Black. Steel. Wheels.

MeefZah

MeefZah

New member
Let's discuss. School me.

I think I want to ditch my TE wheels and get your basic black steel NATO style wheels. I have a silver truck and am going with a black hybrid bumper and winch, so I think it'll look good with black steelies.

It appears the 17x7.5 FJ Crusier wheels will work nicely, and maybe even offer a slightly more aggressive offset (unsure about that?).

I don't care that steel weighs 3.256 pounds more than alloy.

Will my TPMS work in the steelies?

Will my OEM lug nuts work (I think they are tapered on the ends, to work with the spare, so they should...)?

Any other steel, NATO looking options? I see a few on Ebay from a company called Road Ready Auto... $75 each (no center caps though). Others?

:thanks:
 
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MeefZah said:
Will my TPMS work in the steelies?

Will my OEM lug nuts work (I think they are tapered on the ends, to work with the spare, so they should...)?

:thanks:
Click to expand...

Your TPMS is 20 degree angled sensors. For steelies, 40 degree angled sensors are preferred but I think you can make your original sensor to work but just need to be extra careful. Regarding the lug nuts, you will need to buy Acorn type lug nuts with the same size pitch, height and thread. Make sure you get 21mm lug nuts otherwise your tire repair tool will not work. Regardless, I think this is really bad idea going from alloy to steel rims but it is your truck.
 
MeefZah said:
I don't care that steel weighs 3.256 pounds more than alloy.
Click to expand...

I am looking at a winter tire/wheel package for my 4Runner and was going to go with the black steel rims because they look pretty cool. Then I found out that the black steel rims weigh almost twice as much as aluminum rims.

If it was 3 or 4 pounds that would be a livable difference but 41 lbs for the steel versus 25 lbs for aluminum - that's a lot of unsprung weight to haul around.
 
NorthwoodsRunner said:
I think this is really bad idea going from alloy to steel rims but it is your truck.
Click to expand...


Using a steel wheel has it's advantages:

They're almost as strong as an alloy wheel, and about the same weight (maybe a little heavier).
They're cheap as hell.
You can easily sand/blast them down bare and repaint them.
You can dismount and mount tires yourself using tire irons with minimal mucking of the wheel lip.

Plus a big one for me; if you're in the middle of no where and you happen to NAIL a rock and bend the rim, you can possibly hammer it back to get you home. If you nail a rock with an alloy it usually cracks and you're done.

Plus, for ultimate bling, you can snap hub caps on them. :bounce:
 
I guess I don't really understand the weight issue. It's not like the weight of the wheel and tire labors the suspension; it's under the suspension. Yeah, I suppose you might see a slight fuel economy hit but what other negatives are there from a weight standpoint?
 
MeefZah said:
Let's discuss. School me.

I think I want to ditch my TE wheels and get your basic black steel NATO style wheels. I have a silver truck and am going with a black hybrid bumper and winch, so I think it'll look good with black steelies.

It appears the 17x7.5 FJ Crusier wheels will work nicely, and maybe even offer a slightly more aggressive offset (unsure about that?).

I don't care that steel weighs 3.256 pounds more than alloy.

Will my TPMS work in the steelies?

Will my OEM lug nuts work (I think they are tapered on the ends, to work with the spare, so they should...)?

Any other steel, NATO looking options? I see a few on Ebay from a company called Road Ready Auto... $75 each (no center caps though). Others?

:thanks:
Click to expand...

Look at my build pictures. There is ine of my truck at the port with the steelies on it. The fj steelies will fit. You can get steelies from the dealer. Or if you have connections someone at a port can buy them extremely cheap. It is a shame hey just throw away the parts that they change out. Ie wheels, tires, and suspensions. Shame. Eould love to have a set with just snow tires on them, yet no longer live in colorado and the bfgs should do well for the applachians.
 
SnoViking said:
Using a steel wheel has it's advantages:

They're almost as strong as an alloy wheel, and about the same weight (maybe a little heavier).
They're cheap as hell.
You can easily sand/blast them down bare and repaint them.
You can dismount and mount tires yourself using tire irons with minimal mucking of the wheel lip.

Plus a big one for me; if you're in the middle of no where and you happen to NAIL a rock and bend the rim, you can possibly hammer it back to get you home. If you nail a rock with an alloy it usually cracks and you're done.

Plus, for ultimate bling, you can snap hub caps on them. :bounce:
Click to expand...

Your points have merits. However, the OP wants to ditch his OEM alloy rims then replace them with steel rims which will not be free: Steel rim conversion will easily eat up $500 (Steel rims $50X4=$200, Mounting and balancing = $50, New TPMS sensors $50*4=$200, 24 Acorn Lug Nuts = $50, $50 to program TPMS). I don't think the OP is going to see any performance upside from this conversion. Maybe the OP can get $500+ for his rims plus TMPS sensors. But in the end, what are the gains?
 
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MeefZah said:
I guess I don't really understand the weight issue. It's not like the weight of the wheel and tire labors the suspension; it's under the suspension. Yeah, I suppose you might see a slight fuel economy hit but what other negatives are there from a weight standpoint?
Click to expand...

You ought to read up on unsprung weight then. Much greater penalty than weight above the wheels.

Think about it: Every single time you accelerate you have to spin up a much heavier mass. Interstate driving is no big deal. Off road or city driving expect a big hit, as much as 20% hit. It's not up to me to judge, just giving you facts.

Around here though steelies are what you run when you can't afford nice wheels. Same with black hoods, means you can't afford to get it painted so you just run primer.
 
1engineer said:
You ought to read up on unsprung weight then. Much greater penalty than weight above the wheels.
Click to expand...

Well, that's why I'm asking the questions. I don't know the answers already!

Valid points. I guess I was looking at it like - once the wheel starts moving, it's moving. Inertia and Newton's Law and all that seems to make weight irrelevant. But, I guess if I'm plodding along or stopping / starting all the time then I wouldn't have the benefit of inertia.

I'm not looking at this from a "cost" standpoint, I basically just like the utilitarian look. I would expect to break even on the new steelies and installation when I sell the TE wheels, but it seems like the effort involved would yield no benefit save for me thinking my shit looked cooler.
 
NorthwoodsRunner said:
Your points have merits. However, the OP wants to ditch his OEM alloy rims then replace them with steel rims which will not be free: Steel rim conversion will easily eat up $500 (Steel rims $50X4=$200, Mounting and balancing = $50, New TPMS sensors $50*4=$200, 24 Acorn Lug Nuts = $50, $50 to program TPMS). I don't think the OP is going to see any performance upside from this conversion. Maybe the OP can get $500+ for his rims plus TMPS sensors. But in the end, what are the gains?
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Appears he just wants a different look. I looked at a set of steelies with snow tires and decided it wasn't enough of a difference from the KO2s to spend the money. I'll just stay home when we get more than 10 inches of snow....
 
msp said:
Appears he just wants a different look. I looked at a set of steelies with snow tires and decided it wasn't enough of a difference from the KO2s to spend the money. I'll just stay home when we get more than 10 inches of snow....
Click to expand...

I was able to buy a new set of take off rims from a T4R SR5 owner at a steep discount so I did not have to resort to black steel rims for my winter wheel set. I don't think my Bridgestones are not all that great in the winter so I got a set of Nokian Hakka R2 SUV tires. I heard great things about KO2 but we just don't do off road riding. Maybe I will soon since we have this great truck.
 
NorthwoodsRunner said:
I was able to buy a new set of take off rims from a T4R SR5 owner at a steep discount so I did not have to resort to black steel rims for my winter wheel set. I don't think my Bridgestones are not all that great in the winter so I got a set of Nokian Hakka R2 SUV tires. I heard great things about KO2 but we just don't do off road riding. Maybe I will soon since we have this great truck.
Click to expand...

The KO2s help me overland the Target parking lots with ease. :)

Really overkill for me but they make me happy and they sort of get tested a couple weeks a year when I head to Colorado.

You can't beat real snow tires. But here, the limiting factor is the dopes surrounding you when you try to drive anywhere in the winter....
 
MeefZah said:
I'm not looking at this from a "cost" standpoint, I basically just like the utilitarian look. I would expect to break even on the new steelies and installation when I sell the TE wheels, but it seems like the effort involved would yield no benefit save for me thinking my shit looked cooler.
Click to expand...


How about an alloy that has the steelie "utilitarian look" you seek? ATX Mojave comes to mind......there are probably others too.
 
jtc44 said:
How about an alloy that has the steelie "utilitarian look" you seek? ATX Mojave comes to mind......there are probably others too.
Click to expand...

Mmmm yeah. I could dig those.

ax_ax199_17x9-1505-300-00-500.png
 
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You could probably hit the right junk yard and find 4 spare tires. IIRC they'll already have the TPMS in them and they're steel 17" wheels.
 
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