Question about tires and rims. Through a friend of a friend that that knew I had a JK, I lucked into a set of these:
http://www.aev-conversions.com/shop/products/wheels/jk-savegre-wheels-non-beadlock There are apparently defects, but I can only find signs on one of the 5 rims. I've tested and four of the rims fit my 2010 just fine with the 5th just slightly off. These rims are 17" whereas, the stock rims on mine are 18". I have just over 40,000 miles on my current tires and they still have a decent tread on them. My Jeep has stock everything including suspension. I'm thinking I could put more of a winter/off road tire on the new rims which would give me the ability to rotate tires. So, what should I be looking for in tires? With rims that are an inch smaller, do I need a larger tire to make up the difference (dumb question, but thought I'd ask) and how much tire can my stock suspension accommodate? Is Tire Rack the place to look for tires or are there other sites that are better?
I'm not sure exactly what you're asking as your post kinda rambles from defects to tire types and rim sizes and stuff, but I THINK you're trying to find winter/offroad tires for the rims.
For a winter tire you'll want to go with a mud terrain tire with large blocky tread and good gap between blocks to clear snow from them when needed. I would also suggest 12.5" wide tires for good floatation on snow when aired down. Thinner 10.5" tires will tend to sink in. There are contrary schools of thought on that (some like idea of sinking through for traction) but with you being stock hight, you'll rapidly start running into axle clearance issues.
I would keep the same outside diameter of what you have, but just adjust the inside diameter. (height x rim x width)
Example... if you're driving a 33x18x10.5, I would get a 33x17x12.5 for your off road / snow tire.