MiddleAgeSubie
Forum Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2013
- Messages
- 990
- Location
- AZ
- Car Year
- 2018 / 2008
- Car Model
- 4Runner / Tribeca
- Transmission
- 5EAT
Let's talk WHEELS. Let's this thread make it unnecessary for people to waste time discovering the hot water...
Stock wheels on 2013 OB have been weighed by another member at just under 22 lb. This is a good weight for strong wheels. How strong? Subaru does not publish the load rating but I was told that it was in the ballpark of the stock tire, my OEM tire is just over 1,600 lb. I was also told that an option is to take the maximum vehicle weight, divide by four (axle gross weights are almost identical) and add a hefty margin. I am the first to complain about tires but the stock wheels are good wheels. Don't throw your OEM wheels under the bus because you find the style generic. Over 600 miles on "Jeep trails" and over 1,500 miles off-pavement total, no issues.
Reasons to get another set of wheels (add, dispute, whatever):
-switching between sizes (no one seems to have actually tried 16" RALLY wheels over the large 12.4 brakes). Obviously, this is a must for 2015 Limited trim cars.
-not willing to waste AT thread in town (I am making my way into this group). Changing to AT for a season, if most off-pavement travel occurs over, say, summer, may work, but it would prevent flexibility.
-AT tires are way heavier than stock, want a bit of weight reduction via lighter wheels (esp. true for TA KO2, soon supposed to be available in 225 65 17).
-kids would love (fill in) wheels?
Whatever comes to mind.
Reasons not to get another set of wheels:
-Price of new good enough wheels.
-Don't want to worry about pricey wheels being stolen while spending a night at a motel on way to base-camp. Wheel locks off-road? Ugh...
-Good old wheels may be cheap but can look odd on a newish car.
-Room for keeping wheels.
What wheels will do? That is a personal decision, I guess. TireRack checks for wheel load ratings but they allow apparently 1/4 of GVW, which is far below what the OEM rating seems to be. They surely do not think off-road. For me:
1/ minimum load rating of ??? . This seems important. The stock wheels can handle 3-wheeling, 3x1,600=4,800. I have not had serious 3-wheel situations with the car weighing more than 4,000, but it should be able to handle the lesser ones even if loaded to the top. By "serious" I mean a steep drop with a rear wheel high up. This means weight transfer and thus the front two wheels taking more than 2/3 of the weight of the car. What does this mean? Probably, that the wheel should at least meet, fully, a 1/3 GVW rating. Even so one may want to be extra careful with a full car.
2/ design that avoids few and tiny spokes.
3/ weight that does not exceed 25 lb but ideally weight under the stock one.
4/ wheels style does not scream "look at me," wheels are not painted bright green, and so on.
Good off-road wheels seem to start at over 200 for wheels heavier than stock--and to be 17x8 instead of 17x7 or 17x7.5. Then one quickly gets over 300--and the weight does not come down as fast as the price goes up.
So far, the most cost-effective solution seems recent OEM take-offs. The quality is there, the weight of a 2013 wheel would be acceptable, and the price can be a fraction of the cost of a new set. 2015 Limited owners may be getting a benefit from just going 18 to 17 OEM wheels.
Experiences? Thoughts? Some of you know a thing or two about metals, and/or are engineers, and/or are experienced wheelers, or rallycross...
Next, examples:
Wheels that look appealing by weight but are not even close to what the OEM load rating seems to be:
OZ HLT Allegerita at 1350lb
TSW Nurburgring and Interlagos at 1350lb
Kosei light-weight wheels at around 1200lb, ugh.
Closest option seems to be: RPF1 at 1500lb and under 16 lb. However, this has reputation for being like butter. Many seem to brake these wheels on road when hitting potholes. Tiny, few spokes are spooky.
The above info was gathered from manufacturers' sites and TireRack chat (great Tire Rack function: courteous employees provide precise information quickly).
Method MR501/502 start at just over 200 and are tough, 1850lb load rating. BUT, 17x8? I see no advantage, indeed, maybe too large for 225s, no?
BRAID wheels are great, but they are made for specific applications. The lighter ones are 1375 lb termac/rallycross competition wheels. Maybe just fine for off-road use that does not involve high speeds, BUT...
The BRAID off-road wheels are heavy and expensive. They will be very tough, too, I think at about 1750lb, but, again, heavy and pricey.
DISCLAIMER: ALL DATA OBTAINED FROM TIRE RACK, MANUFACTURER WEBSITES, AND DISTRIBUTORS BUT IS MEANT ONLY FOR GENERAL ORIENTATION. Check with producer/seller before buying any wheels.
Stock wheels on 2013 OB have been weighed by another member at just under 22 lb. This is a good weight for strong wheels. How strong? Subaru does not publish the load rating but I was told that it was in the ballpark of the stock tire, my OEM tire is just over 1,600 lb. I was also told that an option is to take the maximum vehicle weight, divide by four (axle gross weights are almost identical) and add a hefty margin. I am the first to complain about tires but the stock wheels are good wheels. Don't throw your OEM wheels under the bus because you find the style generic. Over 600 miles on "Jeep trails" and over 1,500 miles off-pavement total, no issues.
Reasons to get another set of wheels (add, dispute, whatever):
-switching between sizes (no one seems to have actually tried 16" RALLY wheels over the large 12.4 brakes). Obviously, this is a must for 2015 Limited trim cars.
-not willing to waste AT thread in town (I am making my way into this group). Changing to AT for a season, if most off-pavement travel occurs over, say, summer, may work, but it would prevent flexibility.
-AT tires are way heavier than stock, want a bit of weight reduction via lighter wheels (esp. true for TA KO2, soon supposed to be available in 225 65 17).
-kids would love (fill in) wheels?
Reasons not to get another set of wheels:
-Price of new good enough wheels.
-Don't want to worry about pricey wheels being stolen while spending a night at a motel on way to base-camp. Wheel locks off-road? Ugh...
-Good old wheels may be cheap but can look odd on a newish car.
-Room for keeping wheels.
What wheels will do? That is a personal decision, I guess. TireRack checks for wheel load ratings but they allow apparently 1/4 of GVW, which is far below what the OEM rating seems to be. They surely do not think off-road. For me:
1/ minimum load rating of ??? . This seems important. The stock wheels can handle 3-wheeling, 3x1,600=4,800. I have not had serious 3-wheel situations with the car weighing more than 4,000, but it should be able to handle the lesser ones even if loaded to the top. By "serious" I mean a steep drop with a rear wheel high up. This means weight transfer and thus the front two wheels taking more than 2/3 of the weight of the car. What does this mean? Probably, that the wheel should at least meet, fully, a 1/3 GVW rating. Even so one may want to be extra careful with a full car.
2/ design that avoids few and tiny spokes.
3/ weight that does not exceed 25 lb but ideally weight under the stock one.
4/ wheels style does not scream "look at me," wheels are not painted bright green, and so on.
Good off-road wheels seem to start at over 200 for wheels heavier than stock--and to be 17x8 instead of 17x7 or 17x7.5. Then one quickly gets over 300--and the weight does not come down as fast as the price goes up.
So far, the most cost-effective solution seems recent OEM take-offs. The quality is there, the weight of a 2013 wheel would be acceptable, and the price can be a fraction of the cost of a new set. 2015 Limited owners may be getting a benefit from just going 18 to 17 OEM wheels.
Experiences? Thoughts? Some of you know a thing or two about metals, and/or are engineers, and/or are experienced wheelers, or rallycross...
Next, examples:
Wheels that look appealing by weight but are not even close to what the OEM load rating seems to be:
OZ HLT Allegerita at 1350lb
TSW Nurburgring and Interlagos at 1350lb
Kosei light-weight wheels at around 1200lb, ugh.
Closest option seems to be: RPF1 at 1500lb and under 16 lb. However, this has reputation for being like butter. Many seem to brake these wheels on road when hitting potholes. Tiny, few spokes are spooky.
The above info was gathered from manufacturers' sites and TireRack chat (great Tire Rack function: courteous employees provide precise information quickly).
Method MR501/502 start at just over 200 and are tough, 1850lb load rating. BUT, 17x8? I see no advantage, indeed, maybe too large for 225s, no?
BRAID wheels are great, but they are made for specific applications. The lighter ones are 1375 lb termac/rallycross competition wheels. Maybe just fine for off-road use that does not involve high speeds, BUT...
The BRAID off-road wheels are heavy and expensive. They will be very tough, too, I think at about 1750lb, but, again, heavy and pricey.
DISCLAIMER: ALL DATA OBTAINED FROM TIRE RACK, MANUFACTURER WEBSITES, AND DISTRIBUTORS BUT IS MEANT ONLY FOR GENERAL ORIENTATION. Check with producer/seller before buying any wheels.
Last edited:
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