Wheels - don't have much choice but to

[Ramblin Fever]

go wider, as these 16x6 oem wheels are too skinny for the 265 tires I'm running and they're starting to show the type of wear common for having a skinny rim.

For a long time, I wanted different rims just because these OEM steels are boring, however, I grew to get used to them and, for a time, completely disregarded the whole idea of ever getting different rims.

However, I've accrued a total of 10k miles on these tires now - over the course of 9 months; and it's really obvious they are crowning.

I've lowered air pressure bout as low as I can go, i.e 32psi (door specs) and have ran that way the last 4-5k miles - which I've accrued all but in the last 3 weeks, with the 150 mile round trip back and forth to Grandma's house twice every day this last week. That's not helping.

I also run these exact tires, in different sizes, on 2 other trucks - one has the LT245/75 16 on 16x7.5 rims with about 26k on the tread, the other is the 30.9x15on 15x7 rims with about 40k on the tread; neither of these sets are crowning and all 3 trucks are treated the same, i.e. 3-5k tire rotations, etc.

So, after spending about 2hrs at Discount Tire yesterday, I've discovered just how difficult it is to fit the hubs on these Rodeo's - at least 9 different wheels are listed to fit, but only two are actually able to go over the hub. I wanted a 16x7 rim, but all that fits are 16x8 wheels of either the Predator or the Razor, both of these wheels are listed at $115/wheel.

Kind of pricey all in all, so I'm not 100% sure if it's worth buying new wheels to lengthen the life of these Yokohama tires that are roughly $125/tire, but still have PLENTY of tread life left, with just 10k miles on them, they still look brand-new tread depth wise with the exception of the crowning.

However, if I leave as is, the crowning is going to cause very irregular wear thus leading to possible balancing issues with tire replacement coming much sooner then the expected 40-50k miles I may get of them normally.

Obviously, I opted for the wrong size tire for these rims, and I can't decide what I should do now; opt for a new set of tires, i.e. $600 or a new set of wider rims at roughly $500.

I would like to stay with Yokohama's and I need at least a 6-ply, but they don't offer it in the 16" size, it's either the option of 265/75 8 ply (which I have) or the 245/75 10-ply (the ones I didn't want, too heavy, and I've had 10ply before and they BEAT you to death). Thus the reason I went with the 265's.

I need an A/T tire as this is a 4x2 truck living in 4x4 country, and all other A/T tire's I've looked at are more expensive then the Yok's.

So, what would you do?
1) Spend $500 on new rims, and get another 50k off the current tires, i.e. 5 or 6 yrs from now.
2) Spend $600+ on new tires either now, or in the next 10k miles, i.e 1 or 2yrs from now depending.

[Gizmo42]

I would go with the rims. That way you have time to save up for tires (and there might be something you like better out by then). And you wont have the problem of the rims being too narrow again. Until you decide to put 38's or something on it LOL.

[Ramblin Fever]

Instantly a REMARKABLE difference in ride quality, tracking, cornering, etc - at first, I was very hesitant, for fear that something just wouldn't pan out right.

After having the heavy unsprung weight of the OEM steel wheels for so long, I was amazed at the difference felt in just the steering wheel alone.

I ended up with the Blitz wheels part# 52082 - in case anyone's interested in the future, as these trucks are not easy to find wheels for.

The Predator part# 55023 (listed on website for Passports) fits the hub, but makes the tire sit out a good 1" to 1 1/2" and rubs horribly, i.e. negative offset - trimming wouldn't have been an issue, they offered to trim for me, but I just didn't like the tire drastically sitting outside the frame. I do like it just a tad outside the frame, but not to that extent.

The Predator part# 55025 (listed on website to fit Rodeo's) does NOT fit. This is an error on their website, the rim has an extra lip that won't fit over the hub.

I think this is the single most improvement in ride quality I have done on this truck, I am amazed. Ride is SOOO much softer, no heavy bounce, steering/cornering MUCH improved.

[amigo-2k]

what about buying some used 16" rims from a +98?

[Ramblin Fever]

Tried that a few times, Amigo 2k, 95% of the time, the shipping costs along with the asking price was just as much.

I held out for the last 2yrs hoping someone local, in Colorado would be selling there's. I did find some a few months back for $100 off a '94 16x7.5 snowflake rims - exact ones I had wanted, but they were tore up something wicked and didn't want to chance it.