Has anyone put OE non-Nissan wheels on their truck (like factory Toyota wheels for instance). I'm looking for a nice set of 15x7 wheels before I feel comfortable buying 31x10.50 tires and I'd like to include in my search some very cool wheels from Toyota and Isuzu if I come across them...and if they will work. I'm most concerned about the inner hub size...if for some reason Toyota's inner hub size is smaller than Nissan's, their wheels may not mount up on my truck. That's really my main concern. Offset and backspacing are pretty easy to figure out...I just want to know if I can include these other brands in my search for an OE style wheel.
I know a lot of hardbody guys will get the 15 and 16 inch wheels off of Tahoes and Suburbans as the bolt patterns match up. In seeing those wheels at work a lot, I doubt you would have issues with the hubs. The offesets will be different tho.
Anyone know what the factory offset is on the Nissan 15x7 alloy wheels? Those Toyota wheels say a 15mm offset...I assume this means the hub mounting flange is 15mm to the outboard side of the wheel centerline, correct? If I know the offset, and know the width, I'll be able to tell the backspacing. I know Nissan generally had 4 or 4-1/2" of backspacing on their wheels...but I wanted to see if anyone knew for sure.
I just slid a jack under my truck and took off a wheel to measure and I came up with approximately 4.25" backspacing (distance from the inside of the "back" lip of the wheel to the hub mounting surface. With a 6" wheel (I have the stock chrome 15x6 steelies), that's about a +32mm offset (hub mounting surface is 32mm to the "front" or outboard side of the centerline). I'll look around some more and see if I can find figures for the '90s style Nissan alloy wheels.
Jeb, did you mean you have 40mm positive (vs. negative) offset stock? +40mm would make more sense to me...that's about 5" of backspacing. -40mm would only be about 2" of backspacing, which means the wheels would really stick out of the wells. If this is the case...that the Frontier wheels really do have -40mm offset, I'll have to stay away from those because they'd really stick out on my truck. If you can double-check that (pos vs. neg), that would help me out a lot.
The off set of a wheel is the distance in mm from its hub mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel.
Postive Offset - The hub mounting surface is towards the front, or curb side of the wheel, placing the tire and rim closer to the suspension parts. Generally found on front drive cars to allow for proper clearance of the hub assembly within the wheel well. A few newer rear-drive cars come with a positive offset.
Negative Offset - The hub mounting surface is towards the back or brake side of the wheel's centerline placing the tire and rim closer to the fender lip and away from suspension parts. This gives the wheel a deep-dish look.
Zero Offset - The hub mounting surface is even with the centerline of the wheel.
So it looks like I was wrong in saying mine was -40mm it is really +40mm. That means too that my pathy wheels are about a +32mm since they stick out a tad more than the stock set up.
That was my suspicion. If I move to a stock Nissan 15x7 alloy wheel (and it looks like all of Nissan's modern 15x7 and 16x7 truck wheels have a +40mm offset), the outer lip of the wheel will be positioned similar to what I've got now (about .2" of an inch farther out in fact).
If I go with a modern Toyota wheel with a +15mm offset--and they have a 5-star design which I love--the outer lip will be over an inch farther out than what I have now, which concerns me (wheel bearing life, increased leverage on suspension/steering components, etc). I don't know how much that should concern me, but it does for now...
Whenever I attempt to envision things like this, I just do a quick sketch in AutoCAD:
Thanks for helping me with the factory Nissan offsets. I can clearly see how much different the truck would be with Toyota wheels vs. Nissan wheels. I'd love to have the offset of the Toyota wheels (wider stance, more stability, better ride), but don't necessarily want the drawbacks, if they're really significant (increased wear on ball joints, steering system, etc). Anyone running a near 0 offset wheel and run off-road often? morepower2, don't you have like 0mm offset wheels or something?
I run slightly "bulldogged" (neg offset). it hasn't caused a concern so far but the tires do rub a bit on landing. I have had to replace my lower balljoints, but they were bad before I put the big wheels on. Better ride, better handling, and a lower CG with the increased ground clearance. How can ya go wrong?
__________________
Aaron Ford
95 2WD Nissan PU E
2002 Oldsmobile Intrigue GX
"The hard part about playing chicken is knowing when to flinch" Scott Glenn in The Hunt for Red October
I'm concerned about the steering system during off-roading and rock crawling. I understand from the guys over at nissan4wheelers.com that the wheel offset has a lot to do with the longegevity of the steering components, since increased leverage on the system (with less offset) can accelerate wear. That's what I'm primarily concerned with. Compound that with the fact that I don't know the age of any of the steering components, and I feel that I better stick with Nissan wheels so as not to accelerate wear or cause anything to happen on the trail. Used alloy wheels and new tires will be $600-700, and that's about what a steering solution is too...I think I probably need to do the steering solution first...then I got nothing to worry about.
Currykid, if they're the same offset as another set of Toyota rims I saw (+15mm), it looks like they probably stuck out another inch or so. Was this the case with the T100/Tacoma rims you tried? If so, it tells me that all of the modern (96+) Toy rims are probably in the area of +15mm offset and I'll know what I'm getting into when I look for 'em.
BTW, how'd they look on your truck? Have a pic by any chance?
That steering solution looks great. I wish they were a little more affordable...I understand they're in the area of $600-800 depending on your needs (new idler arm or not, new pitman arm or not, etc). Which company did you buy from (SLR, Calmini)?
Calmini and the only thing it didnt have was outer tierods. About 600 with everything. My entire steering was shot and it wasnt much more than replacing everything...
A few more pics.
idler:
pitman:
No i dont have any picsof my truck but, checo over on n4w runs steel t100 rims and they do stick out a bit more but not to much, Ill see if I can find a pic...
Best I could find.
That's a nice looking steering system! And I've seen Checo's truck before...very sharp looking truck! I didn't realize they were T100 wheels. Thanks a bunch!
Hey jadcock, I'm getting ready to put 31 X 10.50 tires on my 15 X 6 wheels in the next couple of days! I've done all the research.. actually even went to a dealer and saw a 1995 truck just like yours with 31 X 10.50's on the 15 X 6 wheels and everything. Ask people that run them and they have all said it works fine. I'll let you know how things go and give you an update!
I run 31 x 10.50 BFG Ats on my ’96 Pathfinder XE with the steel 15x 6 wheel. The front tires rub the frame rail at the steering lock but other than that I have no issues. I’ve run this size of tire on my truck for over 60,000 miles. Although I have no idea how much clearance your ’95 King Cab has compared to my ’96 Pathy. I just wanted to let you know that a 6” rim is just fine. Actually, the guys that I rock crawl with prefer the narrower rim for bead protection.
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