Worth upgrading 16" steelies to 16" aluminum?

I have the 16" steelies right now, and will eventually be upgrading at least the tires. I have a chance to get a set of 16" factory aluminum wheels for maybe $150. Would it be worth $150 to switch out the wheels? I like the 16" aluminum size and I'm thinking that the aluminum wheels will offset the extra weight of bigger tires when I upgrade. I also think the aluminums look a little better painted black than the steelies do, which is something I'm thinking about doing.

So, does anyone think this is worth doing, or am I just wasting $150 ($200 probably, after getting my tires mounted)?

Pros:

• Lighter weight
• Look better
• Will work with my dunflops until I get better tires

Cons:

• Still not aftermarket wheels
• TPMS issue - will need to do the air chamber mod with my steel wheels

Any other thoughts?

 

Hmm, meant to put this in the wheels and tires room - mods feel free to move. Thanks.

 

Go with the Aluminum

 

I switched from steel to alum. and never looked back. The alum. wheels look much better on the tacoma than the plain steel. And they are lighter.

 

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. Were you able to use the same TPMS sensors from the steel wheels to the aluminum wheels?

 

I switched from 16" steel to 16" Alloy from an OR whose owner went after-market after a lift. I am very happy with the look now, though it is certainly not unique. You have a good pro/con list.

My experience, I was not able to use the steel TPMS on my Alloy wheels, didn't even try. I sold my steel wheels, with TPMS and lug nuts on CL, and bought the Alloy wheels with their TPMS there too. My net cost was about $200, and I got an extra set of tires because I sold my wheels without the tires, and bought my new wheels with a half used set of tires.

My dealer charged me $49 to reprogram my TPMS ECU to the new codes of my alloy wheels. I drove with the light on till I needed a dealer service.

One more thing to think about, you will need lugnuts designed for the alloy wheels, the ones for your steel wheels will not work. If you end up having to buy them, it gets a little expensive. My dealer wanted $2.50 each, and you need 24 of them. Local auto parts stores did not have 24 in stock, and they were not all that much cheaper. If you are getting alloys for $150, see if you can get the lug nuts and the TPMS that go with them thrown in. Otherwise, you will be looking at spending more on the lug nuts, mount and balance, TPMS correction than the wheels cost.

 

If i was going to pay money for different wheels, wouldn't want stock aluminum.

Understand its a good deal, but by the time you pay for mounting, lug nuts, TPMS

You have some spent some cash.

I was looking to upgrade wheels myself, but when looking at the TPMS issues

i went the route of painting my stock steelies.

They turned out so good, i forgot about getting new wheels

and once i put on my duratracs, that was it - Done!

 

Only issues I've had with the alloys is corrosion. Salted roads by me tear them up. It wasn't a year before the salt got to them and a power washer would blow the paint off.

 

Thanks for the input. I would probably make an air chamber for my steelie sensors and bypass the TPMS function. $150 would include lug nuts as well. I love your steelies but I also know the common conception is that more weight in teh wheel/tire is bad. I assume you haven't seen a decrease in performance/feel with the bigger tires and steel wheels?

 

I shaved 12 pounds each switching to my DC2s and noticed about 1.5 mpg increase. 32 down to 20lbs. Then I finally ditched 245 HTs for 265 Duratracs and killed my mpgs.