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Hexbear's premier community for the discussion of and questions about cars, motorcycles, and other low occupancy transit. Share your thoughts, discuss cars under communism, and ask questions about maintenance.

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Anyone here know about replacing wheels? (hexbear.net)

submitted 6 months ago by Doubledee@hexbear.net to c/cars@hexbear.net

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So I bought a car from a relative because I could afford that, they bought a fancy boutique version of this car (Chevy Cruze) that has, by default, 18 inch rims. I live in a shitty midwestern USian city and of course this thing can't handle potholes and the tires leak if you look at them funny. I've been limping along as long as I can but a pothole destroyed another one and replacing these stupid 18 inch tires is expensive. I've had to replace them twice in the last year, it's absurd, and they're of course way more expensive than a normal person tire.

So I'm looking at replacing the entire wheel set so that I can get a 17 or 16 inch wheel with more reasonable and cheaper tires. Is there any reason to be afraid of a certain size or wary of downsizing at all? I go on some site like Tirerack and it looks like I can get a set for a few hundred. My mechanic said this isn't a problem, that the chassis is identical to the less boutique options, but I'm not a car person so I would love a second opinion on this before I spend a bunch of money again. Things to look out for, free wheels (lol), any helpful advice is appreciated.

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[–] Doubledee@hexbear.net 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The podcast weighs in! I think I forgot you were hanging out around here.

I'm looking at just getting steel wheels, looking for wheels in my vicinity is making it seem like it'd be most of a day driving somewhere to get something similar to what you've got there, and I can't make that work with having to watch the kiddo and alternate shifts with my partner. I'm a boring person with a family, I don't need an exceptionally high performing ride or anything, I just want to run this car into the ground without having to buy boutique tires every year. Looks like the 16s are a bit narrower than what I've got currently but I can't imagine that's a huge issue?

[–] CarsAndComrades@hexbear.net 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yeah we've been taking a break from the show but we're coming back soon. And I sometimes lurk around here.

No, narrower steel wheels are fine as long as they don't touch the brakes. You can ask the seller if you can test-fit one of the wheels on the front, you'll just have to jack up the car and unbolt the factory wheel. But any wheels that came on a Cruze, Sonic, or Trax should fit yours. You can also buy brand-new steel wheels from a tire shop, but they're more expensive. I'd suggest buying your own TPMS sensors because tire shops charge a big markup on them.

For tires, I've heard good things about the Michelin CrossClimate2 if you live in a snowy place. You can go on tire shops' websites to find what else is available to fit your wheels (put in the information for the vehicle that you got the wheels from). I'd suggest dropping off the wheels at the shop and going to pick them up later, so you don't have to wait as long.