Radius R6 Alloy Wheels
By Chris Henry

In the search for an aftermarket wheel to set my WJ apart from the pack, I searched high and low and came up with very few wheels to choose from. Daimler-Chrysler chose a new pattern for the WJ, a 5 on 5" lug pattern. There just aren't many wheels in that size with the correct offset as of yet. My stock 2001 WJ Limited came with 17" wheels and I wanted to go up to 18". In 18", the choices narrow to a handful. There is a the beautiful but expensive Lorinser RS-3 18" x 10" (very wide). HRE Wheels make some very nice wheels as well but they too were very expensive at over $700 a wheel. The AT Italia Riva and ROH ZS are both great looking wheels but they are only available as larger as 17". Then I came across the Radius R6 18" x 9" wheel for under $275 a wheel. Radius and Moda are just different branding names, they are the same wheel with different centercaps. The wheel is plain but stylish. It is an open design which I wasn't sure about because some brake rotor assemblies are just plain ugly to look at, but the WJ has a pretty clean looking setup.

Some of the potential aftermarket wheels are shown above. The Lorinser RS-3 18" x 10"(left), the HRE Wheels 646 17", 18", 19", 20" (middle), and the AT Italia Riva 17" x 8" (right).

I settled on the Radius/Moda R6 18" x 9" wheel (shown above).

Because I wanted a street performance wheel and tire combination I wanted a large and wide wheel that could put lots of rubber on the road and look great. The Radius R6's fit the bill and at a great price. The Tire Rack recommends 255/55R18 tires for this wheel. I chose to go to a radical 285/50R18 Yokohama AVS S/T tire instead. One thing to note, this is a wide wheel. I wouldn't recommend anything narrower than 255's and even with 255's you'll have to be careful not to scrape your wheels on the curb when parking. Wide wheels are great for handling because they can actually spread a tire out and make a tire of the same diameter have a greater actual contact width on the road. They are tall and wide and although light for their size they are still going to be heavier than most 16" and 17" wheels so bear that in mind. If your goal is to build a street Jeep to hit the quarter mile strip with, you will want a smaller, narrower and lighter wheel. If you want a big and wide wheel that looks great and can handle an extreme tire with ease, this are for you.

Click the image above for a high res blow-up

There isn't a better value in the 18" wheel size currently and while there may be some better looking wheels in existence... they are designed and priced for Mercedes tuners.

http://www.radius-autotech.com