Wheels for winter tire… opinions, & tech info

Looking to buy a separate set of wheels for winter. 2024 SR5 Offroad package 265/70/18.

I’ve narrowed it down to either OEM wheels (identical to my truck) or a set from Costco.

looks are subjective, and the cost difference is 524 CDN in favor of the Costco wheels. (May be able to find better price on kijiji, etc)

“Negative” for the Costco wheels are hub rings, separate set of lug nuts, and not “factory” specs. (If that’s even a negative)

so between the 2 choices what would you choose, and why?

what “difference” between the 2 is there in terms of “poke”?

costco has less backspace but the wheel is wider so backspace mm minus difference in wheel width divided by 2 is the actual wheel poke?? I’m not the sharpest so expertise requested, lol.

 

I've always used steelies in the winter. They are ugly, and you can repair minor bends if you slide into something.

 

Costco,has a steelie available, BUT they are heavy and are lug centric. I prefer hub centric.

 

I prefer OEM take-offs, steel or alloy. In fact, I picked some 18' off a SR5 locally for my winter setup on 23 1794.

My perspective of OEM pros are:
- If a wheel should be damaged, plenty available for a long time. Aftermarket alloy designs change frequently, replacement may be challenging.
- In the past, OEM wheels had to meet higher build quality specifications that aftermarket do not
- OEM wheels designed for specific application. Aftermarket wheels are designed to cover multiple applications. You will have to know offset and mounting specs to ensure they will fit within reason.

Aftermarket pros:
- low cost
- huge selection
- low cost

 

From experience don't get cheap aftermarket steel wheels. I had a Honda Fit Sport w/o TPMS. A set of four steel rims and studded snows from a nationwide tire dealership got through one season before the rims rusted terribly. With such a small car I could swap summers for winters in 20 minutes time.

 

I would find a set of used takeoffs. Hub rings are bad news, IMO. If they bolt on to the wheel like a spacer/adapter, that’s not so big a deal. But the rings that they use to convert one hub bore to another aren’t great. Plus, like you said, a different set of lugs and all that.

Factory wheels are typically stronger and more resilient than inexpensive aftermarket wheels. Hub centric with the correct hub bore are a must, IMO.

 

all valid points. I did find a replika r262 wheel. 18x7.5, 95.1 bore, 60 offset, and it even looks like the wheel can use the oem lugs. (I think because 1 online store didn’t include an installation kit, but 2 did). It appears to be a direct oem replacement.
(Specs say 8” but 2 other sites say 7.5”, but pretty much bang on considering the 20” wheel is 8”)

 

I initially bought steelies for my frontier because I thought they looked “tough” and it’s all that was available at the time (Nissan just switched the wheel hub in 2005 so no one one had aftermarket when I needed) so I had to use an over sized bore and lug centric instal.

rust wasn’t to to bad after 7 years but they looked like crap, lol

 

im really leaning toward oem takeoffs. Thankfully it seems lots of people are selling them. I don’t “need” them, I just want them. Just watching kijiji, and here. It’s the shipping that’s the killer, so hopefully local……

 

Replicas are same aftermarket.

 

what does that mean?

 

Replica wheels are replica in fashion only. They are no different than any other aftermarket wheel in materials and workmanship, Not OEM quality,

 

i,get that. I thought “replika” was the brand name with a play on “replica”.

how much better is oem over aftermarket?