Are Steel and Alloy rims interchangeable?

[John_H Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close John_H]

G'day,
I'm a newcomer to this wheel stuff.
Have standard alloy rims on the '07 D4D and same size steel rims on the camper whit intention to use the spares on either. However, on closer inspection, the wheel nuts are different and the matching seast on the rims are different - flat vs beveled.
Am I right that the spares will not be interchangeable after all?
Cheers
John

[foxclan Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close foxclan]

Easiest solution is to get a set of each type of wheel nuts to enable you to utilise both spares.
Both rim types are interchangeable.
Cheers Troy

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

What is the size of the steel rims you are reffering to? 17 x 6?

[John_H Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close John_H]

What is the size of the steel rims you are reffering to? 17 x 6?

Camper has King Steel 17 x 8 (or 7.5 - hard to measure precisely). Prado has original alloy 17 x 7.5.

The camper manufacturer said -
"King Steels make a steel 17” rim specific for Prados to help with wheel interchangeability between camper and tow vehicle."
AND
"17" King Steel rims with Cooper ATR265/65/17 .... This should give you full interchangeability on any wheels between the camper + spare and the Prado + spare."

I asked for steel on the camper, not realising there would be an issue.

As Troy suggests, it may be just a case of carrying spare sets of wheel nuts for the camper and vehicle.

Cheers
John

[Guest Close Guest]

You'll be fine. Just carry as many sets of matching nuts as you do spares.

[John_H Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close John_H]

Will do! Thanks for the advice guys.

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

I've got a spare alloy that uses tappered wheel nuts so I keep a spare set in the car at all times. Dosn't hurt to have a few spare wheel nuts lying around.

Would there be any issues in running a steel rim and alloy at the same time with a different total weight on each side of the axel given that the steel rim would be slightly heavier? (eg drivers side has steel and passanger side with alloy)

[foxclan Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close foxclan]

Would there be any issues in running a steel rim and alloy at the same time with a different total weight on each side of the axle given that the steel rim would be slightly heavier? (eg drivers side has steel and passenger side with alloy)

In my view Nick for the short term ie. until drive tyre could be repaired or replaced, I wouldn't think that the extra weight of the steely across the axle would have little impact. Though I believe that different tyre diameters could cause diff. issues, if run for an extended time.
Just my 5c
Cheers Troy

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Completely agree on the different tyres stuffing your driveline components. I would think through that the steel rim vs alloy on the same axel may have a very very slight impact oin the bearing life as the difference in weight balance offset between the two. Short distances wouldn't pose a problem but it you were to drive as a regular basis with mixed rims then I suspect you would have mechanical issues at some point.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Running steel and alloy wheels will be fine. There is not that much difference in the weights believe it or not but make sure the tyres are as close to the same as possible. I fitted the option Phoenix alloys to my GX when I bought it (I was after some spare steel wheels for the trailer etc and the Phoenix alloys were cheaper) and the wheel nuts that they came with fit both the alloy (flat machined face) and steel wheels (taper).

[Snowy FNQ Member Find all posts View Profile Close Snowy FNQ]

I'm using steelies on my trailer, the only problem is the trailer wheel studs are imperial (1/2" I think) and the Playdo is 12mm with a 1mm pitch thread. So to take full advantage of any interchangability I need four sets of wheel nuts.

I can put me steelies on my car as I have the metric nuts to suit, but I can't put the alloys on the trailer.

So if you want full advantage of swapping wheels around it's best to try and get a trailer with the 12 x 1mm wheel studs if possible, and all the same type of wheel would be nice too.

[hwystar Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close hwystar]

I am considering getting a set of Prado steel rims for 07 VX setup with touring rubber. Toyota want about $125 each for a standard steel rim which is reseanable considering after market rims start at around $160+. Anyhow I have BFG AT's on the prado alloys at the moment which still have few Klm's on left so what i want to do is buy the standard steel prado rim change over the AT's on the steelies and get some road going rubber for the weekly work saving the AT's on the steelies for touring.

So the question I got which sort of relates to the above; will the current 265/65/17 BFG AT's fit the standard Prado steel rims?
Oh and the steel rims I am talking about are the type the was a standard fit on the GXL's before the 06 update not the steelies that are on the GX/standard models.

I am ready to part with my reddies for the rims just wanna make sure everything (steels to alloys) are interchangable.

Ta!

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

hwystar I have 275/65 17 BFG A/Ts on my Factory steel rims that came off an 08 GX (7.5" wide not 6") All good. I can take pictures if you need convincing. These tyres are about 60% worn and are on my trailer and 2 spares. New 275 BFGs fitted to the factory Phoenix rims last weekend.

The wheelnuts I have on the Prado are both taper and flat and fit both wheels. The trailer wont accept the alloys though but my plan is to have 5 spares if I need them which I have in the distant past, well three anyway.

Michael