Non-Bling Benefits of New Wheels
 

I've searched (believe me, I've searched!) but haven't seen this covered at all. It may be obvious to everyone but me, but that's nothing new.

For a 2004 4Runner Sport Edition that comes with 17" wheels, what would be the non-bling benefits of getting new wheels? I'm mainly concerned about performance (off-road). So, while I really like the look of the American Racing Mohave's in Teflon Black, I'm not sure I want to plunk down $1500 for them if they don't provide some real-world benefit. Maybe there's some cheapie wheels that give the same look?

Anyway, I'll probably be upgrading tires to something like Goodyear MTRs (275/70 or 285/80) at the same time as a new lift and would like to get all this done in one shot (one alignment and all that).

I don't mind paying for something with a real benefit, but there are a lot of other mods that do provide a real benefit that could be bought with that money.

Thanks for any input.

if you plan to offroad, I'd say don't spend too much on nice wheels knowing that you'll abuse em. Since you have a SE, you'll have to find wheels that are 17" (good luck as they're very limited in selection right now).

Plenty of lifts available for the xreas so good luck.

Why not powdercoat your OEM wheels? That will be the best bang for the buck to get the look.

Cool. Thanks for the tips guys!

I think the only advantage would be cost of off road tires. As good times has said your options are limited for a 17" rim. Say you got a set of 15" rims you see the price of tires is definitly cheaper and you have more selection.

that's true, but i don't think 15's will clear the brakes on the new runners.

Better yet, paint your OEM wheels. Do it properly and carefully and you can have a really nice set of wheels for about $25 in materials.

I used polyurethane paint by VHT.

Powdercoating is definetly "better" but way more expensive and you will be without wheels for a few days.

Still though I imagine 16" rims would be better off than 17s for not only tire availability and price....but as the other poster said - brake size could be an issue...

The hurrican is about to rip the roof off...gotta go

I'll definately think about painting them. Need to do research on that now. Will definately look into VHT poly. A lot of other threads seem to come to the conclusion that one should stay with the 17" wheels - even though it limits the choice in tires - so I'll probably end up doing that.

Thanks for all the info!

ya I didn't think about clearence with the brakes. The 4 gen have 13" brakes I am pretty sure, I am to lazy to measure mine. Though mine came with 16" rims so those will work and have more choices than the 17".

I read somewhere, sometime, something about the Sport Edition having larger brakes than the other models? Can't find it now.

I thought/hoped there might be some other benefit than looks. Maybe weight with better construction/materials, etc. I do like the looks of some of the ones I've seen on this forum.

Searching...searching...searching....
Search is a wonderful tool.

If I understand correctly:

If you want to upsize your tires (I do), the upsized tires might rub on various parts - especially if you air down when off road. With wheels with a different offset and backside, this can be avoided or minimized. For my particular truck, going to a wheel with a zero offset and 4.5" backside should allow up to 285/70/R17 tires with minimal rubbing (requiring minimal trimming).

That's basically what I came away with reading through more of the previous posts. Sorry for not doing a better search before.

Now to find wheels....

To answer your original question:
Imagine 2 sets of tires exactly the same diameter and width. One set is 17" and one is 15" What are the advantages/disadvantages?
The 17" wheels are heavier. Disadvantage on-road and off-road.
The 17" tires have a lower sidewall. Better handling on-road. More susceptible to damaging both the tire and the rim offroad.
The 15" tires higher sidewall will give a better ride offroad, allow airing down better with less chance to damage the tire and provide better protection for the rim. Advantage offroad. More sidewall flex, smoother ride on-road but poorer handling. Disadvantage onroad.

There is a good selection of tires available in 17 now, and more every day. They cost more. There is an unlimited selection in 15 and are much cheaper, and almost as many in 16 which cost more than 15 but less than 17....

It all depends on your needs. Cheapie wheels to get the same look? Absolutely - any of the black steel wheels will give you the "look" for $50 each. Can't beat that.

By the way, IF you really found those Mohaves at $1500 for a set, look elsewhere... unless you meant with tires too!

Flamedx4, thanks for the excellent reply. That's basically the information I was looking for. Apologies to others who may have thought this was too obvious a question.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck at 17" wheels. And am now finding out exactly how limited the choices are - both for new wheels and tires.

Mojaves on ebay
 

Do a search on ebay (black american racing), I forget the seller, but there's a tire/wheel dealer out of northern penn who has 16"Mojave's for $569 plus shipiing ?(about $80). I bet its only like $100 more for 17's.
Still, like flamed said (and it weighs heavily on my mind) dropping that much on wheels that are gonna get banged up when you could get steelies for $50 a pop? 4wheelparts.com has free shipping on wheel this weekend-course they seem to offer that deal every other week. Still not a bad deal.

Thanks! I eventually got a set of Mojave's for $149 per wheel through wheelsforless.com. I saw that place on EBay and then happened by chance to go to wheelsforless. Figured that the EBay store couldn't beat that price. Those wheels sure look good...gathering dust in my living room. One day soon....