stock YJ wheels

Bill.. I have always wondered why Chysler went to the 5x4.5 instead of the 5x5.5 on the YJ, XJ, TJ models... Why not keep the 5x5.5?

Ben

YJ should be a 4.5" circle, CJ should be a 5.5" circle. So no fit.

Yes, we know. No, they won't fit.

The YJ uses a 5 on 4.5' bolt pattern, the CJ uses a 5 on 5.5" pattern.

Precisely! Indeed, the crossover point was the basic '84 XJ, whose powertrain they spun off to do the YJ in '86 ('87 Model Year). Saved them a HUGE amount of money, even though it PO'd all the CJ lovers. With all the old YJs still going strong, seems like they made a good move.

The 84 XJ and 86/87 YJ were build by AMC, not DC.

Oh, you're going to get technical about who made the decision, huh? :-)

The only reason the old Chrysler Corp. bought AMC in 86 was to get Jeep, the rest of the stuff (rebadged Eagle by Chrysler) was virtually sales-proof. Daimler is learning that the only brand they got with any value when they bought Chrysler was Jeep. Funny how this is all working out. With any luck the Geremans won't kill Jeep, but it's a less than 50-50 bet IMHO.

Hang on, it was American Motors that cursed us with 5 on 4.5, vacuum disconnects, Dana 35s, and slip yokes. The Germans were the first to put front & rear locking Dana 44s, 4:1 tcase, and 31" mud tires on a production Jeep. Expect those clever Deutschlanders to continue that trend with 2007 wrangler/gladiator to anchor the brand as true offroaders echoing the ww2 legend in order to sell gobs of bread-n-butter IFS 'softroaders' like libby & grand.

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote: