Anyone running factory steel rims (spare wheels) on their Tundra?

which center caps fit on the steel wheels like this picture ?

 

Love to see lifted Tundras. Thank you for the photos

 

those are probably just stock 18" tundra spare steelies. I've been sourcing free & dirt cheap steelies from this forum, craigslist, and marketplace. i'm just going to sand them down and hit 'em with a rattlecan treatment.

 

Those center caps are specifically for the steel wheels.

 

Something I read on here said you can't use certain wheel spacers with the steelies. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I need to add about 1" of poke (though I really don't want to) to clear my SPC UCAs and the factory steelies are the same offset as my OEM wheels. Sooooo...would need to add spacers. Probably the thinnest ones possible. But again, supposedly there can be a compatibility issue (if I remember correctly).

 

I have 1.25" spacers with the 5 spoke steel wheels no problems. If you use 1" you might have to cut the wheel studs shorter.

 

Ah, that's what it was. Remind again me why you can't use the 1" spacers though? I've never messed with spacers so not really visualizing the problem...

 

The wheel studs on the truck are longer than one inch. They will stick out past the face of the spacer and the wheel wont fit tight, so you would have to grind off the ends of the wheel studs. Alloy wheels arent solid aluminum, there are cavities on the hub face of the wheel so this isnt a problem and may not need the grinding done.

 

Lug studs can be replaced if you cut them and change your mind later tho.

 

Yeah. IDK. The thought of fucking with wheel studs scares me. Hell, the thought of spacers kinda scares me too. Honestly, will probably wind up just using an aftermarket wheel with slight added offset.

 

No spacers ever

one of my studs broke off a while ago. Thanks for the reminder

 

i only need one more wheel. so far on the four that i have, i have spent $40. stock spare, got two for free from buds on this forum, and another from fb marketplace for $40 with a brand new tire. the guy i bought it from told me he'd give me my $40 back for the tire when i have it removed. one more to go...

 

Saw this absolute UNIT today in Carlsbad. You on here?? Heart eyes emoji

 

has anyone running steelies ever experienced damage on the trails? bent a wheel?

 

I really like the look. Very utilitarian and quite absent of the “bling” factor. I would love to find a set of the hub caps to complete the look. They seem hard to find, at least for my recent checks on eBay and Facebook marketplace.

 

a land cruiser guy i follow on ig gave me instructions on how to install FJ40 hubcaps on steel rims. gonna give that a shot when the time comes.

 

Are you just curious or did you bend one?

 

just curious. i have a friend screaming in my ear about how "his buddy" "bent" a steelie/spare and it cost him a pretty penny to be towed out. never heard of it happening before, thought i'd ask. could happen to any wheel i would imagine

 

Wow that pic was bigger than I thought.

Steel rims I picked up at a pick-a-part for 75 bucks a piece as spares off of wrecked Tundra's/Sequoia's and it cost me 75 to get them sand blasted at my local prouder coat shop. A couple cans of paint later and you have your own personalized steel rims, or you could jump that 75 for sand blast and have them just finish prouder coating them for 300 and now its tough and professional. After the 4 rims and the prouder coat, I was out the door $600 in total. If you just go for the rims and paint then your looking at $360 (60 for paint, I don't really know so I guessed 6 $10 cans) for rims and paint ish depending on how good you are with a spray can.

I have not noticed any drop in my GPM. 13.2 MPG with the leveling pucks a year ago, and now 13.4 with 3 inch lift/40gal fuel cell/loaded tool box/obviously aerodynamic bumper/and steel rims with 34 inch tires up from the OEM. This GPM is brought to you by "interstate driving", stay right or pass right.

For those who need more convincing to go for steel for all your off road needs instead of the astronomically expensive alloy alternative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWM3o2v46KI He goes into detail in this video and convinced me.

Steel bends, Alloy cracks. For off road you can limp home an a crinkled pop can of a rim as long as your bead isn't pissing air, but if its cracked then your fresh outa luck.

Don't get leveling pucks

 

some alarmist on reddit was yelling at me for saying i wanted to install steel spares, acted as if the moment they see a rock they will bend. i mean, i'm out there driving over rocks n shit but i'm not rock crawling in my tundra or speeding down rocky descents. what's the likelihood of steel wheels (spares, specifically, if it makes any difference) actually bending?

 

Looking at these online they don't match, wonder if they changed designs or maybe the images online are different?
https://www.innovativeautoworx.com/wheels/envy-steel-wheel-flat-black/18x75-nx43851

 

damn, i wish they had those in 17 and 5x150

 

anyone have any issues with balancing or alignment, steelies being out of true?

 

Mine were just fine. Took a little weight, but the truck runs smooth as butter. I have a couple spots on my drive to/from work that really bug me when things aren’t balanced, and I can report they are non existent. Pic for reference (experimenting with different hub caps):

 

ok good to know. redditors can be extra alarmy.

 

Looks great. In the past, I spray painted the wheel weights. Looked a lot better.

I’m on the lookout for steel wheels. Only ones I see for sale around here are the 5-spoke steelies.

 

Search Fb marketplace for “tundra spare” and “sequoia spare” and be a little patient. I got two for free from forum members here, one pretty new one for $30, the one off my truck, and i need one more.

 

If anyone is looking for a stock steel spare, come get mine from my 2014 for free in Corona, CA. It has never seen road, but the tire is 10 years old.

 

crap! want, but don't have time to make the drive.