The ISSUES with 16" Wheels on a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk

Okay, so I've always known that there might be some issues running a set of 16" wheels on a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk due to the larger brake calipers it comes with but I wanted to know exactly what they were and what if anything could be done to address them. Of course, the only real reason why 16" wheels are so desirable is because there are a lot more aggressive tire choices available in that size whereas there's next to nothing in a 17" wheel unless you go with a much bigger tire. That being said, here are some shots that that will help illustrate the problems you will encounter.

As some of you know, we decided to pick up a set of 16x5.5 Chevy HHR steel wheels off of eBay as they come in a 5x110 bolt patter, have a 65.1 bore and come with a 42mm offset which is just 1mm more than a stock wheel.

That being said, here's what it would look like installed as is.


And, here are a few shots that will show you where the problem is with the brake caliper making contact with the wheel.






Again, these are steel wheels and I can't imagine how any aluminum wheel would fit even with a wheel spacer. While you could easily grind the brake calipers down a bit to offer more clearance, you would still run into an issue with the wheels being too close to the struts. As you can see below, the wheel just barely clears but your tire would sit extremely close to the strut.

 

Now, I should note that we do have 1" wheel spacers and initially, I thought we could use them to help things out but as luck would have it, they're just a bit too thin and the heads of the lug bolts stick out 7/32" past the mounting surface.


On a set of factory wheels, this is no big deal as there are recesses in it that will clear the heads of the bolts.


Problem is, on a set of steel wheels and really, on a lot of aluminum wheels, they don't have this recess and so the spacers won't work. Needless to say, I've just placed an order for a set of 1.25" wheel spacers. And, even with them, I may still do a touch of grinding on the brake calipers just to offer a bit more breathing room.

 

The only one that I know of is the BFG A/T KO2. They should have a 225/65R17 out soon.

 

Is there is a dislike button? Sucks you couldn't get them to work Eddie but I hope the new spacers do the trick

 

Not sure what "Mopar parts site" you're referring to but according to Chrysler, there are in fact 2 different front brakes that are used on the 2015 Renegade:

1. A standard front brake that uses a 11.06 x 1 (281 x 26) vented rotor with 2.24 (57) single-piston floating caliper
2. A Trailhawk front brake that uses a 12 x 1.1 (305 x 28) vented rotor with 2.36 (60) single-piston floating caliper

That a whole 1" bigger rotor. The rears are all the same.

Since you seemed to have missed it, with the exception of 1mm of offset, the wheel is exactly the same as factory. MAYBE if it were an aluminum wheel, I might see where you're coming from but being that it's a steel wheel, you assumption is incorrect.

 

That's all fine and dandy but, right from Chrysler...



I just went out and measured my front brake rotor and it's 12" in diameter. The rear is just shy of 11". How about you go outside and measure yours.

 

LOL!! Wasn't trying to prove anyone or anything wrong, just trying to share specific information and based on what Chrysler says about how they've built their Renegades. It is the reason why I knew there was a high likelihood that we would have problems running a 16" wheel.

I should note that for 2016, Chrysler states that ALL Renegade models will have the same larger 12" rotor up front.

 

As a matter of fact, I just got my new wheel spacers in today. I will post up some pics of how they worked out in just a few minutes

 

Okay, here's a pic of the new 1.25" wheel spacers that I just got.


Here are a few side by shot of what the 1.25" spacer looks next to a 1" spacer.






Now, here are a couple of shots to show the initial test fit of the new spacer. As you can see, the lug bolt sits beneath the mounting surface and solves the problem of running aftermarket wheels without a recess to clear the bolt heads.




Finally, here are a few shots to show how the addition of a spacer helps to give a good fit and more importantly, helps to clear the brake caliper.


It's a tight fit but the addition of the wheel spacer does allow the caliper to clear the wheel and without having to do any grinding.




This shot helps to show how the extra .25" was all that was needed to allow the wheel to mount flush onto the spacer.