lightest factory 6 lug rims
- Thread starter psycho91
- Start date
Pretty sure nobody's ever weighed the various choices. Why is lightness a benefit? Why limit yourself to factory? 
kardain
Member
- Dec 16, 2011
- 557
Rotating mass. The lighter the wheel/tire, the less effort required to get it to rotate. Theoretically, this will marginally increase mpg.
I agree with roadie. A steel wheel similar to what is installed on police cars will be the best option. Factory alloys are considerably heavier than a steel wheel. Iirc, the spare has that type of wheel, no?
I agree with roadie. A steel wheel similar to what is installed on police cars will be the best option. Factory alloys are considerably heavier than a steel wheel. Iirc, the spare has that type of wheel, no?
TXBlazer
Member
I'll presume you are looking for 17" wheels....if so the lightest wheels are going to be the factory 17" steelies.
I keep hearing that about lighter rims being better. But what about the mass of the tire? Is it better to have large rims and rubber band tires, or the smallest (16") rims that can fit with taller sidewalls? Do you gain enough in mileage from the rotating mass to make sense to go DOWN to 28" total outside diameter instead of stock 29"?
Without knowing the answers to all those questions, the original question is incomplete, IMHO.
And what's the cost/benefit ratio and payback period? If you have to spend even $200 on a set of rims, but save only $10 of fuel a year, the payback is uneconomical.
I think one can do better in saving weight by:
1) Keeping the spare and jack in the garage and depending on AAA.
2) Remove the back seat when not in use.
3) Adopt out a kid or two.
4) Put yourself and the wife on crash diets.
5) Remove the battery box and hold-down bar
6) Run with only 4 ounces of windshield washer fluid at all times.
7) Remove all interior plastic panels
8) Discard the rear center seat belt - nobody ever uses that,
9) Sell roof rack and crossbars
10) Remove every other screw from things the like intake manifold, fenders, liftgate hinges, and oil pan. There's redundancy.
11) Fill the oil, transmission, brake fluid, differentials, transfer case, and power steering fluid no higher than the LOWER fill line.
12) 4WD? Remove all 4WD driveline elements in the summer - you're never going to need 4WD.
13) Remove every other wheel nut. Redundancy, too.
14) Bumpers? Useless bling.
Without knowing the answers to all those questions, the original question is incomplete, IMHO.
And what's the cost/benefit ratio and payback period? If you have to spend even $200 on a set of rims, but save only $10 of fuel a year, the payback is uneconomical.
I think one can do better in saving weight by:
1) Keeping the spare and jack in the garage and depending on AAA.
2) Remove the back seat when not in use.
3) Adopt out a kid or two.
4) Put yourself and the wife on crash diets.
5) Remove the battery box and hold-down bar
6) Run with only 4 ounces of windshield washer fluid at all times.
7) Remove all interior plastic panels
8) Discard the rear center seat belt - nobody ever uses that,
9) Sell roof rack and crossbars
10) Remove every other screw from things the like intake manifold, fenders, liftgate hinges, and oil pan. There's redundancy.
11) Fill the oil, transmission, brake fluid, differentials, transfer case, and power steering fluid no higher than the LOWER fill line.
12) 4WD? Remove all 4WD driveline elements in the summer - you're never going to need 4WD.
13) Remove every other wheel nut. Redundancy, too.
14) Bumpers? Useless bling.
I'm looking for the lightest factory wheel because I like the dragster/sleeper look and I'm going to throw on some drag radials just for he hell of it, plus, who doesn't want to try and get that extra little bit out of it because of the lighter wheels and tires, yea I know it won't be much or noticeable at all,
I thought about those wheels on the police cars, there just a plain rim and iv noticed they are pretty light, and you can always paint them, plus junkyards have plenty of them
And Roadie I do agree but its kind of for the look as mentioned earlier, I was just wondering if there was a lighter stock style wheel just for shits and giggles, and I wouldn't change how tall the tires are just how wide the backs and fronts would be, I would go wider in the back and a little skinnier in the front, again just for the look
I thought about those wheels on the police cars, there just a plain rim and iv noticed they are pretty light, and you can always paint them, plus junkyards have plenty of them
And Roadie I do agree but its kind of for the look as mentioned earlier, I was just wondering if there was a lighter stock style wheel just for shits and giggles, and I wouldn't change how tall the tires are just how wide the backs and fronts would be, I would go wider in the back and a little skinnier in the front, again just for the look
n0kfb
Member
- Dec 8, 2011
- 104
kardain said:
You've got to be kidding me. How much will these rims cost? How much MPG improvement do you expect? I doubt you would ever save enough gas to pay for the rims. Hell, I'd bet you can't reliably measure any improvement in MPG from changing rims.
-- Dan Meyer
Its nit for the MPG its for the small, really small, performance gain I would get from the lighter rims,
And this is starting to turn into a bashing thread where people are going to argue two points, lets not get that far please
And this is starting to turn into a bashing thread where people are going to argue two points, lets not get that far please
kardain
Member
- Dec 16, 2011
- 557
n0kfb said:You've got to be kidding me. How much will these rims cost? How much MPG improvement do you expect? I doubt you would ever save enough gas to pay for the rims. Hell, I'd bet you can't reliably measure any improvement in MPG from changing rims.
-- Dan Meyer
Hence the word "theoretically"
Wheels, especially cast aluminum, are typically heavier per inch than bias ply tires and most designs are considerably heavier per inch than radials and DOT drag tires. Those with significantly larger wheels on their TBs have commented at times about a reduction in gas mileage. But you'd have to go quite a few sizes up before it becomes noticeable and measurable. It wouldn't make any sense for someone to drop from a factory 18" to a factory 16" simply for gas mileage as they'd never see a return on their investment.
I'm guessing the OP is looking for a cheap way of doing this instead of dropping 2-3k on some forged wheels, hence the search for a light stocker. Unless the OP can get his hands on a set of steelies he's probably just as well off with whatever 16" wheels his voy came with. The prospect of drag racing an XUV with an I6 means that he'll be slow enough already that the differences between 16" wheels won't make that much difference.
I'm guessing the OP is looking for a cheap way of doing this instead of dropping 2-3k on some forged wheels, hence the search for a light stocker. Unless the OP can get his hands on a set of steelies he's probably just as well off with whatever 16" wheels his voy came with. The prospect of drag racing an XUV with an I6 means that he'll be slow enough already that the differences between 16" wheels won't make that much difference.
Yeah I drive the bus as y'all call it, I'm mainly just going for the look, you know like a drag car or sleeper, and if I can get a tiny increase in performance why not, which even going with lighter rims and tires wont be noticeable but I'm sure it will help, if I could get my hands on a cheap set of drag or race wheels I would buy them, but all the cheap ones I find they don't make any in a 16 inch rim or our lug pattern, if I could use 15's it would make it a little easier
Also I just need to save up and slap a Turbo or supercharger ob it, LOL, it wont be so slow then
Also I just need to save up and slap a Turbo or supercharger ob it, LOL, it wont be so slow then
Yes, but if you're going for bling, you'll have to hot glue some rhinestones to them to look cool. They're pretty fugly as they come. 
SBUBandit
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 597
the roadie said:1) Keeping the spare and jack in the garage and depending on AAA.
2) Remove the back seat when not in use.
3) Adopt out a kid or two.
4) Put yourself and the wife on crash diets.
5) Remove the battery box and hold-down bar
6) Run with only 4 ounces of windshield washer fluid at all times.
7) Remove all interior plastic panels
8) Discard the rear center seat belt - nobody ever uses that,
9) Sell roof rack and crossbars
10) Remove every other screw from things the like intake manifold, fenders, liftgate hinges, and oil pan. There's redundancy.
11) Fill the oil, transmission, brake fluid, differentials, transfer case, and power steering fluid no higher than the LOWER fill line.
12) 4WD? Remove all 4WD driveline elements in the summer - you're never going to need 4WD.
13) Remove every other wheel nut. Redundancy, too.
14) Bumpers? Useless bling.
It's an XUV, so roll up the midgate and remove the whole rear roof and glass, that's gotta be a hundred pounds or more, and with a 25 gallon tank it's hauling 150# when full. Calculate how much fuel you'll need and it'd save a ton of weight. He'll have to stop every 7 minutes for gas, but it'll kick ass from station to station
Its not that bad on gas, yeah I'm not removing my roof either, I just git to much ass to get up and going
SBUBandit
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 597
psycho91 said:
They aren't that much worse, but a little rough on the gas. Biggest thing is its the heaviest vehicle built on this platform. At 5000# curb weight and 275 hp, she's just not going to launch off the line. My father had one and loved his. I'm certain he would have leased another if they hadn't stopped making them
Pittdawg
Member
- Dec 5, 2011
- 538
I wish you guys would have stuck to the op's original question 
It's not clear to me the stock "steelies" are lighter than my 22lb 17's polished alunimum wheels. Anyone with factory 18 inch 5 spokes weighed their wheels...really would like to go with a much wider tire but like the op don't want to weigh down with sprung weight too much.
It's not clear to me the stock "steelies" are lighter than my 22lb 17's polished alunimum wheels. Anyone with factory 18 inch 5 spokes weighed their wheels...really would like to go with a much wider tire but like the op don't want to weigh down with sprung weight too much.
strat81
Member
- Dec 29, 2011
- 399