Why is Overland the only model to have 18's?

[Glad2seaya]

I have 35” Falkens on mine with no lift, I like the look and those tires don’t rub anywhere for me.

Though, I’m looking to swap to a Venator bumper with winch and suspect I may need to lift at the point for the extra weight.

Sweet! So what’s the actual size of tire you went with? Also, how do the ride on the road? Thanks for the info

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[Delhux]

Sweet! So what’s the actual size of tire you went with? Also, how do the ride on the road? Thanks for the info

285/75/R18 Falken Wildpeaks they ride great, no noticeable road noise. I prefer to keep them around 38-40 psi, but that’s just my preference.

 

[Gatorized]

Not sure why it's dumb - it's a cost saving measure for FCA.
The spare is a spare, limited use, so all it needs to be is the same outside diameter.
Now if it was a matching wheel........

Unfortunate if you trash a tire, nail in a sidewalk - you cannot swap the spare tire onto the alloy wheel because it doesn’t fit! It’s like carrying $200 in your wallet that you can’t spend.

 

[BrightWhiteGladiator]

No, but I like them!
Tires are a good bit more expensive and a more limited variety...

I have a set (with factory spare) with <700 miles on them if you are up for a drive!

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-wheels-tires-w-tpms-and-factory-spare.35677/

 

[Jeeperjamie]

I like my 17" black stock steelies on mine. I've never been a fan of larger wheels. Love the look of less wheel more tire, just something about the meaty look but to each his own.

 

[robinja]

The spare wheel and tire are 17" - I'd bet that's to save money - Jeep buys only one size steel wheel that way.

When I changed tires to Falken 285/75R18, I also changed the spare out. I bought a stock Overland RIM on ebay. Fits nicely in the spare tire hole and provided piece of mind that I don't have to hobble back to the garage at an angle on an undersized 17'' spare.

 

[DLAW]

Does anyone know why the Overland is the only model to have 18's?

With the Overland being the luxury version, here are a couple details I don't think have been mentioned yet. The overland has the standard suspension, compared to Rubicon with a 1" lift. So if you are wondering why the more expensive trim does NOT have an 18" inch wheel, here is my guess:
The 18" wheel of the Overland is fitted with a 32" tire, leaving about 7" tire thickness all around. In comparison, the Rubicon is a smaller wheel with larger tire and so the depth is 8" all around.
If you are to buy a Rubicon, I suppose it's assumed you would want to air down the stock tires for trails or beach, right? Makes more sense with thicker tires.

On the flip side, why do the less expensive trims NOT have it? Well I'm guessing that's just business. Force people to move up for more options.

So that leaves the Overland right in the middle as the perfect car to fit an 18" inch wheel. But, I would see the appeal of someone with a Rubicon wanting those Overland wheels. They do look nice and would be great for road travel.

 

[WXman]

Larger wheels are considered "luxury", and since the Overland is the "luxury" trim it gets the larger wheels.

Which is funny because there's nothing on Overland that you can't get on other trims, but there are lots of things on other trims you can't get on Overland (lockers, usable payload, usable towing, wide track axles, deeper gearing, etc.)

As far as the spare goes, on the Gladiator the spare is mounted in the typical pickup truck location under the cargo box. It gets blasted by road salt, snow, gravel, mud, etc. and most people never drop it down to clean it. So, FCA (and most companies) use steel wheels for spares because they hold up to the abuse and can be sanded and painted if necessary years down the road.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

When I changed tires to Falken 285/75R18, I also changed the spare out. I bought a stock Overland RIM on ebay. Fits nicely in the spare tire hole and provided piece of mind that I don't have to hobble back to the garage at an angle on an undersized 17'' spare.

How do you like those 34.8 (35") A/Ts on the 18's? I love the Overland rims but when it's time for tires, I want something that's snow rated. The tire sites say the original H/Ts are rated for "light snow" LOL that's a joke in some areas. Light snow? To us a light snow is the sort of snow that cripples some states.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Larger wheels are considered "luxury", and since the Overland is the "luxury" trim it gets the larger wheels.

Which is funny because there's nothing on Overland that you can't get on other trims, but there are lots of things on other trims you can't get on Overland (lockers, usable payload, usable towing, wide track axles, deeper gearing, etc.)

As far as the spare goes, on the Gladiator the spare is mounted in the typical pickup truck location under the cargo box. It gets blasted by road salt, snow, gravel, mud, etc. and most people never drop it down to clean it. So, FCA (and most companies) use steel wheels for spares because they hold up to the abuse and can be sanded and painted if necessary years down the road.

Yes and no - used to be the Overland was the only way to get certain things - the leather dash, for example, when we ordered, that was the only way. We also could not get the color matched roof and fenders on the other trims then. I know things have changed a lot - and these days if we were buying it would be different as most things we wanted can now be had with the others, but not so early on. We spent about 2 hours covering all options and ways to get what we wanted - kept the sales guy there late that evening.

My other trucks had the spares mounted up under the rear and boy did they get sand and grit up in there. I finally pulled the spare out from under my F250 and kept it in the garage unless I went on longer trips with it. (of course the spare no longer fit after I put the massive 2" receiver on the truck -rated to pull mega-pounds. The spare barely fit between the frame rails, and it pretty much didn't by the time the receiver mount went in there)

Larger wheels are luxury - look at the Grand Cherokee and other "luxury" SUVs - 20" wheels, short sidewall tires.
Funny - with the tow package on the GC, you get a "matching spare wheel" - that's the only way you get it. Not sure why that's associated with the tow package..........

 

[Delhux]

How do you like those 34.8 (35") A/Ts on the 18's? I love the Overland rims but when it's time for tires, I want something that's snow rated. The tire sites say the original H/Ts are rated for "light snow" LOL that's a joke in some areas. Light snow? To us a light snow is the sort of snow that cripples some states.

I drove in mine through some heavy snow in New England this past winter, no complaints.

 

[MyGeekDaddy]

Does the overland have anything extra that's not on the Rubicon?

Yep... a better looking dashboard.

 

[MyGeekDaddy]

I say that sarcastically, but the red dashboard was a complete turn off for me.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yep... a better looking dashboard.

That was a big thing for me - couldn't get past the Rubicon dash pictures I saw. Granted, there were other reasons, like price in our area for one thing - no one would budge from MSRP on anything in central Iowa. But the dash - when I showed my wife photos of the dashes in each level - she pointed to the one in the Overland - which I had already decided I liked better.
I know - it's just "looks" but appearances of tihng are personal otherwise we'd all be driving some minivan looking thing, in black only - one color and one look to choose from, no choices.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I drove in mine through some heavy snow in New England this past winter, no complaints.

My first outing in a big storm here, it was crazy on I80. Cars and SUVs and trucks going everywhere and my JT was close to being one of them. It was sliding all over the place. But like I have said elsewhere - snow in one state is different than snow in others. That's why First Nation people have so many words for it. Snow isn't snow isn't snow.
We generally get a layer of ice then snow, and the snow if wet compacts to ice and our hills - check out all of the videos and pictures of our I80 here. We make national news fairly regular. OTR drivers don't really care for our highways in winter, long grades, black ice, drifting snow, then bare roads, then ice then snow again.
It was much better with A/Ts on it. I could tell the difference. And after looking at the charts comparing how each tire does in different conditions, I was more glad I picked up a set of wheels with Falken A/T tires on them for winter. Huge differences in the ratings for snow.
In Canada, some places you'd be ticketed for driving with the stock Overland tires in winter.

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