kens97sto

Hey everybody.. Thinking of getting a winter wheel package from TireRack. But I am little concerned about the wheel being substandard in quality.. I really dont want to hit a pot hole and bend a rim... I am not too concerned about the weight, and the rim looks pretty good to me.

If anybody has any experiences with this rim I would very much appreciate your help. The package with the 16' wheels, and Blizzak WS60's is $720.

The rim is the Sport Edition CD Silvers.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...tion&code=yes&


Thanks

Ken

Kansas

I don't have experience with this particular wheel but I can tell you that the inexpensive (about $115 ea.) wheels in my Tirerack Blizzak snow tire/16" Mille Miglia wheel package are of very high quality and still looking like new in their 5th winter.

It looks like the rims you are considering do not accept rim balancing weights. If that is true, I suggest you verify that there is enough clearance for stick-on weights between the inside of the rim and the brack caliper so that a dynamic balance can be done.

The wheels in my Tirerack snow tire package do not have quite enough clearance between the rims and calipers for even the thinest stick-on weights so I can do only a static balance on the inside of the rim. Tirerack should have known about this issue before it sold the wheels to me. But so far, a static balance has been just fine - no wheel shimmy or vibration at all. The balancing weights that came from Tirerack on my wheels were worn off by the calipers on the front brakes within the first few seconds.

You might consider buying an extra wheel. I didn't do that when I bought my Mille Miglia wheels (which are no longer available) so I might have to start all over if I ever trash a wheel. But I keep cars a very long time - my 00 LS is slated for replacement in 2015.

In hindsight, I wish I had bought an extra set of Lexus wheels for my current LS snow tires like I did in 1990 for my first LS.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

if you hit a pothole deep enough hard enough to bend a 16" wheel with 60series+ tires on it you have much bigger things to worry about than wheel strength. things such as the colossal damage to the frame and suspension, and possibly how long you're going to be in the hospital for

19psi

very true!

thsoe wheels are fine. quality is at least as good as the factory. i've mounted several sets of those on cars. the outer lip will accept a stick on weight if you don't mind them being visible.

Dutch

why dont you just buy tires for your stock rims and use those for the winters, then save up for some nice rims(if you dont have any yet)

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

in order to bend a 16" rim the pothole would have to be about a foot deep. Dont worry about bending the 16s because theres probably not a pot hole big enough to mess them up.

Kansas

Both my wife and I have bent rims on cars during our 30+ years together -- in all cases it was from road debris (i.e. crap on the road) and all the rims were 16" or smaller. I once limped a Ford Escort rental car with a bent steel rim at least 100 miles through rural Vancouver Island BC after hitting a rock on the road (the spare was flat!). My wife bent an alloy rim on her 98 Camry when she hit a steel beam that had fallen off a truck.

A pothole, other road defect, or debri can seriously damage any size wheel. I live next door to Missouri which for years was in the top two or three states with the worst roads. Missouri was constantly paying for damage to cars due to potholes and other road defects. To be fair, over the past few years Missouri has done a great job improving the situation and have risen dramatically in the rankings.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

I would choose a wheel with much less open face for winter or snow will get stuck and cause balance issues as well as brake temperature issues.
There are lots of people with extra oem wheels lying around. I personally have 2 sets of oem 16's

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

GEE Thanks for proving me wrong!!

Well ok then. I have had 16s-18s on a car. The only rim ive bent was my 18and that was because my tire was low. So its possible to bend a 16 its just harder to do I guess youd say.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

wanna sell me a set

kens97sto

Thanks for all the replies. I had also thought of putting the snows on the wheels I have.. It would just be easier to get them mounted and ballanced at TR.. then I can change them in the driveway... But not sure yet what I will do... How much extra $$$ I have at the time will be the biggest factor.

The reason I was concerned about bending the wheels.. was my friend had this brand on a Civic..and bent one hitting a pothole.. But he was running a much lower profile tire... He just cautioned me to check it out first... The wheel weights being visible would kinda suck... I have a 94 LS.. so there should be no issues with brake caliper clearance.. hopefully the weights can go on the back area...

Thanks again..

Ken

19psi

with a 94, i'm sure you'll hav eplenty of clearance on a 16" wheel for the brake caliper to be able to have weights on the inside. no problems there.
and yes, your friend bent a wheel because of the low profile tires.
i've seen every brand of wheel bend, from cheap oe's to $900 ea. custom forged wheels. some people just don't watch the road very much and end up hitting every posssible hole, crack, object, etc.