I am in the minority now days, but I will only run hub centric wheels on jeeps. There is a hub centric wheel thread that I referred to when making my choice. Then the next biggest factor for me is weight. Then I also don't care for fake beadlocks. This criteria really helped me narrow it down lol! Made my life easier to pick from the 4 or 5 wheels that I was looking at.
From my experience with wheels on cars, it's better to get wheels that are machined to fit the factory hub (i.e. hub centric) and do not need a spacer. It's important to have a machined fit and not a plastic adapter to keep the wheel spinning true with the axle. If an adapter gets out of tolerance (and they will eventually because they are plastic), then the lugs are basically holding the wheel centered. That can lead to lugs coming loose or wheel studs breaking. And the heavier the wheel the worse it is.
I'm new to Jeeps so my previous experience may not apply in this environment. But either way, I will be ordering wheels that are hub centric and will not need any adapters. Just my .02.
For those of us that weren't as diligent as you guys and probably should have been...where can I get some hub spacers for the gladiator to fit rear 35's....I believe my 35's fit perfectly on the hub on the front....also my question is I believe the axle hubs are different size front and rear so how would you buy wheels to accomidate that? Unless I'm wrong
It's a matter of how the hub is designed not a personal choice.
With hub piloted wheels the weight of the vehicle is transferred through the wheel and directly to the center of the hub using what is effectively a zero clearance fit. In that case the mounting hardware are simply providing the necessary clamping force to retain the assembly and effect the load transfer.
On stud piloted hubs designs (which you see very few of these days) the load is supported by the fasteners and transmitted to the hub through those fasteners.
Are hub centric wheels necessary? Yes on a hub pilot design, no on a stud pilot design.
Most aftermarket wheels accept nylon/polymer inserts of the correct dimension to fit a variety of vehicles which all use the same bolt circle.