I purchased a 2005 lx470 6 months ago which I love. It came with 22in 305 40 series wheels and tires. These have survived amazingly well but they have to go. The stock tires and wheels were 18's with 275 60 18 tires. Should I get 18-inch wheels? Or should I go to 16 inch wheels? I plan on getting OEM Lexus wheels. My understanding is I can go either 16 or 18 with no problem. I do a lot of Montana gravel roads and some bad sharp rocky terrain two tracks hunting in Arizona. Then there is the issue of tire size and model. All terrain tires, nothing radical and something that will not puncture easily. Can anyone make some recommendations for me? I would really appreciate it.
Tire/Wheel Recommendations?
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I've got one of each, in my opinion either would be fine. It will probably be easiest/cheapest to find some OEM Tundra take-off wheels which tend to be 18" plus. There are all sorts of opinions on tires, I've got one on 285/75R16 Michelin AT/2 tires, and the other is on 285/65R18 BFG KO2 tires. I'm partial to the BFGs but the Michelins on my son's truck are holding up just fine.
A recent 16" vs 18" thread:
Opinions on keeping an 18" wheel or not
Tundra wheel examples:
Tundra wheels on 100 series photo thread
Tire size thread:
What is the largest tire I can fit with no lift?
A recent 16" vs 18" thread:
Opinions on keeping an 18" wheel or not
Tundra wheel examples:
Tundra wheels on 100 series photo thread
Tire size thread:
What is the largest tire I can fit with no lift?
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Oh please no! I'd have to bleach my eyes if I saw those pictures!
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There you go boys. It's hot! Just did four thousand miles of Montana gravel and mud no problems. lots of jaw dropped ranchers. Zenna z rated mud and snow tires. did just fine up there, but I'm worried about the rocks hunting here in Arizona. I'll make you a deal for some stock alloy wheels....
Factory 16" with 285/75 bfg ko2. I'm very happy with this setup. Comfortable on the road and quite capable off!
My LX came with 20" chrome wheels, not much different to what you have currently.
I found 4 brand new 18" tundra wheels (take offs) and fitted KO2's, can't be happier now. Not only works great, it looks great too.
The center cap on the tundra wheel didn't fit on the LX hubs, so I purchased 4 Lexus center caps and with some effort and percussive treatment they fitted. the color is slightly off, but you have to get really close to notice it.
I found 4 brand new 18" tundra wheels (take offs) and fitted KO2's, can't be happier now. Not only works great, it looks great too.
The center cap on the tundra wheel didn't fit on the LX hubs, so I purchased 4 Lexus center caps and with some effort and percussive treatment they fitted. the color is slightly off, but you have to get really close to notice it.
I don't know if my wheels came off a 2WD Tundra, but didn't fit on the LX hub, needed "deeper" caps.
There are several Lexus caps on different sizes, the ones i bought online, and to be fair, not even looking at the size, were slightly smaller in diameter, so i had to massage them to get them in. I'm sure there are caps out there with the right diameter.
There are several Lexus caps on different sizes, the ones i bought online, and to be fair, not even looking at the size, were slightly smaller in diameter, so i had to massage them to get them in. I'm sure there are caps out there with the right diameter.
I'm still torn between putting new 285/75s on my stock 16" wheels (2000 LC) or 275/70s on the set of 18" tundra take offs I bought online...
I would say yes, since you have more sidewall height to shock absorb.
I like my Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws more than my old Duratracs. Much cheaper, much quieter, much smoother rolling, happy.
that's the one and only factor still influencing my decision making process. I've heard fellow mudders on here say they couldn't wait to get back to 16s b/c the ride was so harsh, but I've also heard countless mudders say they feel know difference whatsoever when upgrading to 18s (in terms of ride quality anyway, there will inevitably be an adjustment to braking/accelerating/etc).
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In theory, yes. In actual practice, not that much. There's a bigger difference going from p-metric to LT tires or OEM to OME shocks in my experience.
OEM 16 sidewall height = 7.58"
Typical 16 (285/75R16) sidewall height = 8.42"
OEM 18 sidewall height = 6.5"
Typical 18 (285/65R16) sidewall height = 7.29"
Typical 18 (275/70R18) sidewall height = 7.58"
What size are thoseI would say yes, since you have more sidewall height to shock absorb.
I like my Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws more than my old Duratracs. Much cheaper, much quieter, much smoother rolling, happy.
Having had 295/75r16 ko2's and now 275/70r18 ko2's. If you really do feel that you will spend that much time on rough washboard roads you will appreciate the little bit of extra sidewall. That said, I have a set of heavy ass tundra steel wheels that I only paid $100 for 6 of them(my factory 16's didn't like my driving habits when I lived in El Paso and I bent two of them enough to where they wouldn't balance out. I regularly go out on horrible washboard forest service roads and honestly just drop pressure down to 20-25lbs and it's just like on the highway. My only real suggestion would be that if you are going to be off out in the desert like you stated to go with a heavier three ply sidewall. I've had several sets of Duratracs for example and they were only two ply and they puncture quite easily from some of the thorns and stuff you are likely to encounter in the desert.