I checked the FAQ on wheel and tire specs to get an idea of what all the sizes and numbers mean.

I'm planning to buy some wheels for my new xB (the color is thunder cloud). I'm sticking to something cheap but slick looking that will enchance the look of my car.

I was looking at these:


I was also looking at the DR8's.

I want to go with a look somewhat like this:



I dont know what you call it, or what kind of modifications you need... But I kind of want it maybe slightly dropped where my wheels seem more inward than normal (bear with me im a noob haha) Since my car is brand new, (1,400 miles) could I buy these wheels and put my stock tires on them? I dont know if it will look stupid or if it will look okay because of the width of the tire, or how it will run. Im not completely understanding what is good and what isnt, what will rub and what wont. But I'm really looking foward to buying some wheels for my car and hopefully you guys can help me out! If you know of other budget wheels (black) that you think I may like, or perhaps you like/have them, go ahead and post em!

Also, my friend told me something about "universal" wheels, where it has lug holes all the way around. He said because they can fit on a variety of cars it has a better chance of cracking where there are no lugs, especially at the thin bridging parts. Can anyone verify that and the chances of that happening?

THANKS!

 

drop wont have much to do with the "inward" look of the wheel. that inward look would be camber. an easy way to gain that look would be to buy some OTG camber shims. www.onetongarage.com . however, they will only give you that look for the rear... which is probably good enough.

with regards to dropping the car, DO IT. dropped cars always look better. thats a whole other subject and you should do some reading on it. you have a variety of options. aftermarket springs on stock struts, aftermarket springs on aftermarket struts, coilovers and airbags

you could NOT use your stock tires. they will not fit since they are for a smaller wheel than what youre probably looking for(16+). you will need to get new tires. go to www.tirerack.com and read all you can about wheels and tires

the universal wheel your friend is talking about is probably just a universal lug pattern for wheels. so 4 lug wheels will have 2 different bolt patterns, 1 for 4x100 and another for 4x114.3. same goes for 5 lug wheels. and the part about cracking, i had a universal lug wheel on my old car for at least a year and i had no problems with them. if they crack, that means you probably bought a CHEAP wheel.

i would suggest going to www.rotawheels.com to see what you like. i personally love their wheels because of the looks, quality, and most of all, price.

you can order them from www.machiii.net and various other online dealers.

 

Thanks for the reply that was extremely helpful. I'll look into all those things. I guess I didnt really consider all the different things that takes place for achieving the look I want.

Besides interior neons which will be easy, the first thing I want to get done is my wheels. I guess I better start really saving. haha. Since I won't be doing any of this myself (ill be going to a shop), couldn't I just tell them what I want and they can do it for me? I mean every shop is different... Would it be recommened to go to a Scion dealer/shop and get it done there? On average how much do they charge for doing that kind of stufF?

 

no no no, dont go to the dealer.

try to find a good/recommended shop in your area. perhaps check the regional section of the forums and see if anyone can recommend something for you.

Paying for someone to do it like the way you described would probably be extremely expensive. They may charge you for all the "work". Oh yeah, ordering parts from shops is usually WAY more expensive than just finding them online yourself, and then bringing them to the shop.


Heres what you do, find wheels that you like and then find the best place to buy them.

Next, buy some lowering springs, i would recommend tein as they are one of the best brands out there and are pretty cheap.

Then decide if you want to ride on the stock shocks for a while or if you want to go ahead and "do it right" the first time and get aftermarket shocks. if you do this, i guess id recommend the TRD shocks unless you got some money to shell out... in that case, id recommend..... i think koni's. or is it kyb? i forget.


ORRRRRR, if money really isnt an issue, look into some tein basic or SS coilovers. this is the ultimate way to lower your car as you have control on how much its lowered. and with the SS coilovers, youll have control over the dampening.


Just do your research and dont be lazy! Finding all this stuff is pretty easy.

 

Sweet! Sounds good. I'll be looking around and doin my research. I want to do this in the next few months but I want to make sure I get EXACTLY what I want and I get the good prices. I've seen alot of wheels on ebay for cheap too on ebay stores but they usually jack up shipping to like $125.

I'm assuming this will be easier to do all at once? Rather than buying my wheels... and then later trying to get it lowered...

Thanks again

 

yeah, i would suggest getting it all done at once. thats what i plan on doing. i dont even have my xb yet(this week sometime). but i already have wheels, springs, OTG shims, and spacers. all i need to do is try to decide whether or not i want to run the stock shocks for a while or get the TRD ones.

 

are there any bad side effects to having shims and spacers installed ? like does it affect the ride, brakes, body roll, brakes?

 

i would say no. others would disagree. if anything youre getting a wider stance so it may improve handling.