Aftermarket Steel rims for 04 GX Prado

Anthony,

Thanks for that info.

I would be very interested in seeing a pic from the rear.

I have been inquiring about the King steel rims and the 245/70/17 tyres, but no one I had spoken to has actually fitted that combination so they werent prepared to commit to the possible legallity of it all.

I have also been told that the King steels have a problem with balancing due to them being out of round. Any comments ?

Look forward to the pics,

Cheers,

Cruiser

Hi Cruiser,

The rims are made in china, as most I guess.

I havn't found any particular problem with balancing. The couple of points to note (which I don't have any issue with) are that the gap between the inside edge of the rim (the bit with the studs etc) and the outside of the break calipar is very very small. Maybe a TallyHo paper, if that. I've done about 28,000kms on them and had no problems. The other point is that rims have sharp edges from where they were stamped out.

cheers Anthony

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Hi Crusier,

Here are a few pics that are taken more inline with the side of the 4wd. cheers Anthony

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Anthony,

Thanks for the pics. I can live with that and feel that it would be reasonably legal (hopefully)

I have priced the wheels today @ $159 ea plus centres @ $15 ea & wheel nuts @ $1 ea.

As for the tyres, I have started pricing and the choice of 245/65/17 are limited and there seems to be more choices in the 245/70/17 range.

Looks like at these prices I am up for about $2K

How do you find the Coopers. I had a set years ago and was less than impressd with their warranty after a claim was knocked back.

As a matter of fact, I just looked at their warranty terms & conditions and on their site it says

"The mileage warranty is only applicable to Capital City purchases. When used in the same conditions, Cooper Tires will usually outlast most competitor brands, however, some areas in Australia will cause rapid wear beyond normal use with any brand, that is why the mileage warranty is restricted to Capital Cities"

Whats the go there, they advertise it as a 4WD tyre then basically say its not warranted for 4WD use and bad luck if you live in the bush and buy their tyres..

Anyway, I will keep researching but I think it just comes down to tyre choice now as you have answered my concerns re the 17x8" steel rims.

Thanks for your help and the pics.

Cheers,

Cruiser

No problem Crusier, happy to share the experience.

I bought my King rims from Tyrepower Moorbbin in Vic & cost $150 each. That was July 2007. While I was waiting for them to arrive in stock, another shop said they would have got them in for $140 each.

On the tyres, the Cooper STT are great. BTW, mine are 245/70-17's.

Prior to the STTs, when I had a Hilux, Iused BFG AT (225's on splits) for 10 years. I had no issue with BFGs offroad. On wet tar the BFGs were very average. But it was a '92 model Hilux so it had old technology braking system. No ABS etc.

The STTs, on the Prado have done about 28,000kms, of which 3,000 of hard driving on outback tracks, loaded up and towing. No punctures except for a nail, picked up around the Gold Coast. I think I'll get another 10,000 to 15,000kms out of them before time to replace them.

On the warranty, Cooper don't give a minimum wear warranty on STTs. On the price, they were $310 per tyre fitted. I bought 8 tyres and rims, 2 for the trailer and 2 spares. I will buy the same tyres again ... very happy with them.

STT's are fantastic on wet tar, I think this is because they are a silicia tyre. The other Cooper thats gets lots of bad press, the ST are a standard rubber compound. I'm told the the ST are also very average on wet tar.

Cheers Anthony