Steel Rims vs. Alloy ... buying used wheels for winter tires

pmc said:

BrockWI said:

.... the Craigslist photos.....

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Click to expand...

There ya go! The Leaf bolt pattern(5x114.3mm=5x4.5 inch) is common, & Craigslist will get ya many types of wheels you'll love.... & get cheap, specially if you like different alloys, front to back. I got 2 sweet eighteen inch wheels for my Elantra with good mounted tires for $60. I also have 3 (including the spare) excellent eighteen inch wheels with mounted good tread tires.... $50. I made two deals on 4 good tread tires, each for $20 & found 4 good & FREE tires(inc. two Goodyear Eagles & a Bridgestone).
Yeah, I was hot for a Chevy Bolt. But when I found out that both Nissan Leaf & Hyundai Ioniq had 5x114.3mm bolt patterns..... well, I'll wait till Nissan or Hyundai has 60Kw-hr battery packs. I'll be driving my EV on cheap electricity & my cheap tires & eye-catching 18 inch &/or 17 inch wheels. Can everybody say...... cheap driving.

litesong said:

pmc said:

BrockWI said:

.... the Craigslist photos.....

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

There ya go! The Leaf bolt pattern(5x114.3mm=5x4.5 inch) is common, & Craigslist will get ya many types of wheels you'll love.... & get cheap, specially if you like different alloys, front to back. I got 2 sweet eighteen inch wheels for my Elantra with good mounted tires for $60. I also have 3 (including the spare) excellent eighteen inch wheels with mounted good tread tires.... $50. I made two deals on 4 good tread tires, each for $20 & found 4 good & FREE tires(inc. two Goodyear Eagles & a Bridgestone).
Yeah, I was hot for a Chevy Bolt. But when I found out that both Nissan Leaf & Hyundai Ioniq had 5x114.3mm bolt patterns..... well, I'll wait till Nissan or Hyundai has 60Kw-hr battery packs. I'll be driving my EV on cheap electricity & my cheap tires & eye-catching 18 inch &/or 17 inch wheels. Can everybody say...... cheap driving.

Click to expand...

The LEAF has much larger brakes than typical cars with this bolt pattern so you need to be careful about offset and the shape of the inside of the wheel in order to clear the calipers (especially on the front). There are a couple of old threads with lists of what fits for 2011 and 2012--I think they would still apply because I don't think the brakes have changed.

GerryAZ said:

The LEAF has much larger brakes than typical cars with this bolt pattern so you need to be careful about offset and the shape of the inside of the wheel in order to clear the calipers (especially on the front). There are a couple of old threads with lists of what fits for 2011 and 2012--I think they would still apply because I don't think the brakes have changed.

Click to expand...

Has anyone seen a clearance problem with steel wheels? Alloy, I can understand, because the metal needs to be thick.

I got the S model with steel wheels, and I am using those happily with Michelin X-Ice from TireRack. I’ve only lost traction once: the leaf went about 30 degrees clockwise on an ice patch on Thursday, while driving 30 mph on a straight patch of freeway. I was luckier than the 1126 spin-outs/crashes over 12 hours in Minnesota that day (1.56 accidents per minute).

Steel wheels usually ride smoother than alloy (when the alloy is 1 inch bigger); are cheaper; the tires are cheaper; they leak air less during temperature changes; handle potholes better without damage; are easier to pound-out when they do get dented; are easy to sand and repaint if they rust; and are easier to spoon tires onto/off of. My take is that people want their commuter car to look a little bit like a race-car, so they put low-profile tires on big aluminum wheels, and then suffer for it. (I will grant that light wheels can improve range... but most aluminum wheels aren’t built to be lightweight).

IMO alloy rims have basically all negatives......well other than looks.
I personally prefer steel wheels with wheel covers that make them look like alloy's, the best of both worlds

Anyone else a little worried about the exposed axel nut when using inexpensive steel wheels? Mine are totally exposed, just like @pmc pics and I'm thinking with all the road salt during winter this could be an issue...

Anyone have a solution for that?