Why Shouldn’t I stick with OEM/Cheap wheels? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

kms254

SILVER Star
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Threads
5
Messages
190
Location
Lafayette, CO
Background:

After buying my LX I got a set of tires for the 20” and told myself I’ll replace the wheels and tires later. I am thinking now is “later

Last winter I cleaned up each wheel and plastic dipped the wheels. One unforeseen outcome of this was it is easy to see how beat up my wheels got after one summer of more moderate+ trails.

some sample photos:
81AF146F-EC99-43E9-8130-79FA017EA207.jpeg
7FF40080-C3F1-4283-A8B3-5D5B6A351F44.jpeg
F9675D76-AEBE-4DB6-A40E-60E03F0FF081.jpeg


So after seeing this much damage for just one year I have a hard time spending 1000+ on wheels when they will just get beaten up. I do want to go down from the 20” wheel to 18”. So I’m thinking of finding some cheap tundra wheels and painting. By painting the wheels I can touch them up and repaint when needed vs powder coating . By getting an easy to find tundra wheel I can replace them for cheap. I think this is why rock warriors are so common to swap out but they are harder to find and for 2-3x the price it’s hard to justify for the 1/2” more sidewall between the wheel and the ground.

Am I wrong here? Will going down to 18” wheel suddenly make this damage disappear? Do people just not care with their expensive wheels?
 
Background:

After buying my LX I got a set of tires for the 20” and told myself I’ll replace the wheels and tires later. I am thinking now is “later

Last winter I cleaned up each wheel and plastic dipped the wheels. One unforeseen outcome of this was it is easy to see how beat up my wheels got after one summer of more moderate+ trails.

some sample photos:
View attachment 2539675View attachment 2539676View attachment 2539677

So after seeing this much damage for just one year I have a hard time spending 1000+ on wheels when they will just get beaten up. I do want to go down from the 20” wheel to 18”. So I’m thinking of finding some cheap tundra wheels and painting. By painting the wheels I can touch them up and repaint when needed vs powder coating . By getting an easy to find tundra wheel I can replace them for cheap. I think this is why rock warriors are so common to swap out but they are harder to find and for 2-3x the price it’s hard to justify for the 1/2” more sidewall between the wheel and the ground.

Am I wrong here? Will going down to 18” wheel suddenly make this damage disappear? Do people just not care with their expensive wheels?
Some will go away with 18's but not all. I have 17's and still have scars on mine from wheeling. I don't let it bother me.
 
There are other advantages to rock warriors justifying the price, though I think that break over point is shifting.

They are very light, a better offset for taller tires to keep scrub radius correct, strong enough for a landcruiser (not a given in aftermarket wheels), designed for larger brakes despite the 17” size, and the ring around the edge helps protect the spokes from damage, though not absolutely.

But, they aren’t the best looking IMO, and yes getting harder to find.

If you go with tundra wheels make sure they are the full 8” width, many tundras came with 265s and I believe narrower wheels.

I think many of your arguments are sound. OE wheels are heavier than some other options but come designed specifically for us. You could get some landcruiser takeoffs when people upgrade, very cheap, full set of five, and between the offset/size/lugs/everything there is a ton of data on how they will work. There was a guy selling base 2020 wheels on eBay. They were taken off of heritage editions before they get the BBS ones added, in perfect shape, and at one point only $90 shipped. I can’t find the listing anymore though, maybe someone else can step up.
 
I think the stock 18" LC rims are the way to go for economy. People almost give them away. Like seriously, take them for free up to a few hundred bucks a set. I bet if you asked here, you could have five sets for a great deal in a week.

The Tundra rims are good too, but deals are harder to come by for the nicer looking ones.

Tundra TRD rims are nice, but I haven't found any steals of deals. The silver on black seem more common and price competitive.

Rock warriors seem to be escalating in price and more scarce to find, probably just a supply/demand issue. There are still occasional deals to be found.

I don't know why anyone would use a 20+ inch rim on a vehicle you even occasionally take off-road.
 
There are other advantages to rock warriors justifying the price, though I think that break over point is shifting.

They are very light, a better offset for taller tires to keep scrub radius correct, strong enough for a landcruiser (not a given in aftermarket wheels), designed for larger brakes despite the 17” size, and the ring around the edge helps protect the spokes from damage, though not absolutely.

But, they aren’t the best looking IMO, and yes getting harder to find.

If you go with tundra wheels make sure they are the full 8” width, many tundras came with 265s and I believe narrower wheels.

I think many of your arguments are sound. OE wheels are heavier than some other options but come designed specifically for us. You could get some landcruiser takeoffs when people upgrade, very cheap, full set of five, and between the offset/size/lugs/everything there is a ton of data on how they will work. There was a guy selling base 2020 wheels on eBay. They were taken off of heritage editions before they get the BBS ones added, in perfect shape, and at one point only $90 shipped. I can’t find the listing anymore though, maybe someone else can step up.
I didn’t know about the possibility of narrow widths so thank you. Looks like I can get my choice of the black/polished(300)or the reseeded 5 spoke(200) locally.. I’ll check out eBay as well. I do worry about being able to find LC wheels in the future..
 
I think the stock 18" LC rims are the way to go for economy. People almost give them away. Like seriously, take them for free up to a few hundred bucks a set. I bet if you asked here, you could have five sets for a great deal in a week.

The Tundra rims are good too, but deals are harder to come by for the nicer looking ones.

Tundra TRD rims are nice, but I haven't found any steals of deals. The silver on black seem more common and price competitive.

Rock warriors seem to be escalating in price and more scarce to find, probably just a supply/demand issue. There are still occasional deals to be found.

I don't know why anyone would use a 20+ inch rim on a vehicle you even occasionally take off-road.
The 20” wheels have gotten me through a few years. Inexperience, rush to get something for snow after I bought the LX(had worn out nexan tires)...and compromise.

These wheels/tires have gotten me through a lot so far and I didn’t feel like I was at a disadvantage at this past years LCDC with any of the more built 200s.

I’ll have to look around Denver area to see if I can find any cheap LC wheels I’m sure there are some taking up space in a garage.
 
I found a lot of the 18x8 aluminum Tundra wheels around my area. Just watch your marketplace of choice for a bit. There is a wheel weight thread around, but some Tundra variants are 29 lbs, which is a good weight for an 18.
one thing to watch out for is wheels with old tires on them. Make sure when including tires in the deal to check the tire build date stamped on the tire.
I suggest though that you shop the 17” options, such as Icon or Evo corse. It will cost more but there are more 17” tire options, and the overall package will weight less
 
The sentiment that OEM wheels are "cheap" is a huge misnomer. From Ford Superduties to our 200's, the OEMs are hard to beat as long as you like the size and style. The quality is better than most aftermarket wheels.
 
The sentiment that OEM wheels are "cheap" is a huge misnomer. From Ford Superduties to our 200's, the OEMs are hard to beat as long as you like the size and style. The quality is better than most aftermarket wheels.
This.
 
Rather than a lateral move of downsizing wheels to get incrementally more sidewall, there's always the other option which is to increase overall tire diameter. It would also bring with it next level benefits to tackle more difficult terrain, including more clearance, traction, and floatation.

Beefy 34s should stuff in with relatively little work
1609400867054.png


I'm partial to OEM wheels as very little in the aftermarket will even come close in quality. If you do step down in wheel size, OEMs and 34s are still a great way to go.
1609400832360.png
 
Last edited:
Rather than a lateral move of downsizing wheels to get incrementally more sidewall, there's always the other option which is to increase overall tire diameter. It would also bring with it next level benefits to tackle more difficult terrain, including more clearance, traction, and floatation.

Beefy 34s should stuff in with relatively little work
View attachment 2540084

I'm partial to OEM wheels as very little in the aftermarket will even come close in quality. If you do step down in wheel size, OEMs and 34s are still a great way to go.
View attachment 2540082
What’s the largest tire you can mount on 20” OEM wheels without wheel spacers?
 
What’s the largest tire you can mount on 20” OEM wheels without wheel spacers?
This.....just need to find some 20 inchers.
 
What’s the largest tire you can mount on 20” OEM wheels without wheel spacers?

Short answer - The OPs tire size, 285/60R20 is likely close to as large as one can go without spacers.
 
And I still am running 0.75” spacers... with an “almost/roundup” 34.

You're right. For some reason, the reference I was using spec'd 285/60R20s as a 33.0" diameter when it's closer to 33.5" for typical ATs. That certainly qualifies as a 34s. It's probably also is just too tall to fit without spacers. Those .75" spacers are perfect as they put the scrub radius just right.
 
You're right. For some reason, the reference I was using spec'd 285/60R20s as a 33.0" diameter when it's closer to 33.5" for typical ATs. That certainly qualifies as a 34s. It's probably also is just too tall to fit without spacers. Those .75" spacers are perfect as they put the scrub radius just right.
So is it worth all the fuss to even go down to 18 or stick out the 20” and just clean them up once a year..
 
I’d only do it if you care about sidewall for off-roading, and in that case you should go down to 17s if at all possible, and do it all at once.
 
So is it worth all the fuss to even go down to 18 or stick out the 20” and just clean them up once a year..

Depends where your priorities are. I'll qualify and say my goals are different than many as I want a balance of qualities. The 20s help me meet that, particularly now with 35s. I drive harder than most and enjoy some handling competency as a previous track junky. Which is why I'm particular to tire width, suspension, and geometry.

The 20s were perfect with 33s holding up to some really hard cornering on mountain backroad. With 35s, COG increase with more sidewall, turn-in and tire stability are softer, and I run higher pressures to compensate. Towing also sees sway stability benefits with 20s. Given where I am now, I know I wouldn't be happy with how low the limits may become with smaller wheels. Off-road, the rig is a beast and I have no want to bias further that way, at least with smaller wheels.

Depending on the type of off-road you do, I think you can gain a little more rim protection with incrementally taller and wider tires. It's a personal call but I felt I could gain more performance addressing other aspects rather than "investing" in smaller wheels.
 
I’ve been doing some thinking, maybe 17”a are the way to go in the future but not right now. Are the 20”s ideal? No. Have they limited me yet? Not that I know of....

I have scraped skids, touched my front bumper and “customized” my rear bumper(many times). So for now until the 20” wheels hold me back I think I’m going to focus on skids, rear bumper, and front bumper.

This was a good thought experiment and I appreciate everyone’s input. You have convinced me of going down in wheel size but I think other protection items are higher up the list before an unknown performance benefit.
 
Last edited:
This was a good thought experiment and I appreciate everyone’s input. You have convinced me of going down in wheel size but I think other protection items are higher up the list before an unknown performance benefit.
Solid plan.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom