18" Wheels - recommendations? LR3

Silmarillion

Observer
Have any recommendations for 18 inch wheels? They would be used for off-roading occasionally. Trying to find/trade OEM, but don't seem to be having much luck. I'm wanting to spend as little as possible within reason.

I like the look of the black wheels - I have a Buckingham blue paint. I don't want anything trashy looking though...

06 LR3
 

GregInMI

New member
I just picked up 5 OEM 10 spoke wheels shopping on eBay, they cost me about $125 each. I'm painting them dark gray for use on my silver '06 LR3. I have been trolling the forums and there don't seem to be any affordable alternatives to the OEM wheels.

Greg
 

GregInMI

New member
I found a set of four from a wheel and tire shop who probably had them as take offs and one more from a salvage yard advertising them individually. I searched with "LR3 18 wheel" and always got hits pretty easily.

I think you need to be patient, they will show up.

Greg
 

GORM

Adventurer
Patience

I got 4 in I believe 3 transactions. Lookout on eBay and try Wheelsandcaps.com and Theautopartshop.com as well. I think 1 was refinaihed/ refurbished and it looked brand new. Honestly, I can not really tell the difference unless I am washing them. If you are off-roading on them they will not be new for long. I think I got 1 for $125 another for $185 and the other 2 in between.

It took me maybe 2 months so hunt around. Anything under $150 is just going to take time a little time. The tough part is what are you really going to do with the 19"s. Mine are stacked in the garage.

Also, give some thought to the Tpms .. I bought some new aftermarket ones to allow me to execute the whole,switchover easier. I selected BFG AT KO2s, sweet tires.


image.jpg
Good luck
 

zelatore

Explorer
Many of the on-line retailers are actually all part of LKQ (the wallmart of auto dismantling it seems) so they all get their inventory from the same place. Be sure to actually speak to a human and verify that the parts are really in-stock. I went round and round trying to get one of my wheels a couple years ago.

Another thing I found - all my wheels (they all came from LKQ even though I bought from 2 different vendors and shopped every one I could find) were 'refurbished'. I wish they weren't. I'm guessing they just did a re-paint (aka 'refurbish') as standard practice. The problem is they did NO prep work - they just sprayed a new coat of paint over the original stuff. Gee, if you don't do any prep work, the new paint doesn't stick well. It started lifting from the first moment I put the lugs on and popped the paint. After that, I was peeling paint off every time I hit them with the hose or car wash. The really crazy part is there doesn't appear to have been any problems with the original paint. I've peeled most of the crappy new paint off and it actually looks better than with the 'new' stuff coming off like a snake shedding it's skin.

I don't know which vendor provided the wheels that peeled the worst and like I said they all actually came from LKQ just though different on-line sites. It hasn't been worth me complaining to the vendors since I bought them specifically to beat up in the rocks anyway, but if you were more worried about looks it would be a problem. Like I said, the paint started to pop and peel as soon as I seated the lugs on one wheel, so it's not like I caused the issue.

On the other hand, the OEM wheels have held up to some real abuse and are still going strong. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat.
 

DiscoDavis

Explorer
seconded on the OEM 10-spokes. I picked up a 5th as a spare on the land rover forums. They pop up occasionally as they should be fairly common used by now.

Alternatives could be the compmotives, I think it was findlayforprez's rig that made me realize how good they look on the newer discos.
 

Colin Hughes

Explorer
I'm in Canada and found my set of 18" at a wreckers in Georgia! Took a while but I think I payed around $120 each. My 19" have my winter tires on them. Pulled the TPMS sensors and turned it off in the software.
 

zelatore

Explorer
Is there any demand for OEM 19" wheels? I would definitely want to sell my old ones.

Thanks for all the input y'all!

Certainly not on a forum like this. The best option regarding the 19s might be trying your local craigslist and looking to trade them for a set of 18s. I sold my 5 19s with new tires for next to nothing to a fellow club member who simply wanted a set of spare street wheels. Ot sure if they would have brought much on ebay or craigslist.
 

Silmarillion

Observer
Update - I traded my 19"s for 10 spoke 18"s for $30! The wheels have pretty much new tires on them now too! The cheap bastard in me is now reluctant to buy new tires right away haha

Thinking 265/65/18 KO2 because of the load weight and great reviews...but damn, they're expensive!
 

Silmarillion

Observer
Oh yeah, I have an 06 HSE. Should I be concerned that I traded out my old wheels that had TPMS and haven't had one light pop up that my tire pressure is off since the switch? I was told if it is a rubber valve, the tire does not have TPMS. All are rubber.
 

GORM

Adventurer
Sim, your trade means you are getting your future tires for near free. If tpms has not gone off, chances are solid the tires you traded have them. The system will auto reset once on the new vehicle. I like my ko2's. They add about 0.75" to truck height. With those tires you may be close to or at the limit before you get some tire rub, especially off road. I picked up Johnson rods, used for $80.

Get yourself a full spare .... If going off road this is basically a requirement.

Consider this a good week for you ...
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,534
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top