Wheel load capacity

[WXman]

During reveal of the JT Gladiator, Jeep made it a point to mention that the wheels on the Gladiator were strengthened and given a higher load rating to handle the hauling/towing that the truck is expected to see in it's lifespan.

One thing that I do not know is how to decode the information on the back of the stock wheels. There are many numbers and codes stamped on many places of the back of the wheels. But which one has the load capacity contained within?

Do any of you guys know how to decode the data stamps on the rear of the wheels? I'd like to compare them to JL Wrangler wheels to see if there was, in fact, a load rating increase. I can confirm that the weight of the wheel itself is the same, so if the load rating is higher they must have done it through some cool metallurgy.

Sponsored

 

[G8R]

I am interested in this as well since I just picked up a set of Wrangler Rubi takoffs to use on my overland trailer with the idea that those could become spares for my JT if in desperate need. I would like to know just what the load rating is for both the JTR wheels and these JLUR wheels. My research on this has stalled out and I can't decipher the code on this wheel either. See pic. I have not yet removed a tire from my JTR to see what those codes are but I am guessing they are similar to this one.

Waiting on a machine shop to bore out the center of a 1.75" wheel spacer so it will fit on the axle and have the tire clear the trailer frame. I had to stack two spacers to mount the spare steely. A bit of a pain in the butt but I am nearly at the point where my tires and wheels will be interchangeable (except for this unknown wheel load rating aspect). I want to use these Wrangler wheels so I don't have to continue searching for JT takeoffs that are proving to be more expensive than I am willing to spend right now. At least the tires are identical and I now have two steel spares to use between the truck and trailer.

 

[WXman]

I examined all the numbers on the back of my stock Gladiator wheel tonight and the only number I can find that would make sense as a load rating is this one here which indicates 2,014. I'm assuming that would be in lbs.

Interestingly though your Rubicon JL wheel above is stamped 2,017. So I'm not sure if that's actually a load rating or not.

 

[G8R]

From my research on these markings the date of manufacture is supposed to be stamped thus I assumed my wheel was made in 2017. A date of 2014 would not make sense at all for a 2020 JT??? I was thinking that the DOT-T might be the load rating but I could not find what the T actually means. Bottom line is I know nothing about wheels and the couple hours I spent last night searching online did not result in my ability to decipher these markings. The best estimate I could come up with is to divide the GVWR by 4 and compare (6250 vs 5800) Thus about 100 lbs difference per wheel. Given the safety factors involved this is likely a non issue.

 

[WXman]

My aftermarket wheels are stamped "2500 LBS".

I'm starting to think the 2014 may be the weight limit on these stockers.

 

[XJ2JTChris]

Glad i searched first. Was about to buy some JL rubi take offs too....maybe jeep parts dept would be the better place for load info on diff wheels? I'll call around and post up if I make any progress over the next few days.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Are we worried about wheels failing during towing? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Or is this just idle academic curiosity, in which case I fully endorse the endeavor.

 

[WXman]

Are we worried about wheels failing during towing? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Or is this just idle academic curiosity, in which case I fully endorse the endeavor.

This is idle academic curiosity. Jeep made the claim that they beefed up the wheels for the Gladiator (which is why they all have different designs compared to the JL Wrangler wheels they were already using) to handle heavier loads and trailers, and I'm just trying to substantiate their claim.

I also have never seen a wheel fail while towing. I have seen alloy wheels fail under other conditions though. Would be neat to find out if there's really any strength difference with this Gladiator wheel.

 

[G8R]

Idle curiosity now as I had a design goal of replacing the tires and wheels on my trailer and both steel spares with JTR take offs so as to have full transferability between trailer/truck and enable rotations with 8 wheels/tires. This is also in case of the extremely unlikely 3+ flat tire scenario (I have had one instance of 5 flats in one trip in my life and several with 2 so I generally carry 2 spares when on extended hunting trips as I do not want to waste the time to come out of the mountains during my limited time out). I ran low on time to prepare for this season to make the changes so I got a set of JLUR take offs instead. They were also much cheaper. Thus I want to know what the actual difference is between OEM wheels for the JLUR and JTR.

With my revised plan with two steel spares and JLUR wheels on the trailer I have my spare tire goal satisfied but the easy rotation between all 8 is no longer really needed. When I need to do that I will just remount them and keep the wheels where they are. I am guessing the supposed difference between the JLUR wheels and JTR wheels are not significant enough for me to worry about and replace those JLUR wheels since they will reside on the trailer > 99.99% of the time moving forward.

Right now the trailer is nearing phase 1 completion. I just need to weld on new fenders, mount a swing away jack, and a fully articulating hitch.

 

[G8R]

Substantially greater clearance in the trailer having flipped the axles and mounted the 33" Falken M/Ts.

 

[fourlow78]

In your collective research of this subject, what did you find out about the steel JT spare wheel. I am curious if it meets/exceeds the ratings of the alloys. Does anyone have the width/offset measurements for the spare wheels? I am thinking that a full set of those spare wheels would be nice to have for a set of trail/winter tires.

 

[G8R]

I see no markings on the steel wheel that I can decipher:

I think the offset between both alloy wheels and steely is about the same:

 

[fourlow78]

thanks for the quick reply. My google-fu so far hasn't revealed anything new.

 

[WXman]

Yeah the spare is 17x7.5 +44.45mm just like the alloy wheels. But there are no load rating markings on them either. Odd.

 

[DesertRat]

Yeah the spare is 17x7.5 +44.45mm just like the alloy wheels. But there are no load rating markings on them either. Odd.

Anybody have new info? I just bought JL Rubi wheels / tires for my wife's Gladiator Sport S. I had no idea of this possibility and am not sure we should go through with the swap now. I don't know either how to decipher the codes on the back of the Rubi wheels nor the JT.

Sponsored