I am finally ready to buy some aftermarket wheels and I am very confused on what will work for my F sport. The local guys at the discount tire said that my car weighs 6000 lbs so i need wheels with at least a 2000 lb per wheel max load rating. There is NO WAY this car weighs that much. IN fact, per lexus' website, the curb weight is 4500. I want to get wheels that are durable and that I don't have to worry about when I load to car for ski trips. So the question is, how high should the wheel's limit be? The ones I like have a 1600 lb per wheel limit. Is that enough? Tread Depot (online place) says no way, and to go at least 2000. I haven't seen 2000 lb rated wheels in all my research- not even forged wheels (at least the ones I can afford). For example the SSr GTV03 is only rated at 1550, and the RX is on their approved list of cars. Furthermore, the lumarai Morro, which is made specifically for lexus vehicles, is only at 1650. Please Help!

thanks everyone

 

What you need to look at is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR. While the 2013 RX350 has a Curb Weight of approx. 4178 lbs, the same vehicle shows a Gross Vehicle Weight of 5560 lbs. The difference between the two values is the Maximum Payload for the vehicle.

Curb Weight + Maximum Payload = Gross Vehicle Weight

The Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) for the 2013 RX450h is 5765 lbs.

Am guessing these are the values they are using and just rounding up a bit to the next class. Still, best to over spec than under spec.

 

Interesting, I do not see this specification on TireRack's site.

 

Absolutely agree to overshoot. But at 1600 lbs per wheel that's 6400 lbs total. So basically I would have to exceed the max load capacity for the vehicle by about 1000 pounds for the wheel to be an issue.... Correct? Am I missing something here?

 

I did some digging around and the wheels that would fit the RX are rated from minimum 1840 lbs to 2500 lbs.

American Racing (lowest one @1840 lbs): http://www.americanracing.com/wheels...us&model=RX350

American Racing (highest one @ 2500 lbs): http://www.americanracing.com/wheels...us&model=RX350

The Lorenzo wheels for the RX are mostly are mostly at (min) 1900 lbs.
http://www.lorenzowheels.com/wheels/...us&model=RX350

Majority of KMC Wheels for the RX arem ostly rated at 2200 lbs.
http://www.kmcwheels.com/wheels/KM68...us&model=RX350

For comparison, a 2013 Camry results in wheels with a load of 1400 - 1600 lbs.
Look at this example, same wheel as for the RX rated at 1840 lbs, but on the Camry, the wheel is designed for a 1600 lb lower load rating.
http://www.americanracing.com/wheels...ta&model=Camry

What this tells me:

1. The 1400-1600 lb load rating are designed for lighter vehicles such as a 3400 lb Camry and not a 4500 lb RX F-Sport AWD.
2. Even though the math of 6400 lbs total (1600 x 4) for the wheels you like is about 1000 lbs over GVW, keep in mind that is static weight. While the car is in motion and the tire/wheel absorbs impacts, the force is much higher than the force exerted by the static weight.

Conclusion: The lower rated wheel (1600 lbs) would work but only under ideal conditions (low passenger/cargo weight and smooth roads). These wheels would be more prone to dents and hence a serious loss of control if you hit a major imperfection on the road.

Probably not the answer you wanted to see, but safety first.

 

Corrado, thanks so much for the research. Everything you mentioned makes sense, thought it is curious that so many TSW and Lumarai wheels are only rated at 1600-1750 and are still approved for our vehicles.