I currently run AT20 as that came with the car when I bought the car 2nd hand recently. There is still about 50% tread on it and I hear that they are good in the sand. I also bought a set of 2nd hand MTRs from a felloe PP member. I'm now contemplating on what I should do with regards to using the MTRs for play and the AT20 for road use.
We spend a lot of the time on the road and don't do a lot of heavy 4WDriving (yet). I'd much prefer to swap the tyres to MTRs when we do any sort of 4WDriving just for the extra reassurance it provides.
It costs $200 to swap tyres on my current alloy rims to go from AT20 to MTR then back to AT20. After 3 of these, I would have paid for 5 Toyota steelies already.
So the next question is whether to go with steel or alloy rims.
Steel rims CONS:
- Weight (heavier than alloys)
- Tapered nuts
Steel rims PROS:
- Cost
- Stronger than alloys
Toyota Alloy CONS:
- Cost
- Not as strong
Toyota Alloy PROS:
- Weight (lighter than steel)
- Retain use of nuts
As for the costs, there are a few sets that go through ebay and they don't seem too bad. A recent set of 5 Phoenix alloys went for $810. Another set of 4 steelies with near new tyres went for $1175.
As for the weight, I'm leaning towards alloys as they are about 10kg lighter. With 5 steel wheels, there's an added 50kg. When thinking ahead, if I were to carry a 2nd spare on the roof, I'd prefer lifting the alloy onto the roof.
Maybe I should just change to the MTRs and sell the AT20s.
What would you do (considering that we travel about 10 to 15K km a year on the Prado)?
We spend a lot of the time on the road and don't do a lot of heavy 4WDriving (yet). I'd much prefer to swap the tyres to MTRs when we do any sort of 4WDriving just for the extra reassurance it provides.
It costs $200 to swap tyres on my current alloy rims to go from AT20 to MTR then back to AT20. After 3 of these, I would have paid for 5 Toyota steelies already.
So the next question is whether to go with steel or alloy rims.
Steel rims CONS:
- Weight (heavier than alloys)
- Tapered nuts
Steel rims PROS:
- Cost
- Stronger than alloys
Toyota Alloy CONS:
- Cost
- Not as strong
Toyota Alloy PROS:
- Weight (lighter than steel)
- Retain use of nuts
As for the costs, there are a few sets that go through ebay and they don't seem too bad. A recent set of 5 Phoenix alloys went for $810. Another set of 4 steelies with near new tyres went for $1175.
As for the weight, I'm leaning towards alloys as they are about 10kg lighter. With 5 steel wheels, there's an added 50kg. When thinking ahead, if I were to carry a 2nd spare on the roof, I'd prefer lifting the alloy onto the roof.
Maybe I should just change to the MTRs and sell the AT20s.
What would you do (considering that we travel about 10 to 15K km a year on the Prado)?
Comment