It really happened. Finally. I know there are a lot of threads on RW wheels but why not another. I think I did something original by getting a not so common size so may be worth it for some.
So here’s the story and components I went with…
I bought the wheels off of CL locally back in July of last year. Got a great deal for 4 at 500 bucks. Wanted a fifth so got another off a member here for 200 shipped. I’m proud for being so patient. Probably could have waited a little longer but an upcoming road trip covering almost 4k miles and HIH later this summer gave me good cause for ponying up.
Although I’m not a huge fan of the dip I did the rings so it would be temporary in just in case. May powder coat down the road. 6 coats should hold up well and make it easy to remove.
Of course I did the AHC lift, dealer cranked my TB, and I recently added 30mm MAF spacers to the rear to balance out the pressures. Still working on getting the Techstream operable so I can see if specs are correct.
I originally wanted 1” spacers but they weren’t immediately available at this time. I went with Just Differentials because of the quality I’ve heard about. It is definitely there. They helped convince me the 1.25” would be fine. Because I went with a wider tire I felt a 1” would put me very close to flush with the fender or just past. The 1.25” look really good IMO, I like the wide stance and the poke past the fender. There will be a little pounding necessary though.
Speaking of tires. I was set on 305/65 from the beginning. I don’t necessarily like how flat looking the RW’s are so I wanted more bulk to the tire. That didn’t leave a lot of choices but luckily BFG had them in the KO2. It came down to these and the Cooper ST Maxx. I know the Cooper would have been great so it came down to the look of the KO2. My wife’s cousin works for Discount so feel I got a good deal for the five. I also had them put in new pressure sensors.
I couldn’t find anything on the www about the torque specs of the spacers so I went ahead and called JD. Carl himself picked up and it was a true pleasure speaking with him. He went over the proper install techniques and gave me the torque specs, 110. Super helpful. Will get to meet him at HIH hopefully.
Got going on the install after work today. Went pretty smooth. Sanded and cleaned the axle and wheels really good to make for a nice mounting surface. Added some Loctite to the studs and hand tightened the bolts in a star pattern, wiggling the spacer as I tightened each time. Tightened a little further with my ratchet before taking the torque wrench to them (picked up a Tekken ½” drive off of Amazon). I had purchased the TRD lug set long ago locally from Camelback Toyota as well and used the same technique for the wheels. After getting that first one on and seeing what it looked like it was on, could not wait to finish so threw down the hammer.
The last custom touch were the center caps. I ordered brand new also from Camelback Toyota. I’m sure someone has done this but I hadn’t seen it so I painted the TRD with my sons black model paint. Took a steady hand and a magnifying glass to try to get them as perfect as possible, although not you can’t tell until way up close. I did pretty darn good though I feel.
The first drive went very well. There’s nothing like new tires. I was really surprised and how quiet these are for an AT. Discount tire said the combo balanced very well and I must have done good with getting the lug centric spacers right as there is no vibration or wobble at all (again probably the quality product but I’ll take a little credit). Wifey is super psyched as well, she’s so cool.
Thanks for MUD and all others who’ve posted about these wheels.
So here’s the story and components I went with…
I bought the wheels off of CL locally back in July of last year. Got a great deal for 4 at 500 bucks. Wanted a fifth so got another off a member here for 200 shipped. I’m proud for being so patient. Probably could have waited a little longer but an upcoming road trip covering almost 4k miles and HIH later this summer gave me good cause for ponying up.
Although I’m not a huge fan of the dip I did the rings so it would be temporary in just in case. May powder coat down the road. 6 coats should hold up well and make it easy to remove.
Of course I did the AHC lift, dealer cranked my TB, and I recently added 30mm MAF spacers to the rear to balance out the pressures. Still working on getting the Techstream operable so I can see if specs are correct.
I originally wanted 1” spacers but they weren’t immediately available at this time. I went with Just Differentials because of the quality I’ve heard about. It is definitely there. They helped convince me the 1.25” would be fine. Because I went with a wider tire I felt a 1” would put me very close to flush with the fender or just past. The 1.25” look really good IMO, I like the wide stance and the poke past the fender. There will be a little pounding necessary though.
Speaking of tires. I was set on 305/65 from the beginning. I don’t necessarily like how flat looking the RW’s are so I wanted more bulk to the tire. That didn’t leave a lot of choices but luckily BFG had them in the KO2. It came down to these and the Cooper ST Maxx. I know the Cooper would have been great so it came down to the look of the KO2. My wife’s cousin works for Discount so feel I got a good deal for the five. I also had them put in new pressure sensors.
I couldn’t find anything on the www about the torque specs of the spacers so I went ahead and called JD. Carl himself picked up and it was a true pleasure speaking with him. He went over the proper install techniques and gave me the torque specs, 110. Super helpful. Will get to meet him at HIH hopefully.
Got going on the install after work today. Went pretty smooth. Sanded and cleaned the axle and wheels really good to make for a nice mounting surface. Added some Loctite to the studs and hand tightened the bolts in a star pattern, wiggling the spacer as I tightened each time. Tightened a little further with my ratchet before taking the torque wrench to them (picked up a Tekken ½” drive off of Amazon). I had purchased the TRD lug set long ago locally from Camelback Toyota as well and used the same technique for the wheels. After getting that first one on and seeing what it looked like it was on, could not wait to finish so threw down the hammer.
The last custom touch were the center caps. I ordered brand new also from Camelback Toyota. I’m sure someone has done this but I hadn’t seen it so I painted the TRD with my sons black model paint. Took a steady hand and a magnifying glass to try to get them as perfect as possible, although not you can’t tell until way up close. I did pretty darn good though I feel.
The first drive went very well. There’s nothing like new tires. I was really surprised and how quiet these are for an AT. Discount tire said the combo balanced very well and I must have done good with getting the lug centric spacers right as there is no vibration or wobble at all (again probably the quality product but I’ll take a little credit). Wifey is super psyched as well, she’s so cool.
Thanks for MUD and all others who’ve posted about these wheels.
