Fuel Menace Wheels on Sting Grey Jeep Rubicon w/ Nitto Ridge Grapplers

I recently purchased and installed a newly designed and released Fuel Wheel on my Sting Grey Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited JLU 2019.

The Fuel Menace Wheels come in an Anthracite and Machined color combination which, to me, is much better than the black wheels everyone is sporting nowadays.  They come in 17" with 4.5" or 5" backspacing and are listed as Fuel Model D684.   As of this writing (early summer 2020), they are not that easy to come by.  Quadratec was the only place that had them.

I have a non-lifted 2019 Jeep Rubicon JLU (4 door) in Sting Grey.  I wanted to maintain the excellent road quality while having a slightly more aggressive look to the vehicle.  I didn't want to get involved in lifts (the Rubicon JL has a stock 1" lift already), but was interested in something a bit different than the standard ride.  I decided to go with a tire I have some history with, the Nitto Ridge Grappler.  I have owned both BFG KO2 tires and Nitto Ridge Grapplers in the past. 

I think the road quality of the stock Rubicon 33" BFG KO2 is slightly better, and just a tad quieter, but I attribute that to the fact that the Ridge Grapplers are both bigger and much wider than the stock Rubicon 33"s.  The Ridge Grapplers have a much better aggressive appearance and handle slightly better offroad; while still maintaining a decent ride quality.

Ultimately, I paired the Fuel Menace wheels with 5" backspacing with LT305/70R17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my Jeep JLU Rubicon 2019 in Sting Grey.   This gets me a 35" tire experience without worrying about tire rub or needing a lift.   The Nitto's measure 34.4 x 12.4" at this size.  For reference purposes, the KO2's 35" tire (KO2 35X12.5R17LT) actually measures at 34.5" x 12.5", just a hair bigger in both directions than the Ridge Grapplers.

I think the combination looks great.   The fact that no lift is required is a huge bonus.  The tires do stick out from the fender just a tiny bit, I would say just under 2 inches.  They might just fail the coin drop test, but you'd need a really aggressive cop to pull you over for it.

The Fuel Menace 17" Rim with Nitto Ridge Grapplers fit onto the stock tire carrier with enough clearance and no rub too.

Buy: Nitto Ridge Grappler - LT305/70R17 
Buy: BFGoodrich alternative 35" KO2 - 35X12.5R17LT 
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