Tire sensor/wheel size question

[Birdguy]

After 18 years of the Mrs. driving the same car. We bought her a new one last weekend. I am not up to speed on all the new things that new cars have so I am looking for a little info. We bought a 2013 4runner limited. It came with 20" wheels. I would like to get her some take off wheels and studs for the winter. I know only certain limiteds come with 20" wheels and most 4runners come with 16 or 18" wheels. My question is will 16 or 18" wheels off a 2012 or 2013 fit one ours? I would rather not buy 20" studded tires and honestly I do not care what they look like I just want good traction in the winter. To my knowledge there is no difference other than the wheel size and I know no reason I could not buy other wheels for it. I understand the car has air pressure sensors on the wheels to let us know if a tire is low so the new wheels would also need this sensor, yes?
Thank you to for the help.

[CAMPMEAT]

I had to buy new sensors for my 2013 Silverado extra snow tires/rims. $63 each = $252 plus the tires $810. I used my stock wheels. I bought the tires from Discount Tire because I saved over $400 from not buying them from Schwab. Does your wife really need snow tires that bad would be my question ? If the bolt pattern is the same, you shouldn't have any problems except the speedo will be way off.

[KFhunter]

I run a CX9 grand touring with the 20 inch wheels and for snow wheels I use smaller wheels and Ipike's  - love it.  I'm not sure the wheel size but doesn't matter as it's a mazda. 

However the limited versions aren't going to have bigger brakes than a non-limited version, so anything from a lower trimmed vehicle would fit. For the speedo being off it would only be off if the total height of the tire is less, so you order the same height tire you'll just have taller sidewalls which you want anyways.


I also did not opt for the sensors, wife just has to get used to the orange low pressure light in the dash during the winter months
saved me a fistfull of dollars.


I got my wheels/tires off discount direct online and they delivered mounted/balanced to my door with those special locking lug nuts   

[CAMPMEAT]

Schwabs won't do your tires unless they all have sensors per the Federal Gubmint crap.

[KFhunter]

Schwabs won't do your tires unless they all have sensors per the Federal Gubmint crap.

                                                         

[CAMPMEAT]

Schwabs won't do your tires unless they all have sensors per the Federal Gubmint crap.

                                                         

\\





That's why I use Discount Tire my son..............

[j_h_nimrod]

Some cars with TPS require the sensors for the traction control to work so you will have to look onto that. If in the 4 Runner it only serves the purpose of letting you know if your tires have proper air I would save the $ and do without.

[Birdguy]

As far as I know the brakes and such are the same on all the 4runner models and just some of the limiteds we looked at had the 20s. We got the right deal on the rig, she nor I really care what size the wheels are. Planned on staying as close to overall tire height as I can but I could not see spending $1200 on used 20" wheels, then $700+ on studded tires if I do not have too.


As far as need for the tires it depends on the winter. Some years yes, others not so much. We plan on keeping the car for a LONG time thus I do not mind the investment. We will be making several trips a year to the cabin in Okanogan so we will need the tires. For now we kept the old 4runner and I have studs and chains for it so if she needs studs before I find the right deal she can drive the "old" one  .

I will read up on the purpose of the sensor before I go much further as it may be needed for the taction control or some other reason as mentioned.

[j_h_nimrod]

The snow tires you have for the old rig should fit the new one as long as the height is close.   I believe the old 4runner tires were sized a bit smaller than the newer models but not sure what OEM is.

[CAMPMEAT]

Some cars with TPS require the sensors for the traction control to work so you will have to look onto that. If in the 4 Runner it only serves the purpose of letting you know if your tires have proper air I would save the $ and do without.

Please explain how TPS has anything to do with the traction control. Never in my life have I heard that one. I've ran without TPS and my traction control worked like it should.

[Mudman]

Schwabs won't do your tires unless they all have sensors per the Federal Gubmint crap.

                                                         

I just had Les Sch. yank one out and put in a rubber stem.  Trick is to take in the wheel and not the vehicle!  Republic Schwuabby isnt my favorite.   Maybe some cars computers need tps or they get confused? 

[MIKEXRAY]

I had the same dilemma with my Ford truck a couple of winters ago, I had 20s from the factory & bought used 18 inch rims for my snow tires.  I put my own wheels on at home when I change over, takes under an hour. My sensors were going to be a hundred dollars each wheel , what turned me off about the situation is I would of had to take my truck in every time I switched wheels and had the truck programmed to recognize those specific sensors even if I got the factory ones.  Seemed like a pain all around,  so for the winter I just have the low tire symbol on for three months. I know you are not suppose to but like I said I was avoiding all the changing and saved the $ 400.  Wife's car I would be more diligent on having the system working for safety.

[j_h_nimrod]

Some cars with TPS require the sensors for the traction control to work so you will have to look onto that. If in the 4 Runner it only serves the purpose of letting you know if your tires have proper air I would save the $ and do without.

Please explain how TPS has anything to do with the traction control. Never in my life have I heard that one. I've ran without TPS and my traction control worked like it should.

I ran into this last year looking for winter tires for our Honda minivan. From what I remember the traction control has to sense that the tires have correct pressure or it will be disabled under certain circumstances. More than one person reported problems, especially in the winter, where without TPMS if the car sensed the tires slipping while starting to move the car would disable power to the wheels. Some people said they had to back down to flat ground before forward motive power could be returned.  I found other incidence reported with other vehicles. This is all anecdotal and Google research so take it for what you will. Typically the TPMS is just for pressure monitoring so the tires run at correct pressure for improved tire life and fuel economy but with the sophisticated vehicles now produced it would not surprise me that TP is figured into the equation.

[Birdguy]

The old 4runner came with 225x75r15 (really small) OE but I have run 265s on it since I worked at the tire store 17 years ago. The studs for the old runner are wildcat tractions (old style) in a 30x9.5R15, I will have to roll out the studs tomorrow and give it a look. Thanks.

[Sportfury]

Birdguy one thing I would check and make sure if you could use a wheel that small (16") due to the brakes. I know on my Tundra I have the 18" wheels and the smallest wheel that I could run would be a 17" due to the brakes. You may want to go over to the www.T4R.org site and ask the guys over their. You can go into the 5th gen forums. Another place you could try is the www.tundrasolutions.com and go into the 4Runner forum.

As you know I have the '13 SR5 (17" wheels (correction not 18")) and it does great off road. I expect that I will have limited issues with snow this year even with the stock HT tires. Once I wear these out I think I will either put Nitto Terra Grapplers on or something similar.

Birdguy I found this thread on T4R.org http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/149874-winter-tires-you-going-run.html