Should I give up trying find Tundra steel wheels?

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perrobravo said:
Steelies as "poverty package"... That's awesome! I hadn't considered that, but like the balance it provides. Should help toward my 100 series zen. Steelies are the poverty yin and my luxury rooftop tent or fridge yang.
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LOL I like that you are balancing your Chi :)

For me it's a preference thing, I dig steel wheels. Reminds me of the Camel Trophy trucks and old Land Rovers, Jeeps, Broncos...

Frankly after a few years trail riding I haven't done any real damage to any of my wheels. I have destroyed and damaged some tires. I think that the ratio of rim width to tire series/width is important. 31x10.5 tires on 8" wide rims got chewed up pretty bad, goose eggs on the sidewalls and popped beads. 33x11.5 tires and 33x10" tires on 7" rims have been very happy.

Unfortunately it's hard to find aftermarket rims that are less than 8" wide, steel or not. I was happy to go to OEM steel rims on my Jeep, I like the more narrow stance from backspacing, and fender protection.

Happy hunting on the Tundra wheels! I can see the attraction.
 
I actually just found a set locally with some 285/65 BFG ATs and I sanded and repainted them to match my sliders. I LOVE the way they look, and so far I'm actually getting a little better mpg than my 285/75/16 Duratracs. I pulled a trailer last weekend with the dirt bikes in the back and it seemed that braking took a little bit of a hit with the wheels, but it wasn't much of a difference. As much as I love the look, I may go back to my 16s because I just scored a really good deal on some used 295s for the 16" rims...or I'm thinking about selling all the 16" related stuff and putting new tires on the Tundra wheels..

wheels.webp
 
These were clearly NOT offered in the South East. Since posting this, I've checked Craigslist everyday (well, every few days, and going back a few days). I've checked Richmond, Charlotte, Raleigh and other cities that have been along the way of various trips.. and there have been ZERO sets of 18" Tundra steelies. Tons (!) of the 5-spoke steel wheels. It looks like the other "standard" steel wheel was only used as the spare. So, to get a set, it'll be an Ebay or one-by-one deal.
 
Didn't Beno or CDan have a bunch of sets of these available from a dealership where people upgraded their Tundra wheels and steelies were left over? I was looking hard for these too at one time locally and I still regularly check Craigslist in my area - haven't ever seen these come up for sale in my area (SE VA / NC).
 
I'm looking for the early 6 lug versions and asked my friend who's a manager at Schwabs to find me any. If he finds later model 5 lug ill let you know.
 
Bomar said:
I want a decent 17" option for these rigs and run a 285.75.17 toyo.
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Do what I did, find some 200 series 17" wheels and wrap them in 285/75/17 Toyo 2's.. You won't regret it!

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jgray said:
Didn't Beno or CDan have a bunch of sets of these available from a dealership where people upgraded their Tundra wheels and steelies were left over? I was looking hard for these too at one time locally and I still regularly check Craigslist in my area - haven't ever seen these come up for sale in my area (SE VA / NC).
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Take-offs are very rare in this neck of the woods.
 
 
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Trunk Monkey said:
Man, there's a ton of them on the local classifieds here, all styles too. The 5 spoke alloy, both types of steelies, and the new black fancy TRD ones.
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I should have clarified. I meant on the dealer level. We do not add aftermarket wheels because they are balance-proof and often of questionable quality. We do not want the headaches associated with that process.
 
Having run the Tundra steelies, I find them to be too heavy. I'm even ditching the 18" alloys and going back to 16" alloys on the 2004. For a given tire width/diameter, the 16" OEM alloy wheel and tire combo is always the lightest total weight (all other things being equal). Plus, more sidewall for wheeling.
 
re_guderian said:
Having run the Tundra steelies, I find them to be too heavy. I'm even ditching the 18" alloys and going back to 16" alloys on the 2004. For a given tire width/diameter, the 16" OEM alloy wheel and tire combo is always the lightest total weight (all other things being equal). Plus, more sidewall for wheeling.
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Need someone with 16s to trade with?


...via IH8MUD app
 
Garth said:
Need. Want. Tomato/Tomahhhto. I'd like 18s, but only if I can trade 16s straight accross. I can't justify spending money on them.
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I hear you on that, same boat for me, and I refuse to make a trade that sacrifices my full size spare and matching wheel.
 
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