17" FJ Steelies on my 05 4R...

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The Jade Bean

The Jade Bean

Loving riding motos on trails with my son!
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10 Year
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Location
Hurst, Texas
Want your thoughts...
I'm thinking of going from my matching OME alloys on my 2005 4Runner and Expedition trailer to 17" FJCruiser Steelies. The question is I'm wanting to run/weld-on rim stiffeners and I'm unsure as to whether that would only be a good idea to use for off-road or is street use ok too? I was told that the rim stiffeners would make it hard to balance the wheels and thus rendering them not the best choice for on-road use.

I'm not interested in 2 sets of rims and tires so that's not an option. If the rim stiffeners aren't the best idea do you think it's worth going from alloys the Steelies for durability?

So you know what we will be using our rig for... We are building it up as a full on expedition rig for our tourism based company we started in Honduras and it will be shipped there in roughly a year or two when we move. The rig will be put through the ringer in the mountains and rivers and there is tons of rocks...literally. :D

Thanks in advance for your helpful thoughts!
~Daniel
 
IMHO if you are going to add a rock ring you might as well run beadlocks. About the same price and a little more work to install:meh:. Either way it would be better then the stock alloys in the rocks. BB's in the tire would help balance it, if that is a concern.
 
40Habits said:
IMHO if you are going to add a rock ring you might as well run beadlocks. About the same price and a little more work to install:meh:. Either way it would be better then the stock alloys in the rocks. BB's in the tire would help balance it, if that is a concern.
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From what I've seen beadlocks are not the same price or even close...I'm looking at roughly $125 a rim w/the rim stifeners and I need 8 total so any savings adds up. ;)

Run BB's...like rifle BB's in the tire?...sry just never heard of that. Very interesting and would love some more info on that!

Balance is defiantly a concern as we will be going from upwards of 6hrs of highway driving, to cobble stone roads, to moderately tough trails and possibly some extreme.

Thanks for your thoughts!

~Daniel
 
I was talking about the weld on beadlocks that are around $200 for a set of four. If you can pick up the steel wheels for cheap it is not a bad option.

Some guys run copper bb's and some swear by the airsoft bb's for balancing. Another option that would probably work the best, is the stick on lead.

Do you have a lift? What size tires are you going to run?
 
Why 17''? From what I understand 16'' is much more versatile as far as tire selection and availability goes.
 
40Habits said:
I was talking about the weld on beadlocks that are around $200 for a set of four. If you can pick up the steel wheels for cheap it is not a bad option.

Some guys run copper bb's and some swear by the airsoft bb's for balancing. Another option that would probably work the best, is the stick on lead.

Do you have a lift? What size tires are you going to run?
Click to expand...

I didn't know there was a weld on version of beadlocks...I wonder how hard that makes tire removal.

I'll have to try to find a thread on the BB theory to find out how many BB's are needed, etc.

I have 3" Ironman lift with heavy springs and foam filled rear shocks.

I'm running BFGoodrich KM2's LT265/70R17's
I've been told I should run a bigger tire, but this seems to work good and when I flexed my suspension the other day my tire squatted perfectly in my wheel wheel.

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RiverRatMatt said:
Why 17''? From what I understand 16'' is much more versatile as far as tire selection and availability goes.
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Yes they are and I wanted them, but 16" barely clear the disk brakes.

EDIT: Besides now I've already spent serious coin on tires. :(
 
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Adventure Copan said:
Yes they are and I wanted them, but 16" barely clear the disk brakes.

EDIT: Besides now I've already spent serious coin on tires. :(
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Ahh, fair enough. Les Schwab wanted $340 for one BFG AT in my size installed on my spare rim -.-

:cheers:
 
RiverRatMatt said:
Ahh, fair enough. Les Schwab wanted $340 for one BFG AT in my size installed on my spare rim -.-

:cheers:
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Eek... I paid $280ish a tire!
 
So I found some weld on beadlocks and they are pretty cool...I'm thinking that could be a good route to go.
 
Your 4Runner looks good and I think your tire size is right. I might be biased because mine looks almost the same, minus the bumpers.

What beadlocks are you thinking?

100_0799.jpg
 
im gonna be putting these on my 2nd gen 4Runner... they look damn good sitting on my garage floor. cant wait to get a set of 35s for them!
 
CALL YOUR LOCAL TOYOTA PARTS GUY! seriously I got 5 for $100 they are not desirable with the "new fj" owners in my area and he must have had 16 to 20 in fact I'm planning to get 3 more for a trailer project. The parts manager at my local toyota dealer was thrilled to sell them. If you do the Bead Locks please post lots of pictures they were out there on my very distant radar.
 
tat2matt said:
CALL YOUR LOCAL TOYOTA PARTS GUY! seriously I got 5 for $100 they are not desirable with the "new fj" owners in my area and he must have had 16 to 20 in fact I'm planning to get 3 more for a trailer project. The parts manager at my local toyota dealer was thrilled to sell them. If you do the Bead Locks please post lots of pictures they were out there on my very distant radar.
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Right on!...I'll call them tomorrow and I'll post up what happens. Thanks for the idea!
 
tat2matt - I don't know where you live, but I called 5 Toyota dealerships in my area and none of them had any steelies laying around...they apparently give them to the scrap guys on a regular basis! Ahhhhh! Thanks for the suggestion though. :D
 
Kittenhugger said:
Check wrecking yards for 4 spare tire wheels, they look the same and are OEM.
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Yeah that's next on my list...I have a lead on a guy, but I have to drive to Dallas to check on it so maybe Fri. I can make it over there.
 
Have you considered internal bead locks? They are much lighter and road legal. Steel bead locks + steel wheels will add significant unsprung weight to your truck and say bye bye gas mileage. Just a thought.
 
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