'96 Avy stock wheel width?

[American Pie]

Getting ready for new tires, and am thinking of moving up a size from the stock 205/65-15 to at least 215/60-15.

My car has the optional, OZ alloys which are 7" in width and I'm curious if these were an upgrade in width from the standard rim, or if all Avalons came with the same width wheel. Anybody know? Is there a link to the 1996 Avalon brochure anywhere? The answer might lie there.

[bob2]

i would advise against increasing tire size. if you just HAVE to change something, go 1 size smaller.

why?

your brakes are designed for the recommended tire size. put on larger tires and they make more leverage, which makes the brakes work harder. the resulting increase in gearing will have you running faster than your speedo says (oops! good morning, officer...) and will noticeably decrease available acceleration. you don't need more top speed with the avvy - in fact you damn sure better not run it anywhere near as fast as it will go 'cause it has no real ground effects and it will take right off and fly - LITERALLY.

no offense, but why do ordinary folks think they know more then the engineers that designed these cars? i used to do the same thing, never thinking. but i did notice that my foolishness caused my car to drive worse, not better.

i'm planning to replace those factory wheels with some chromium steel. i've bent three of them and i've had my car only about a year. pick one of them up (without the tire) - lol. sometimes i don't care about those stupid center medians... i want something strong under my car and if it looks good, well, it will be about the only thing that does, on my poor old avvy. but she runs great! a true, almost american sleeper...

maybe you might consider some steel wheels of the same size in order to "personalize" your car?

[HATEnFATE]

Bob, Please don't forget to see that the OP also decresed the aspect ratio of the tire size to account for the difference in width. The circumference of the tire will be different by a minimal amount, if at all.

The Factory Wheel(not the OZ upgrade) was a 15x6 wheel. :-)

You'll have no problems mounting a 215-60r15 on there and it should not have any adverse effects.

P.S. For some reason....I was thinking the OZ was a 16in wheel?

[American Pie]

Originally Posted by HATEnFATE

Bob, Please don't forget to see that the OP also decresed the aspect ratio of the tire size to account for the difference in width. The circumference of the tire will be different by a minimal amount, if at all.

The Factory Wheel(not the OZ upgrade) was a 15x6 wheel. :-)

You'll have no problems mounting a 215-60r15 on there and it should not have any adverse effects.

P.S. For some reason....I was thinking the OZ was a 16in wheel?

Jason,


The OZ wheels are indeed 15" X 7" and they look pretty good IMO. Unfortunately, the ones on our car are a bit scratched from careless tire installers. I found another set on the local CL that the seller described as being in "great condition" but after driving over an hour through L.A. traffic I was disappointed to find that they're no better than the ones we already have. I really need to do a better job of screening these L.A. CL sellers; their standards of quality just aren't very high. Next time I'm not making a long drive without first seeing photos of whatever it is they're selling.

And yes, 215/60-15 tires are only .3" diameter smaller and about 1/2" wider than the stock 205/65-15's so there shouldn't be a problem.

Generally I agree with Bob2, that changing factory-engineered specifications is often not a good idea...but there ARE exceptions. In this case, Toyota product planners and engineers decided to compromise performance somewhat in favor of a smoother ride, by specifying 65-series aspect ratio tires. For most Avalon drivers that's probably the optimal tire but for those of us who are willing to give up a bit of ride comfort for better response and handling, there's room for "improvement".

Within reason, of course ;-)

[bob2]

hey - rock auto has reconditioned wheels for $165/each (as i remember)...

[American Pie]

The wheels at the top are the ones I have:

http://www.originalwheels.com/toyota...on1996rims.php

The description says they're 15 X 6 but they're actually 15 X 7 (wheel size is cast in the lug area, under the cap). The ones I went to look at yesterday were about $200 for the four including center caps; if I could find a NICE set in the same price range I'd buy them. Beyond that, I've seen 16 X 7 BBS's for between $400-$500 on eBay which I think would be a better option than reconditioned OZ's at $160-$175 a pop...WITHOUT center caps. For now I guess I'll just stick with what I have.

Too bad tire installers have buggered up all the ones I've seen so far. They need to make better use of the "touchless" machines when installing tires on alloy rims like these.

[HATEnFATE]

Also. Keep in mind that the BBS and OZ center caps are discontinued so if they are damaged or gone, there is no getting a replacement.

[pmesfun]

Quick question, what about 215/65-15 on the regular five blades wheels? Will they fit, rubbing issues? 205s look too skinny.

[American Pie]

Originally Posted by HATEnFATE

Also. Keep in mind that the BBS and OZ center caps are discontinued so if they are damaged or gone, there is no getting a replacement.

Yeah, the center caps for the OZ wheels are pretty rare but do come up on eBay once in awhile. However sometimes they're not in good shape either; the factory powder coating/paint seems to wear off due to road rash and they often need restoring.

Regarding BBS, I think many of their wheels use the same center cap so that might not be so much of an issue. I have BBS's on my '85 BMW and a couple years ago when I called BBS to get a few misc. pieces of hardware for them, I think most parts were still available. That surprised me because my particular wheels ("RS" model) were discontinued long ago.