I have a 2012 Outlander LS with 18" wheels.

dealer said that I can easily put 16" steels on it for the winter. The best price i could get for rims was at costco. So i selected the model from their fitments guide and placed my order.

I got my rims today in the mail and opened one box to check the rims to make sure they weren't damaged and I find this nice bright orange sticker on the rim that says.

Warning: for Front wheel drive cars only, do not install on pickup trucks, suv or mini vans.

I am thinking that i should return them and mention to them that the rims in their guide are not for the outlander suv... can anyone shed some light on this, are these ok to use or not... they are rated at 1400lbs and do have the right number of lugs and offset. And to make sure that i didn't order the wrong ones. i double checked the codes against the costco guide. the rim code is X99145N 16"

thanks

 

My only thought is that they might be a weaker material and the company is using a generalization about pick-ups/SUV's/Vans being heavier and the thought that a RWD vehicle would be more likely to stress the rim?

And yes, I'd return them. God forbid the rim fails and you kill someone in an accident, Costco is gunna just say "We told him not to!" and you'll lose everything you own.




For rims, watch your local Craigslist and Ebay. The Outlander 16" rims are 5x114.3mm 16x6.5" with a 46mm offset and a 67.1mm hub. These are some of the most common specs for rims out of any size. You can buy rims for a Lancer, Eclipse, Hyundai Sonata, several Kia's, and thousands of other models and they should fit just fine.


For example, I found a set of 4 stock rims from a 2006 Hyundai Sonata on eBay that were local to me. I messaged the seller and said that I would be willing to pick them up and save him the hassle of shipping, and to just give me a fair deal. He said $80 picked up. FOR ALL FOUR RIMS! They are in good used condition, with only minor blemishes. The alloy rims will look better and hold up better than the steelies in the long run, and I got all four for the price of 1 steel wheel.

 

On the question of rims, can anyone confirm the width of the stock 18's?
I thought I saw somewhere that it was 18x7.5 but I can't find it anymore. The Mitsu site has it like a model number and to me it looks like 18x7.

If it were 7.5", we would have more choices for tires....

 

there were discussion a year or three back talking about the J vs JJ lip of the rim. Supposedly JJ is for SUV and J is for cars... I haven't looked into changing rims out so I didn't pay much attention to it.

 

i returned the rims to costco. the tire tech guy up there said that the rims were not suitable for awd or 4x4, had something to do with the amount of torque Output.

I managed to get a set of rims from a 2010 Ford Escape that will do the job.

I had this question put to me when i was ordering my tires and getting them mounted. The installer asked me if I wanted to buy different lug nuts to replace the current ones. he said that mine have a flat washer on them for alum wheels. I don't know if it really makes a difference or not, or its just an upsell. I haven't paid for them yet so I am asking you experts if its a waste of and only a visual thing to "save the chrome" or if they are required because I am using steel rims

 

Depends on what the Ford rim mounting looks like.

Might be best to opt for the correct lug nuts so there is no problem down the road.

 

Not an expert by any means but I believe it is just for noise. The stock lugs have an acorn type bottom with the flat ring "at least ours do" so they fit the steel rim well but have some extra noise from the ring rattling. On my lancer I had some regular acorn nuts and they fit the wheel just about the same as the stock ones with the rings.

 

Get the correct lug nuts for your new rims, they are shaped that way for a reason. However, don't buy them from the dealer. Politely decline and go buy them online for 1/5th of the cost.