SamirD wrote:...
The only thing that's missing is offsets. But when wheel companies put that information on their sites, you can run into something like this Lexus replica wheel for $72: http://www.oewheelsllc.com/Clearance/Wh ... qohzXYWWls
Sure beats steelies for snow!
I thought your were after strong OEM wheels? Anything that cheap probably isn't engineered for strength or long life.
Well, these are reproductions, so they have to be close to OEM FMVSS spec. At least I'd hope they'd be better than aftermarket wheels.
So I just ran across another great tool for finding oem wheels that fit. You have to use the roadkill link to check the bore size, but this gives some specific wheels and some more options: http://www.transwheel.com/portal/TWRetail.aspx
You have to use IE for their lookup, but it's nice because you can search any make by size. I tried all makes by size and the server spit out an error message.
SamirD wrote:...
The only thing that's missing is offsets. But when wheel companies put that information on their sites, you can run into something like this Lexus replica wheel for $72: http://www.oewheelsllc.com/Clearance/Wh ... qohzXYWWls
Sure beats steelies for snow!
I thought your were after strong OEM wheels? Anything that cheap probably isn't engineered for strength or long life.
Well, these are reproductions, so they have to be close to OEM FMVSS spec. At least I'd hope they'd be better than aftermarket wheels.
I'd suggest that they're cheaper for a good reason. There are a lot of look alike wheels out there and (from what I've read) the cheap copies seem to be the ones that are prone to structural failure.
A quick Google shows up all sorts of warnings eg:
I can speak from experience on the fake alloys issue.
We bought a used Audi A5 in Jan of this year that was running OEM 20" RS4 Style wheels. All original paperwork checked out and showed that was the option ticked at delivery.
Driving home in the car (London to Aberdeen) we felt something out of balance but put it down to a wheel out of balance.
Around Carlisle one of the tyre pressure monitors triggered so we pulled into a service station to refill. It was down a few PSI so I became wary.
We got to Lawrencekirk which is 30 miles from Aberdeen and about 500 miles into the journey when we had a rapid deflation of the same tyre at motorway speeds. Thankfully I was driving and not my fiance.
On removing the wheel it was clear why it deflated. It had a 4" long and 1mm wide crack in it running from inner rim towards the hub. The AA guy said he had never seen anything like it. We got the car home and removed all four wheels.
3 had evidence of cracks and one was flat spotted. I also noticed that while the wheels had all the usual OEM style marks they also had one more telling stamp. P.R.C. (Peoples Republic of China i presume)
Chinese fakes.
The dealer that sold the car was horrified and was actually very decent indeed expecially given that we were now 550 miles north of him! A brand new set of genuine and round replacement Audi wheels were sourced and he took back the old ones to discuss with the trader that had passed the car to him.
A lucky escape for us I feel.
From now on I shall be removing wheels to check first before just believing the salesman.
Just editing to add that there is no suggestion that the car was supplied new like this. It's likely that the shocking state of the roads in the UK led to the original wheels becoming damaged and thus replaced with something more affordable. The issue was that neither the selling dealer nor I were aware as it would have affected negotiations somewhat.
A lot of engineering stuff like the alloy composition, thickness of material, method of casting/ forging and heat treating all make a huge difference to the strength of the final product. Stick with OEM, don't buy copies. You summed it up yourself in your first post about them being good quality wheels.
IMO nothing beats steelies for snow. Try hammering out an alloy rim after you've run into a pothole that distorts your rim, causing the tire to deflate. 16" steel rims are available, should cost between $50-$75 each (you might even find a set of takeoffs at a dealership for less $$$), and, you can field repair steelies with a hammer.
murcod wrote:I'd suggest that they're cheaper for a good reason. There are a lot of look alike wheels out there and (from what I've read) the cheap copies seem to be the ones that are prone to structural failure.
A quick Google shows up all sorts of warnings eg:
I can speak from experience on the fake alloys issue.
We bought a used Audi A5 in Jan of this year that was running OEM 20" RS4 Style wheels. All original paperwork checked out and showed that was the option ticked at delivery.
Driving home in the car (London to Aberdeen) we felt something out of balance but put it down to a wheel out of balance.
Around Carlisle one of the tyre pressure monitors triggered so we pulled into a service station to refill. It was down a few PSI so I became wary.
We got to Lawrencekirk which is 30 miles from Aberdeen and about 500 miles into the journey when we had a rapid deflation of the same tyre at motorway speeds. Thankfully I was driving and not my fiance.
On removing the wheel it was clear why it deflated. It had a 4" long and 1mm wide crack in it running from inner rim towards the hub. The AA guy said he had never seen anything like it. We got the car home and removed all four wheels.
3 had evidence of cracks and one was flat spotted. I also noticed that while the wheels had all the usual OEM style marks they also had one more telling stamp. P.R.C. (Peoples Republic of China i presume)
Chinese fakes.
The dealer that sold the car was horrified and was actually very decent indeed expecially given that we were now 550 miles north of him! A brand new set of genuine and round replacement Audi wheels were sourced and he took back the old ones to discuss with the trader that had passed the car to him.
A lucky escape for us I feel.
From now on I shall be removing wheels to check first before just believing the salesman.
Just editing to add that there is no suggestion that the car was supplied new like this. It's likely that the shocking state of the roads in the UK led to the original wheels becoming damaged and thus replaced with something more affordable. The issue was that neither the selling dealer nor I were aware as it would have affected negotiations somewhat.
A lot of engineering stuff like the alloy composition, thickness of material, method of casting/ forging and heat treating all make a huge difference to the strength of the final product. Stick with OEM, don't buy copies. You summed it up yourself in your first post about them being good quality wheels.
Wow! Thank you so much for the great information. I'll definitely pass on these. Even though they're dirt cheap, tire costs are higher so it evens it out. Plus, the safety factor! The reason I'm doing all this jazz in the first place.
I'm trying to find some unwanted camry wheels (if I can't find sx4 alloys) that might fit the bill (have to check offset), but no luck so far. For the price, I might as well stick with the sx4 wheels. I just got a quote from a local tire place that wanted $1800 for sx4 wheels with aftermarket sensors with 215/60/16 Micheilin x-ice3s mounted and balanced. If they could get them today, I might have seriously considered it since we're supposed to have 8" of snow in the afternoon and I have to get my wife from work. But Thursday of next week? I can do that myself for half the price.
fasteddie wrote:IMO nothing beats steelies for snow. Try hammering out an alloy rim after you've run into a pothole that distorts your rim, causing the tire to deflate. 16" steel rims are available, should cost between $50-$75 each (you might even find a set of takeoffs at a dealership for less $$$), and, you can field repair steelies with a hammer.
Every source I've checked has steelies for just $20 less than alloys. So I'm just going to go with alloys. Besides, when snow gets stuck behind a steelie, I bet it's not a good situation. At least with the alloys it can be cleared out.
fasteddie wrote:IMO nothing beats steelies for snow. Try hammering out an alloy rim after you've run into a pothole that distorts your rim, causing the tire to deflate. 16" steel rims are available, should cost between $50-$75 each (you might even find a set of takeoffs at a dealership for less $$$), and, you can field repair steelies with a hammer.
And what wouldn't you know it, I ran into some steelies today that were perfect so they're on the way.
To the ones looking I have stock 18th kinship wheels I can let go for cheap. One has some rash on it but if covered by plasti dipped it's unnoticeable. They were previously plasti dipped black but the guy who took my tires off for my new wheels was not careful and roughed up my awesome plasti dip job just needs to be peeled off and re shot. Make me an offer if anyone needs just wheels. I'm in okc.
Trey 405.820.3983
I thought the Scion FRS wheels bolt pattern was 5 X 100 and not 5 X 114.3. Can someone please confirm this? Thanks!
2012 Suzuki Kizashi Sport iAWD CVT ''Kaijū'' (Black pearl metallic)
Priors:
2004 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8T 6MT ''Audini'' (Black)
1999 Audi A4 Quattro 2.8 AT (Dark green)
1984 Chevrolet Malibu 3MT with a 327 engine lol (Blue)
1996 Acura Integra 5MT (Black)
So I'm just going to go with alloys. Besides, when snow gets stuck behind a steelie, I bet it's not a good situation. At least with the alloys it can be cleared out.
