Dumb question regarding factory wheels

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

L

Littlehouse

10 Year
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Threads
22
Messages
340
Did Lexus release factory black wheels like the ones on my GX below? I just looked at the spare, and it isn't black, which is going to be an issue when I get a tire carrier and put it in rotation. If it's factory, where can I get a wheel? It doesn't look like Plasti-dip...
Range Day.webp
 
It's kind of hard to see the pattern in the picture to be sure what you have.
For sure, Lexus never came out with a "black" wheel. Dark grey's which had some fancy name, silver/chrome but not black.
It kind of looks like a GX wheel since it has the "L" on the center hub. Are they 18" wheels? That's the only diameter wheel the GX has ever come with.
If you go here: GX 460 Manuals
Post #3, it will have every year owners manual and I believe there should be a post about options available which would include wheel options.
But in short, Lexus never had a black wheel for GX's. If you can, take another photo with better lighting and a little closer!
 
GX2.webp


Another shot pre-tires. Definitely 18" in the factory design, but it sounds like they were painted/powder coated. Bummer. Any ideas on how easy it would be to match the spare to these? Possibly get all 5 powder-coated to ensure a perfect match?

I've probably got 100 miles on the BFGs, so I don't really want to step up to the end goal of 17s on 285/70/17s, which then pushes me into a lift and body mount chop at this time.
 
Hard to tell from pics, but I wonder if the PO used the Lexus Black to color match them. I’d start there. If they are painted, a good body shop should be able to match them close enough that you won’t be able to tell.
 
I've seen some that have been painted (owners and dealers) but stock from factory ....gunmetal metallic or dark gray is as dark as stock rims get.

www.clublexus.com

FAQ: GX 460 Model Year Changes - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

GX - 2nd Gen (2010-2023) - FAQ: GX 460 Model Year Changes - Last update: 5.22.2022 **If you see any errors or omissions please PM me or reply to thread. I will do my best to correct Here is list of known published and discovered model year changes for US Models. Let me know the ones I’ve missed...
www.clublexus.com
 
With all due respect, how often have you EVER used your spare??
Weigh the prospect of ever using your spare by the time you're ready for those nifty 17" rims and tires to what the cost of powder coating/painting that one rim.
The only reason I could see painting/powder coating is if you're from the camp of rotating all 5 of your tires. I only rotate 4, per what my tire shop recommends. But as mentioned, it depends upon what camp you're in: 5 tire rotation or 4 tire rotation? :meh:
 
r2m said:
With all due respect, how often have you EVER used your spare??
Weigh the prospect of ever using your spare by the time you're ready for those nifty 17" rims and tires to what the cost of powder coating/painting that one rim.
The only reason I could see painting/powder coating is if you're from the camp of rotating all 5 of your tires. I only rotate 4, per what my tire shop recommends. But as mentioned, it depends upon what camp you're in: 5 tire rotation or 4 tire rotation? :meh:
Click to expand...

Your tire shop just wants to sell you tires more often.
 
r2m said:
Or they just want to sell me only 4 tires instead of 5 tires! :hmm:
Click to expand...
Tires have a life span or shelf life of about 6 years, regardless if they have been used or not. Might as well get use out of that $400+ wheel and tire assembly hanging from your vehicle.

www.tiresafetygroup.com

What is Tire Expiration Date?

Blandtown & Ardmore, GA tire expires in 6 years. North Decatur & Brookwood Hills, GA perssonal injury lawyer ATL. Call now 478-796-8244
www.tiresafetygroup.com www.tiresafetygroup.com
 
r2m said:
With all due respect, how often have you EVER used your spare??
Weigh the prospect of ever using your spare by the time you're ready for those nifty 17" rims and tires to what the cost of powder coating/painting that one rim.
The only reason I could see painting/powder coating is if you're from the camp of rotating all 5 of your tires. I only rotate 4, per what my tire shop recommends. But as mentioned, it depends upon what camp you're in: 5 tire rotation or 4 tire rotation? :meh:
Click to expand...
That’s a fair point, and the answer is once in 20 years. AWD is new to me, and these forums have pointed out that small differences in diameter can cause large problems in the drivetrain. That’s reason 1. Reason 2 is I plan to wheel this a little, and reason 3 is I’m the kind of guy that takes his spare off and gets stranded immediately. I’m taking a small road trip to Havasu in a couple weeks, and I’ve been stranded in 120 degree heat before. It sucks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: r2m
Nothing wrong with using a little caution!
And as for AWD and worn tires, to have any issue at all, it would probably have to be more than your tires being completely bald and replacing one of them with a brand new tire. Even then you would have to go hundreds of miles before you would wind up your drive train.
I'm speaking from personal experience here.
Story time...
Many years ago in a time long forgotten in a place far, far away (okay, so it was only about 20 miles down the freeway, but it was about 25 years ago...), my wife and I purchased an nice new Toyota Previa minivan with AWD. We were a young family with a baby, but I can't leave a perfectly brand new car alone. So I went and put on some very nice racy 17" wheels with 45 or 50 series tires and lowered the van about an inch. It had a very nice stance, not low-rider style but more street and it handled really nice! Hey, at the time it was the best I could do since it was mid engine and AWD!
Anyways, blew out a tire on the freeway one sunny day and mounted the factory spare. I don't recall the difference in tire sizes, but the spare was a shorter tire than the 17" shoes I shod it with. We must have gone a couple of days and maybe over a hundred miles before we completely wound up the entire drive train. We were just at the very end of our warranty, maybe another thousand miles or so? Toyota picked up the entire tab! about $3500 worth of drive train!
So, the moral of the story is:
You can run with a "slightly" different size tire for a short distance (read: to your local tire shop) and you'll be okay. Or if you're on dirt, gravel, snow, something that will allow the odd size tire to slip. The size difference between my factory spare and what I had on was significant. But between a worn down tire and a brand new one causing any short term issues? Meh.. I would still head to the tire shop and either patch the bad tire or mount 4 new ones if they're worn down enough.
 
r2m: I never had this happen to me on my former Explorer but a surefire way to take out the Borg Warner 4404 AWD viscous coupling in the '96-2001 5.0L AWD Explorers was to use a tire out of spec from the others. This was a completely mechanical system.

I did send Torsen an inquiry on this subject late last week. I will let you know if I hear anything back about concern as it relates to 460s.
 
Acrad said:
r2m: I never had this happen to me on my former Explorer but a surefire way to take out the Borg Warner 4404 AWD viscous coupling in the '96-2001 5.0L AWD Explorers was to use a tire out of spec from the others. This was a completely mechanical system.

I did send Torsen an inquiry on this subject late last week. I will let you know if I hear anything back about concern as it relates to 460s.
Click to expand...

I'm certainly interested in hearing what, if anything, they say. My wife had an Audi Q5 (2010), and it - like many new(er) AWD SUVs from Audi, BMW, MB, Volvo - did not have a full size spare. Rather, a doughnut that was MUCH smaller than the real tires/wheels. I forget specifics, but the owners manual allowed something like 100 miles of continuous driving as long as speeds were limited (to 50mph maybe?).

The X5 Xdrive (AWD) she has now has the same small doughnut instead of a spare, so the AWD system must be capable of dealing with the rotation speed differential - otherwise they wouldn't risk the warranty exposure.
 
Solid info. Thanks

So, side question here. Does that mean we can’t use snow chains on these? Or does it not matter because it’s on both sides of the same axle?
 
Snow chains will not have any impact at all.
Consider that chains on snow/ice will allow a tire/s to slip a little to "catch-up" to the other tires if in fact there is any wind up at all. That is ALSO why you only use locking differentials on dirt/gravel/snow/ice, etc.
But, truth be told, there just isn't enough O.D. difference with chains. If you're driving on clean roads with chains, you'll ruin your tires before you mess up your drive line. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom