New wheel choice

[Chris Sandstorm FJ]

My only beef with the aftermarket rims, are that often they are wider. A wider rim affects the tire height, which effects clearance.

The WEDS are super nice, do they come in a 17x8?

 

[FNWheels]

My only beef with the aftermarket rims, are that often they are wider. A wider rim affects the tire height, which effects clearance.

The WEDS are super nice, do they come in a 17x8?

Usually aftermarket wheels are made wider to accommodate wider tires or give an improved stance vs. OEM wheels (which tend to be on the narrow side).

With that said, the dimensions of the Weds wheels are still fairly conservative, so while you can install wider and taller tires, they won't dramatically change the tire dimensions. 285/60R18 installed on these 18x9" Weds Adventure Hase Spec wheels will fit perfectly on a stock Landcruiser 100. As you can see from Source Hydrographics photos, there really aren't any clearance issues with these wheels. Weds did their homework when they came out with the Hase Spec (Weds is actually a division of a larger manufacturer that supplies wheels to Toyota).

Weds does not make a 17x8" version though. Sorry about that. But why not give the 18x9" a try? They look great!

 

[r2m]

Weds does not make a 17x8" version though. Sorry about that. But why not give the 18x9" a try? They look great!

I'd say it's a wee bit costly to give wheels a "try" at several hundreds dollars apeice, and that's if you only want to stay with 4 and not go with the matching one for the rear bumper.

 

[hoser]

IMO, you would need a micrometer to measure an overall diameter difference between an 8 and 9" width wheel for a 295/70R18 tire.

 

[FNWheels]

I'd say it's a wee bit costly to give wheels a "try" at several hundreds dollars apeice, and that's if you only want to stay with 4 and not go with the matching one for the rear bumper.

There's not much of a "try" if you like the wheels, and it's already been definitively established that the wheels fit properly. =) This is one of the very few wheels that is made pretty much specifically for the Landcruiser with 5x150 hubs. There are very few options for you guys that were actually made just to fit your vehicles, rather than have the specs adapted from something else.

IMO, you would need a micrometer to measure an overall diameter difference between an 8 and 9" width wheel for a 295/70R18 tire.

100% agreed. To add to that statement as well: if a wheel is narrower the center of the tire will tend to convex in the center, creating an overall diameter that actually bulges to be taller in the middle of the tire. So the wider wheel will have less (albeit minimally) overall diameter than the same tire with a narrower wheel. A wider wheel spreads the tire out more flat/square, which creates a more uniform height, better tread wear, stability, and so on. If the concern is clearance due to height, the wider wheel will actually improve the clearance and give a you more predictable fitment.

 

[Source Hydrographics]

Quick update - I lowered the front slightly and got it level. Fixed 2 failing CV boot clamps as well. I had it aligned this morning and everything went back into spec after the lift. About 300 miles on the street only, but no issues besides a slight rub on the upper control arm at full lock and hold. I adjusted the turn stops out a few turns which fixed that. No rubbing on the plastic fender liner/pinch weld area yet either so I left that intact.

Sorry I cannot comment on clearances offroad. I would love to try it out, but have no clue where to go in my area.

 

[Bomar]

Freakin' sweet looking.

 

[FNWheels]

The WEDS are super nice, do they come in a 17x8?

I also wanted to add that if we had enough demand for a 17x8" in the exact specs that everyone wanted, we (FN Wheels) can have a wheel produced as part of line-up of wheels for the Landcruiser 100. We'd just need to have everyone come to a consensus on the design and specs, and then we can have the wheels produced.

 

[hoser]

I'd like to see the BFD 18" wheel (post #1) in a different offset. Maybe 18x8 or 18x8.5 in a +40mm offset. I like 285 or 295 width, 35's and currently, they seem to be only available on 18's.

How much "demand" is enough?

 

[FNWheels]

I'd like to see the BFD 18" wheel (post #1) in a different offset. Maybe 18x8 or 18x8.5 in a +40mm offset. I like 285 or 295 width, 35's and currently, they seem to be only available on 18's.

How much "demand" is enough?

The more demand we have the more reasonable a price we can offer for the wheels.

We can manufacture a wheel with as little demand as 4-5 sets, but the cost per set will be high due to the costs incurred to develop and test a new mould.

50-75 sets (200-250 wheels) would be an optimal demand, but we could definitely offer reasonable pricing and develop a new mould with an order of 20-25 sets (100 wheels). Everyone would need to agree on the width and offset, and then we can offer different colors and finishes as long as we receive orders for 28 wheels per color/finish.

I think an 18x8.5" +35mm to +40mm offset version of the BFD would be a good choice. Please also keep in mind that if the BFD is made narrower and with a higher offset the spokes will need to be flatter than the current BFD that is 9" wide with a lower offset.

We are definitely eager and willing to work with our 5x150 equipped Landcruiser customers to bring you guys the styles and fitments you want with the lowest minimum order requirements possible.

 

[bluecruiser]

i am interested...would love a different offset in an 18in.

 

[r2m]

100% agreed. To add to that statement as well: if a wheel is narrower the center of the tire will tend to convex in the center, creating an overall diameter that actually bulges to be taller in the middle of the tire. So the wider wheel will have less (albeit minimally) overall diameter than the same tire with a narrower wheel. A wider wheel spreads the tire out more flat/square, which creates a more uniform height, better tread wear, stability, and so on. If the concern is clearance due to height, the wider wheel will actually improve the clearance and give a you more predictable fitment.

One of the primary reasons for a narrower wheel is that when you air down you aren't as likely to roll or pop a tire off the rim when you're looking for that maximum foot print for traction.

 

[FNWheels]

One of the primary reasons for a narrower wheel is that when you air down you aren't as likely to roll or pop a tire off the rim when you're looking for that maximum foot print for traction.

That statement is definitely true as well, however I would still recommend staying within the manufacturer's approved rim widths. The tire manufacturers provide a range of widths that are safe to use with their tires. For offroading it's not a bad idea to stay at the low-end / minimum approved width, but I wouldn't recommend going with a narrower wheel than what has been approved, just as I wouldn't recommend going with a wider than approved wheel.(stretching the tires)

If you guys like the designs we offer, but want them in a narrower wheel, we can definitely accommodate your requests. Maybe this is something that we can use to start putting a formal group-buy order together.

 

[fireball]

Bump! Anyone interested in a 17" FN wheel? I saw them on the Dirtroadtrip.com trucks this weekend and really like them. 17" should be a pretty popular option for the 100 series with the KM2 285/75/17 and the new AT2 offering at 34x10.5x17

@FNWheels, would we really need to get 25 folks committed to do a 17" 100-series specific rim? That might be too tall of an order...

 

[Bomar]

17" I am in...

 

[SALTY METHODS]

17" would be my vote.

 

[Pork Soda]

I'd be in for a 17" also, but does anyone know if @FNWheels is still around? last post was from June 2012.

 

[92LXAZ]

I know it doesn't always mean still in business but the website still works so someone is paying the bill. Maybe try contacting them through the site.

 

[FNWheels]

I know it doesn't always mean still in business but the website still works so someone is paying the bill. Maybe try contacting them through the site.

Thanks everyone. We are definitely still in business (as someone mentioned, they just saw one of our latest designs on DirtRoadTrip.com).

We can definitely produce a 17" model for you guys.

Here's why we would really like to be able to get 25 sets together :

There is a cost for properly developing a mold, which includes research, design, prototyping, internal testing, third party certification and verification (more testing), and final production of the mold before the first wheel is produced. This typically costs close to $10,000.

We can definitely cut the minimum down to a 10 set order (our factory minimum requirement for a production run). If each order was for a set of five (5) wheels, that'd be 50 wheels. $10,000 / 50 = $200 per wheel that needs to be recouped just to pay for the mold development. This doesn't include the cost of the actual wheel, so your final cost per wheel is likely to be closer to $400 (+/-).

At 25 sets we can better spread out the cost of that mold. If we can get to that 25 set number it also gives us a little more confidence that this will be an application that has some popularity. If we feel that it will be popular we will order additional wheels on the opening order, and bring the cost down further.

Because the 5x150 bolt pattern is so much wider than typical bolt patterns, and because you all would like a very specific offset (which is a great thing - you'll get a wheel that fits perfectly), it is very limiting on what we can do with the mold. If we make a 17x8" or 17x8.5" (or an 18x8" or 18x8.5") wheel with an offset somewhere in the neighborhood of +40mm, hub bore of 110mm, and a 5x150mm bolt pattern we will have a wheel that is made exclusively for the late-model Landcruiser platform. We wouldn't be able to use the same mold for any other bolt pattern.

I really enjoy special projects and niche fitments, and I'd really like to make a cool wheel for you guys that fits exactly like you want. We just have to get enough orders together to make it happen, or we have to get everyone comfortable with the idea of paying a premium for what will essentially be custom made wheels.

I'm open to any feedback or comments.

Thanks,

Dustin
FN Wheels

 

[fireball]

Hey Dustin,

Thanks for the detailed explanation - very helpful! Unfortunately I doubt it would be possible to pre-sell 25 sets. 10 might be a bit of a stretch, but at a certain price it would be doable. The other alternative right now for a 17" wheel is the TRD 17x8, and these can be had new for ~$350 each. So your pricing would have to be a lot closer to 200/wheel than 400/wheel to get folks excited. Sounds like unfortunately that won't be able to happen. Also understand that this is a very specific wheel, and a very small market of 100-series owners who are looking for 17s.

Although as stated above I think the 17 will become a much more popular choice with two very nicely sized options, the 285.75.17 Mud terrain and the new 34x10.5 AT2.

It would be great if you guys could make a semi-custom wheel that didn't require spacers or adapters and was a great fit for our truck, I'm just afraid the numbers aren't there... $200-250/wheel I think we could pre-sell 10 sets. Any more quantity or any higher price we'd have to find a lot of buyers coming out of the woodwork!