Topic: What rims would you run?

[Slubogger]

Just scored a set of 38.5x12.5x15 TSL SX’s. Would you run 8 or 10” wide rims? My plan is to run steel so I can weld bead locks on later.
Thanks

[OVRAROK]

Just scored a set of 38.5x12.5x15 TSL SX’s. Would you run 8 or 10” wide rims? My plan is to run steel so I can weld bead locks on later.
Thanks

With a 12.5 width in tire...I would run 15x8...

[RUGER]

With a 12.5 width in tire...I would run 15x8...

agree.

RUGER

[Slubogger [OP]]

I was thinking the same

[Gnarly4X]

I’ve run both steel and alloy wheels.

95% of my 4x4 wheeling was rock crawling, and my trucks were also daily drivers.

I did not like the steel wheels.  First, they weigh more than steel wheels (more unsprung weight is not good for wheeling).  And two, steel wheels bend easily and almost impossible to repair back to original.  Steel wheels have a sharp lip at the outer edge which was always catching on rocks.  The alloy wheels have a flatted edge and did not catch rocks as easily. 

That is just my limited experience.

Gnarls. 

[Cheesemaker]

I would do steel. 

1. you can repair it on the trail if you bend a lip.
2. more thread engagement for lugnut.  (This is my main rule, seen too many wheels fall off, because of not enough thread engagement)

[Gnarly4X]

I would do steel. 

not enough thread engagement

Wow... I've never heard of a wheel falling off because of lack of thread engagement? 

Gnarls. 

[Cheesemaker]

Wow... I've never heard of a wheel falling off because of lack of thread engagement? 

Gnarls. 

When I worked at the tire shop, 20 years ago, we would see this happen alot.  Especially with the Tacos.  The rule of thumb was, you needed a minimum of 1/2" thread engagement to be fairly safe.  Alot of this was due to the aluminum was alot thicker there.  I don't know now, but if you remember Toyota had Aluminum wheels with shouldered lugnuts on the 3 gen pickups.

[Tigersty545]

Just scored a set of 38.5x12.5x15 TSL SX’s. Would you run 8 or 10” wide rims? My plan is to run steel so I can weld bead locks on later.
Thanks

  15x7!

[Gnarly4X]

When I worked at the tire shop, 20 years ago, we would see this happen alot.  Especially with the Tacos.  The rule of thumb was, you needed a minimum of 1/2" thread engagement to be fairly safe.  Alot of this was due to the aluminum was alot thicker there.  I don't know now, but if you remember Toyota had Aluminum wheels with shouldered lugnuts on the 3 gen pickups.

I can understand why lack of threads on lug studs or lug bolts might be an issue for keeping the wheels on, but I would think an issue of known failures like that would be a DOT report and corrected.  Wheels, like tires, have a D.O.T. spec.

In all my years of wheeling, I don't remember anyone ever mentioning wheels falling off or lack of threads.

I'd guess you saw some unusual failures?

Gnarls.

[Snowtoy]

I can understand why lack of threads on lug studs or lug bolts might be an issue for keeping the wheels on, but I would think an issue of known failures like that would be a DOT report and corrected.  Wheels, like tires, have a D.O.T. spec.

Nope, not a DOT issue, DOT regs only apply to the manufacturer of products they offer for sale to be used on public roads, not how the products are used once sold.  This is why DOT approved beadlock wheels cost so much more than DYI bead locks, which most people end up running on the street, regardless of federal or state law.  The lack of threads issue is something the buyer of the wheels has to address, or for the independent shop themselves to address with their customers.  If it is/was a big enough issue, ASE may get involved, as it did after the run on tires coming off while driving, due to shops using impact guns over torque wrenches in the late '80's early '90's.

[Gnarly4X]

...  The lack of threads issue is something the buyer of the wheels has to address, or for the independent shop themselves to address with their customers. 

Like I said, I don’t doubt Cheesemaker remembers witnessing an issue with wheels falling off - 20 years ago - because of thread depth on lug nuts or lug studs.  But that would seem to be an extremely rare case.  Wheels “falling off” would mean some kind of catastrophic failure of all 5 or 6 lug nuts or studs.  The failure would more likely be the nuts were simply not tightened.  Or, some kind of improper spacing adapter was used.  With typical torque specs between 70 to 90 foot pounds, if there were a lack of threads the nuts or studs would mostly likely strip.  The nuts are either torqued to spec or not.

One time many years ago I did have an aftermarket alloy front wheel come loose on my 1986 Toyota longbed because I did not torque the nuts, they were finger tight.  I had driven about 20 miles before I noticed a vibration.  I pulled over and saw that 2 of the 6 nuts were missing, and the studs had wallowed out the holes slightly as the wheel had wobbled on the axle.  I torqued down the remaining 4 nuts and 4-wheeled that weekend with no more issues.  I bought a new wheel and inspected the studs for any thread damage, they were all fine and bought new nuts. That was a very careless mistake, that I’ve never made again.

Aftermarket alloy wheel manufacturers would know during design what specification for mounting and thread depths are required.  If a different stud length would be required for a custom wheel, the manufacturer would make that recommendation. It is possible that Toyota made a design mistake like that. Of course, there have been many recalls by most auto manufacturers over design failures of all kinds.

In 60 years of driving a vehicle and being an automotive enthusiast, 4-wheeling for over 20 years, I’ve never seen or heard of wheels falling off because lack of thread engagement.  However…. I learn something new everyday! 

Again, I prefer alloy wheels over steel wheels. 

Gnarls.