So... I picked up some "Radar Guardsman Plus" tires from Sears on Cyber Monday and wanted to make sure they were round and held air before paying off my credit card so I'd have the chance to go yell at 'em.
Don't need to. They're great. I hit some black ice. Front axle was Guardsman, rear were nearly new Starfire SF340s that came with the car. Guardsmen held. I hit the highway in the rain, they held at 75. No vibrations.
Since I run my own manual tire machine I like to have extra rims kicking around so I can have new, mounted tires ready-to-go. Dug around Craigslist and found three 15" Caravan steel rims with bald junk tires for $20. These deals pop up from time to time when people buy already-mounted replacements. The old sets are like Kryptonite; noone wants to deal with tire disposal.
Caravan wheels have the same 5x114.3 lug pattern but a bigger 70mm bore. (Toyotas are 60.1) Net wisdom is evenly split about lugcentric mounting being an issue or not. I seated my acorn lug nuts carefully and had no vibrations or problems. I see plenty of slightly bent rims on my balancer and these Caravan ones are either tough & heavy or lived an easy life. Regardless, I expect they'll be plenty durable on my lighter sedan.
For the record, Camry rims are 6.5" wide, these Caravan ones 7 inches. Offset is within 2mm and nothing rubs. 205/65/15 tires will go on either width rim. The plastic hubcap with friction spring ring fit holds aggressively.
Point? Is there one? Think outside the box. When used tire- or wheel shopping consider getting a set and divesting yourself of the part you're not interested in retaining.
Don't need to. They're great. I hit some black ice. Front axle was Guardsman, rear were nearly new Starfire SF340s that came with the car. Guardsmen held. I hit the highway in the rain, they held at 75. No vibrations.
Since I run my own manual tire machine I like to have extra rims kicking around so I can have new, mounted tires ready-to-go. Dug around Craigslist and found three 15" Caravan steel rims with bald junk tires for $20. These deals pop up from time to time when people buy already-mounted replacements. The old sets are like Kryptonite; noone wants to deal with tire disposal.
Caravan wheels have the same 5x114.3 lug pattern but a bigger 70mm bore. (Toyotas are 60.1) Net wisdom is evenly split about lugcentric mounting being an issue or not. I seated my acorn lug nuts carefully and had no vibrations or problems. I see plenty of slightly bent rims on my balancer and these Caravan ones are either tough & heavy or lived an easy life. Regardless, I expect they'll be plenty durable on my lighter sedan.
For the record, Camry rims are 6.5" wide, these Caravan ones 7 inches. Offset is within 2mm and nothing rubs. 205/65/15 tires will go on either width rim. The plastic hubcap with friction spring ring fit holds aggressively.
Point? Is there one? Think outside the box. When used tire- or wheel shopping consider getting a set and divesting yourself of the part you're not interested in retaining.
