you'd be fine. If not, measure your front rotors and if they're 11" in diameter, you will be fine. If they measure 12", you will have the same brakes that we have on our Trailhawk and you will need to run spacers to make the HHR wheels work.



yep my 15 latitude has 12 inch fronts.

do you think these will work seeing they dont have the second set of bolts to deal with?
http://www.renegadeready.com/25mm-1-in-Wheel-Spacer-Kit--SILVER--All-4-Wheels-_p_82.html

jeep spac.jpg
 
yep my 15 latitude has 12 inch fronts.

do you think these will work seeing they dont have the second set of bolts to deal with?
http://www.renegadeready.com/25mm-1-in-Wheel-Spacer-Kit--SILVER--All-4-Wheels-_p_82.html

View attachment 181280

Personally, I would ONLY run a set of spacers that bolt up to the axles first and then the wheels to it. These look like they just get sandwiched in between the wheels and the axles and are held in place with longer lug bolts. To me, this would be a mistake.
 
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