Stock wheels vs Aftermarket

Why are the stock ORP and TRD wheels on the 4runner so narrow? Most of the popular aftermarket wheels start at 8.5", almost an inch wider than stock. Is there a legitimate design consideration on the Toyota side?

Also.. the stock wheels seem pretty light. Most sources seem to list them as roughly 23-24 lbs, which seems considerably lighter than most of the aftermarket choices. Is this accurate?

 

One thing I like about the ORP wheels is how well they protect the valve stems.

 

I agree this for TRD Pro wheels.

But I have no complaints about TRD Offroad wheels. The 17x7.5 wheels meet the requirements upto 34in tires 285/75R17 right? (I personally run 285/70R17 tires on my TRD ORP and Limited) Been lighter would also help unsprung mass vs heavier wheel. I also love the +15 offset on TRD Offroad wheel reducing rubbing issues vs aftermarket wheels seems to start from 0 offset.

Just a thought, not an expert on this.

Also, me personally love factory look, so TRD Offroad wheel is a win for me.

 

Wider wheels weigh more and cost more so MPGs suffer and the cost will be added to the MSRP. In order to keep costs down and MPGs "reasonable" you get narrower tires. Also Toyota knows 99% of owners just go to the mall.

 

It keeps cost and weight down. Auto manufacturers build to their specifications, not based off of what owners will plan to do in the future (Larger tires etc.).

Aftermarket wheels are built to accommodate what people are most likely to do with their product. A 7-7.50" wheel will happily support 285/70R17's which is the most common large tire 4Runner owners will run anyways.

 

Ever notice on social media the number of complaints about vibrations at certain speeds? 99.9 percent of the time it’s aftermarket multi-patern / lug centric, wider negative offset wheels with tires over 12”wide. They ride terrible, and even worse on the taco’s. TRD wheels balance up perfect 99 percent of the time when you yellow dot the valve stem. I have never had a TRD wheel need more than 2oz when couple balancing 33’s. Good luck doing that with after market. Rays balance out good but too steep for my pockets.

 

While the 7" wide TRD Pro wheel may work for 285/70-R17's, it is below the tire manufacturer's spec for wheel width for that size tire...and some places will not mount those tires to the TRD Pro wheel as a result of that.

 

While I agree with you that it is not optimal, it has been done enough times to be a non-issue. My point is that the 7" wheel conforms well to the stock tire size of 265/70R17 and that is all Toyota cares about.

It is sort of funny though that the ORP wheels would be wider than the Pro.

 

Feeling a little ignorant, but what is "yellow dotting the valve stem"?

 

This is exactly part of what leads me to ask the question.

I would expect the TRD Trim to be more closely aligned to popular aftermarket configurations. Not further.

And I would expect aftermarket wheels to produce tangible benefits in terms of weight savings, not gain. I understand that a great many customers want to run larger tires, so they look for a wider wheel... but that can't be the sole driving factor. There are a lot of people who will change it up and retain a stock size tire.

It seems like a tremendous amount of cost (800+ dollars) for no real gain other than fashion, unless you are truly going to giant tires.

 

Yellow dots on a new tire sidewall are 180 degrees from the heaviest spot in a tire. With the valve stem and TPMS being the heaviest spot on the wheel, when they are "matched" it will cause a counterbalance effect, thus taking less weight to balance. The required intallation practice for "true" wheels.
Red dots are the highest spot, or stiff sidewall of a tire. If a wheel has a flaw, low spot or bend, matching these two will give you an assembly with less runout, (HOP).
Oftentimes excessive runout is is mistaken for an improper static balance, thus the need for Roadforce diagnostic balancers. You figure out everything about the assembly and correct it before it is mounted on the car. If installers would just dot mount tires according to the condition of the wheel, with the respected dots, they can eliminate a ton of issues.

 

I'll be darned. I'm almost ashamed to have made it to this age without learning this tidbit. Thank you for the explanation!

 

What did you drive before the 4R? I didn't about know the "yellow dot goes to the valve stem" 'til I bought tires for mine.

 

Gas mileage.