Datasaurusrex

I have a 97 SR5 4runner, bone stock.

Currently has P225/75/R15s on it.

Looks like this


I can get a set of these rims with 31" tires, 90% tread for $350 obo


Right now my stock rims have the 'balance' issue, which is annoying. And Eventually I like to have 1 set of rims for spring/summer/fall, and another set with studs on them for winter... so I can just swap with no mount and balance needed.

So would the older SR5 alloys work on my newer SR5? Would the tire size work? Any downside to the larger tire size? Or what effects would that have?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks

garrett1478

are you sure you have 15" wheels now? i thought those were 16"...

noahrexion

That size is 15" and 16", they made them both...

The larger wheel/tire combo will give you a lower final, slow your truck down a bit as far as acceleration but maybe give a little mpg on the highway.

Yes the wheels will work fine, but just remember that if it isnt a tire you like it may not be a good choice. You can buy some nice 16x8 blackies for really cheap and stick yoru fav tire on there as an alternative. Then just get some winer tires for your 15"

Datasaurusrex

I just double checked. That is whaty my tires say "P225/75/R15"

And the rims say "J 15x7 JJ 15"

I wonder about my gearing, if my gears are for that sized tire. According to:
http://www.net-comber.com/tirecalc.html I'd be going from 28.2 to 31, huge leap in my mind if my gears are for 28. I'm not a fan of a 5+ diff at 65mph

Is there an easy way to figure out what gearing came stock on my runner? What my gears are for? Should I just assume it was for the P225/75/15s?


Oh yeah, the old style rims have Michelin 31x10.5 R15 109R LTX M/S on them.

garrett1478

http://sonoransteel.com/Toyota_axle_codes.html

compare with your VIN

Datasaurusrex

Hey thanks! great link.

According to that info I have a VZN185L-gkpgka Which the website says is a 4.100 With P265/70R16

But the sticker also cleary say that my current tire size is correct, and rims size too. 15" rims, P225/75/R15s.

What the heck is up with the discrepancy?

Datasaurusrex

Oh yeah, does anybody know of a pic of a 3rd gen runner with old SR5 rims? Wierd I know lol.

garrett1478

VZN185L-GKPGKA 3.909
VZN185L-GKPGKA 4.100 With P265/70R16
VZN185L-GKPGKA 4.300 Option

theres 3 possibilities of gearing that yours has. since it came stock with 15" wheels, i'm guessing you have 3.9 gears.

Datasaurusrex

Ohhh I see. I didn't notice that the # was listed 3 times. 3.9, I guess that makes sense.

Nic

Are you sure that it is your rims that have a balancing problem and not your tires?

Datasaurusrex

No idea, I recently purchased the truck used. Currently has Toyo A/Ts on it.

My mechanic who is very familiar with toyota said it was probably just a balance issue (he had to fight the same problem on his 4runner).

MTL_4runner

Yes those tires/rims will work but it would be my choice for the truck in the looks dept.
I'd get a set of black steel rims and a good set of snow tires instead.

This should help with the balance problem:
http://www.gadgetonline.com/Vibration.htm

You should watch as the tire is being road force balanced, if you have any serious out of round condition, it will be noticable. There is no reason a tire can't be balanced unless there is a major manufacturing defect involved (broken belt, blistering, tread delamination, serious out of round, etc).

Nic

Reason why I asked was that I had stock steel wheels on mine when I bought my truck used. The tire vibration was terrible even though the tires (Dunlops) were new. I bought a set of alloys just like you are running now off of eBay and put some Michelins on them and have been running smooth ever since. I had two places use the Hunter road force machine to balance the Dunlops too, and it never helped. I have found that most places don't really know how to use the Hunter machine anyway. I did get the road force numbers from the second place I took my Dunlops to, and they were all high.

Also, if you have out of round tire(s), no amount of balancing is going to help. If someone at the tire shop knows what they are doing, they should be able to identify the culprit tire(s). I think most places don't really know the fully capabilities of their high-tech tire balancers, so don't expect much input from a tire shop-I never got any.