Are Toyota brand plain steel wheels better than brand X?

Normally I buy only Toyota brand parts, but I am going to need to replace a slightly bent wheel and was wondering if it would make any difference to buy a generic one made to fit my '03 Corolla? I mean, wheels are pretty simple, I'm not sure what a generic one would lack that a Toyota brand one would have?

On an interesting side note, the parts dealer I just called for pricing was very perplexed because normally, painted steel rims sell for around $125 but the painted steel rim for the '03 Corolla is coming up as being well over $300! Yes, that's for just one. He double-checked by looking it up in Toyota's own database and got the same price. Not being able to believe that price, he took my name & number and is going to contact Toyota and ask them what's up with the pricing on this wheel then call me back when he finds out what the scoop is. That's good service.

Reply to
Ernie Sty
Loading thread data ...

You can probably get one for $25 from a parts yard.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Besides junk yards, some dealerships and tire shops have take-offs that they may sell for a reasonable price.

Reply to
Ray O

I have been telling you guys for years that Toyota parts are very expensive, but you don't want to listen LOL

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

You would need to put them side by side and compare. As long as the size and profile code match it should fit on the car...

The trick is whether the Toyota hubcaps will fit the generic rim. The Toyota rim may have a certain diameter center area or other special features to hold the hubcap on.

Example: My Corvair rims look like a generic steel rim, but on the

61 (and 62 also, I think) they each have four stamped-in little bumps raised on the wheel edge (in line with the valve stem hole) to hold the hubcaps on. No bumps, and the factory hubcaps don't stay on.

And if you need the special ones, you either scrounge up used ones, or you pay what they ask.

-->--

Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Reply to
Ernie Sty

Sorry, fat-fingered the keyboard there. Thanks for the info!

Reply to
Ernie Sty

Last time I needed steel wheels for a Corolla (more than a few years ago) my OEM parts guy was so embarrassed by the price he could hardly bring himself to tell me. My local junk yards were empty ('cause that's where everyone went for a wheel) so I ordered from The Tire Rack. I think they charged me something like $27 per wheel. Probably near $35 today.

I think you can buy a set of four alloy wheels from The Tire Rack for around $500.

Reply to
dimndsonmywndshld

I'd check ebay - even with shipping, I've gotten good deals on both tires and wheel/tire sets (better prices than tire rack and more selection than local classifieds). Andy

Reply to
andynewhouse

You can get a very nice stamped steel wheel for $30 at the tire store, that beats Toyota's best price by $95. I say get your rim at the tire store.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Don't just get the rim at the tire store, buy the entire wheel!

Reply to
Ray O

"Jeff Strickland" asked:

Ray O responds:

"Rim" is just a figure of speech; he obvious means the entire wheel.

I suspect that people call car wheels "rims" because that's what they called bicycle wheels as kids. Like calling tuna "tuna fish," it's one of those childish habits of locution that often sticks with people into adulthood.

Geoff

Reply to
Geoff Miller

I am aware that "rim" is just a figure of speech. People in the automaker side of the automotive business tend to look down on those who mis-use automotive jargon - in our office, we used to refer to them as "magazine experts." I know that Jeff Strickland is more knowledgeable about cars than the average driver and tries to post useful advice here, so I thought I'd help correct bad jargon. ;-)

Many terms in common use are misnomers. A fender is not intended to fend. I don't know why a fender is called a wing in England. I don't know why the rear storage compartment is called a boot in England. A shock absorber does not absorb shock (springs serve that function), shock absorbers dampen. What many call "hubcaps" are actually wheel covers.

Reply to
Ray O

Ah, but could the early ones have been, in order to protect the wheels from misalignment due to impact?

I've always figured it was because that's what the early ones vaguely resembled, as seen from inside the car.

It makes more sense when you recall that in England, the hood is called the bonnet. Bonnets and boots are at the opposite ends of people, so I suppose it makes sense that the terms were adapted to cars. Perhaps their being alliteratave had something to do with it.

In any case, I'd say that "trunk" is a much more natural name...especially considering that that's exactly what the original ones were.

(Some more interesting Britishisms are "near side" and "offside," to denote the driver's and passenger's side of a vehicle, respectively.)

Which is the same thing as absorbing shock to a layman, most of whom probably don't care about the distinction 'twixt absorption and damping.

The original ones *were* literally hubcaps. My '76 Beetle had small, black plastic caps that snapped onto the centers of the wheels over the hubs. (They got stolen when the car was parked outside. Moral: never own a car that's popular with kids, since it'll only be a matter of time before parts are pilfered off of it.)

Full wheel covers came later. Back in the '70s and '80s, stripped- down models like taxis and cop cars had hubcaps instead of wheel covers. (Maybe they still do. I haven't paid much attention to more recent ones.)

Geoff

Reply to
Geoff Miller

My recollection of the fenders on early vehicles is that they were more like the fenders on a bicycle and designed to keep mud and debris from being thrown up by the wheels. Perhaps they were meant to fend off mud and debris?

"Bonnet" actually makes sense to me because it is a cover for the engine.

I'm with you on that one!

You may be right, except that I assume that those terms came from someone with automotive knowledge.

I'm aware of the difference between hubcaps and wheel covers ;-)

Reply to
Ray O

Yep...do you recall them being called 'mudguards'?...I do...

Reply to
Gord Beaman

I remember them being called mudguards, and when Toyota called mudflaps "mudguards," I thought that was a misnomer. BTW, I never rode in a car where the fenders were called mudguards, just saw them in a museum - I'm old but not that old ;-)

Reply to
Ray O

I'll buy that.

Agreed here as well.

I've no doubt. My point is that the term is probably a holdover from the days before wheel covers, when hubcaps were literally that.

Geoff

Reply to
Geoff Miller

Yup, we're on the same wavelength there.

Reply to
Ray O

Tire Rack doesn't seem to carry steel wheels anymore, all they have are fancy aftermarket ones. I found one on eBay for $40, plus $20 for shipping. I figure $60 is a *little* high, but still a lot less than buying from Toyota.

Reply to
Ernie Sty

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.