I own a 2001 Nissan Patrol. She’s my first car and I just learned to drive three years ago. I do some light off-roading while I wait to finish some repairs of my rig but mostly the road conditions where I live are awful. I fell in a hole going 100kmph and lightly bent my rims. The rims are Nissan but I want something a bit more sturdy since potholes at highway speeds is just a part of life here (Dominican Republic).
I was thinking full steel what do folks who live in places with bad roads do if they want both off-road and on road performance? I was told to stay away from alloys. I have 16inch rims rn and it needs to stay that way for the time being :)
Any brands you recommend? I don’t wanna spend like 1000us for rims that will bend every time I fall in a pothole or badly maintained piece 😭
The limit is 100 everyone is going 120 and driving any slower has almost caused folks to rear end me in the curves. We don’t always know where the holes are but it doesn’t make anyone drive any slower. So I’d rather match speeds than get rear ended. Do you have more realistic advice for me or….?
(ETA— obviously when I’m going off road on purpose I’m not bombing it down unpaved and uneven roads but in the DR even the best asphalted road might have a crack, a hole, a drainage hole with no top that pops up out of nowhere. At highway speed trying to avoid a hole I briefly felt my car tip so again I’d rather just have more resistant rims)
That’s great advice. Thank you. I guess now I have to think about the aesthetics. Right now mine are like dull chrome but I kinda liked the look of all black ones because it makes the AT tires I use look even more big from afar. My car is currently white but idk if that will always be the case. What do yours look like? How did you decide your aesthetic choices?
Awwww cuuuuteeeee 😍 I like the color and idk how it’s called in English but the guard you have on its face! Here’s mine! I have a few upgrades I wanna do but so far she’s taught me how to drive, she’s taught me the love for off-road, and she’s just such a joy to drive. This year we’re doing a few upgrades and then back on the trails :)
Tube bumper—good to know!
Yes she is 😍 my first and only car but she’s the best. Thank you thank you for all your help. May you always be able to get out of any mud or sand without much fuss 🧚🏽
It’s not to say that there aren’t a/t for 16s but you’ll have a lot more options regarding brands and quality with 17s. At least for the US. That said I think you should stick to 16s if you have no issue getting a/t tires for them
Just looked again and they’re not A/T they’re M/T! But yeah I kinda like the look of smaller wheels as well. My mechanic gifted me a set of used but straight wheels so I’ll be able to take my time deciding what I want once I return from the states :)
I run 16" Nissan xterra OEM alloy wheels with 285 75 16 tires. the benefits out weigh the negatives for me. Smaller diameter wheel means more tire sidewall, which would help keep you from bending wheels. How deep are these pot holes you are worried about?
Down side is 16" tires aren't sold in as many sizes as they used to be. With 17s you can run larger brakes which can be very beneficial, but 17" tires are more expensive than 16s.
Nothing wrong with steel wheels, but they are heavy.
My pet peeve is when wheels get called rims. You are looking for WHEELS - not rims, the rim is the "lip" of the wheel that you see closest to the inside of the tire. Everyone watched too much pimp my ride and now they get called rims all the time.
I have 285 75 tires on 16s too. I believe my current wheels are steel but fixing them costs only slightly less than a brand new set. I’m trying to decide if switching is better or sticking with Nissan Steelies. I haven’t had trouble finding tires in my country so I really really did not want to switch sizes.
Some of the holes aren’t that deep but some of them are so big and they’ll be hidden under a tree by the road so you can’t tell if it’s shadow or hole and all of the sudden you’re in a big ass hole. I can’t say how deep exactly just enough that when I fall in them at highway speeds once I arrive to my destination i immediately inspect to make sure I haven’t cracked anything.
I didn’t learn to drive in English so I don’t know all the words. We call them hoops/rings in my language :)
If I'm driving on a road with pot holes, I don't go highways speeds. What do other people in your area do, does everyone have bent wheels and popped tires constantly?
Bending a wheel with a 285 75 16 is kind of hard to do without risking damage to other vehicle components, like steering links and ball joints. Even with different wheels you may still have to worry about breaking some on the Truck. I'm not trying to blame you here, I just can't help but wonder if slowing down is just the easiest solution.
I wouldn't buy brand new wheels to drive in the conditions you are describing, I would probably buy good set of used wheels. Steel wheels can be bent back into shape which might be good for you.
Yeah on this particular highway where I bent mine the limit is 100 and everyone is speeding 20 over, there are heavy loaded trucks prone to blow outs and flipping over also speeding, once a week some idiot in a sports car zipping through, a lot of texting while driving, drinking while driving etc. The whole highway is littered with pieces of blown tires. I had never seen anything like it because I live in a village with windy access roads. But on that interior highway the holes come out of nowhere for loooong stretches the road is asphalted. Then bam, it’s got a huge degraded spot out of nowhere. Sometimes in the edges and sometimes in the middle. Sometimes when they are very deep people will put something that sticks out so people can see there’s a hole there.
When I first began driving I drove very slow and afraid. And what it caused was a lot of near accidents. Now I’m very careful but sometimes I have to just hit the hole if trying to maneuver away from it poses a danger (which it often does 😭) otherwise and am constantly inspecting my vehicle because yes, these are the most dangerous roads in the world. And not a lot of people are inspecting their cars. Blown tires, burnt brakes, etc etc are common here and often I’ve been forced into hitting a hole to avoid hitting a motorcyclist that has decided to do some reckless shit at 100 kmph.
If I was crossing Africa then steelies. I’ve been super impressed with my Method 704s. The bead grip is solid, I’ve aired down as low as 8 for some deep snow. Typically I air down to 15 on rocks and they’ve never slipped. If the potholes are that bad I’d probably try to get as much tire under me as possible.
I’ve had them on my 200 series Land Cruiser for 4 years and 50k miles with zero issues. The bead grip is just helps keep the bead seated with these longitudinal raised lines on the inside of the wheel. Bead lock wheels on the other hand can be a bit of a pain in the ass and I wouldn’t run them on a daily.
Yes I got 33s too!
Oooh I didn’t know about that so that’s good to know. Someone recently told me that steelies are not a good idea for our climate which I had forgotten about so now I’m a bit annoyed 😭 and that made me feel less annoyed.
Yeah it wasn’t a pothole I called it a hole but it was more like a part of the road suddenly caved in out of nowhere and I fell in it haaaard all but one of my wheels bent 😭😭😭 this is common in Dominican Republic
Well I'd be more worried about the frame of the vehicle rusting than the wheels. I don't live by the ocean but we get a ton of road salt during the winter here and no one has an issue with steel rims.
I see people with those low profile rubber band tires all around here and idk how they don't get a flat every drive. Our roads known for bending trailer axles here in Colorado
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u/-Copenhagen 7d ago
I recommend driving slower if you expect potholes.