Hey guys, been a while since I stopped by here since I fixed a mysterious problem with my '82 SR5 Toy PU. It turned out to be just an intermittently sticking PCV valve.

A couple years ago I bought a nice set of 4 Y356 195/75/14 Yokohama tires from Discount Tire for my truck after a sidewall crack flatted one on the set it came with.

I just had Discount Tire check the spare as the valve was leaking and they said it was too old to service. So I said wtf and had them order another Y356 and plan to get a matching wheel as well since the spare rim is very rusty.

The plan is having something identical in look in case one of the rims being used develops a rust leak. The tire shop had to prep them extensively for the new tires.

This lead me to searching online for matching wheels. I have found several vendors, but only two companies so far that recondition them, Transwheel and CCI.

At first I thought the CCI ones had a far superior finish, as all the pics on the main CCI vendor CARiD, show them to be deep black with a very smooth looking finish.

The ones Transwheel offers typically look dull by comparison, and some even call it a flat primer vs paint. However, I then saw some silver ones on CARiD priced the same as the black ones, who's pic looks every bit as bad as the Transwheel silver ones I've seen.

So, does anyone know who does the best wheel reconditioning for the '79-'88 Toyota pickup steel wheels, or are they all about the same? I'm beginning to think the disparity in pics is just dusty rims with poor photography, vs ones cleaned to be pristine looking and photographed by a pro.

Examples:

Get All Parts
http://www.getallparts.com/p-705-pre...rd=stl69187u45

CARiD
http://www.carid.com/search/stl69187u45

Parts Geek
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/198...xle/wheel.html

Note how the silver CCI rim at CARiD looks identical to the silver rim at Parts Geek. CARiD would not match the best price I found on the black ones, stating that the manufacturer is different.

However at that time the lowest price I'd found was Get All Parts. Since then I have found their shipping and adding tax despite being WAY down in Florida vs Washington, makes it about $5 more than Wheels Tires and More.

The pic from Wheels Tires and More looks identical to the one at Get All Parts, but given the disparity in pics between the CCI black and silver rims at CARiD, I have to wonder if there's really anything to it.

Wheels Tires and More
https://www.wheelstiresandmore.com/p...4x5-69187.aspx

Also, I'm thinking of getting this spare tire cover to keep road spray and rock dings off the underbed mounted spare.
I've also got some very dense industrial grade black closed cell foam I plan on cutting a 24" circle out of to pad the tire sidewall from the sharp chassis frame edges. I actually saw evidence of birds hanging out inside my current spare wheel and crapping all over the inside of it.

Basically I want to keep it from getting dinged, rusted, and, well, crapped on. If too much condensation builds up inside, I can cut the carrier chain hole in the center of the foam bigger, and/or put a small drain hole in the center of the spare cover.

The guys at Discount Tire seemed to think it would work OK, but I wanted to get your opinion and ask if anyone here has done such a thing with an underbed spare on a 4x2 truck. I keep it on road too btw, no more mt biking since several yrs ago.

 

Just an update, had to get this ordered since Discount Tire already ordered in the tire and I have no working spare.

I found Wheels Tires and More phone number and called them. Turns out they're the same company as Get All Parts, but with free shipping, their $71 price is the lowest I could find. They also told me the finish is actually a powder coat, so I went ahead and ordered one from them.

They as well source theirs from Transwheel. I had called CARiD just prior and they said they'd have to call back to let me know if they could price match, and they weren't sure either whom reconditions the Wheels Tires and More rims.

I called CARiD back after speaking to Wheels Tires and More and found out their CCI rims are just given a standard auto paint finish. So don't be fooled by web pics guys. You don't really know what you're getting until you dig deeper.

I get the feeling some of CARiD's rim prices are jacked up just to pay for the web shots they had done, or maybe just to get a higher profit margin based on looks post prep, who knows. The internet can be as deceiving as it is helpful.