Need help getting my new Jeep home (wheel question)

[Joey-T]

Hello, everyone. I'm your newest Jeep owner!

My father just gave me his old Jeep. He has had it for years, but it has sat for the last couple following the theft of some parts. The crooks took the wheels and tires, the steering wheel, the battery and the distributor.

I haven't got the thing home yet, so I'm not sure what year it is, but it is a CJ-5 with the 304 engine and a manual transmission (which is broken).

My main question right now is about wheels to get it home. What can I put on there so I can move it around? I have been told that Ford rims fit, but I had a set of "turbine" style aluminum Ford wheels that wouldn't fit due to the center hole being too small.

Now, I have a buddy with a 95 Ford F-150 2 wheel drive (parts truck). Will these wheels fit? Thanks in advance, I really need to get this thing home so I can start working on it!

 

[west747]

i am pretty sure that cj's and ford half ton's use the same 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern....so they should fit but i would measure first before buying the rims/tires.

 

[Junkpile]

Yeah, it's the same as the bigger Ford and Dodge 5 lug patterns. You need rims off of a four wheel drive so the center hole will be large enough.

 

[OutOfStep]

congrats and good luck

 

[Joey-T]

For anyone thinking about a York Compressor install.

Funny, I was looking around on Ebay, and seen an auction for the same "turbine" wheels that I have, only the auction wheels have the larger center hole. After measuring my neighbor's CJ-7, it looks like the Ebay wheels would fit. Unfortunately, I can't afford them once you figure in shipping.

So, would a machine shop be able to enlarge the center holes on my rims (is that something they can do)? If so, what might I expect it to cost?

 

[avyoung]

How do you convert a soft top?

I would guess that they are 5 on 4.5 the manufacturers make the center to fit most sizes. I would go to a tire store and pick up some white spokes. They are usually between 25-35 a piece. About the cheepest you can find unless you know someone with something laying around.

The 95 Ford used a 5 on 5.5 so it will fit your Jeep. You will have to remove the center cap. There are 3 flat head screws on them.

 

[Joey-T]

The aluminum wheels that I have are the 5 on 5.5 pattern too, but the center hole is too small. I have had them for years- it seems like the guy I got them from said they were off of a Ford van.

My neighbor has a CJ-7 that we could use his spare from, which leaves me looking for 3 wheels. I guess if it comes down to it, we could take the wheels off of his Jeep to get mine home. I guess I am getting a bit anxious to start working on it ( I was the same way with some of my other cars ).

 

[Joopin]

Keep an eye out for Uni lug wheels too, they are the ones that have an oblonged washer that can be flipped around to a different lug pattern. I used to have some on my mustang. You just gotta make sure all the washers are there or they are useless!

 

[numbrsevn]

I ran into the same problem trying to put the rims from my Ford Ranger onto my Jeep. I actually pressed them on using the lug nuts. I DO NOT recommend doing this however. I was just ignorant. They were a $#@%! to get off. Anyway, what I did once I did get them off is use a metal file to files away the center hole of the rims. A dremel tool may work also, possibly saving a lot of elbow grease. The hole only need to be made a very small fraction larger. I had the rims on my Jeep for a week, then I gave them to my brother for his Jeep. He has had them for a couple months now. He hasn't had any problems with this route, however Im sure it did throw off the balance of the wheel, but they got rebalanced anyway with the new tires he got.

 

[OutOfStep]

:lol: Its really hard to resist the "I'll just make it fit through brute strength" sometimes