Winter tires and rims

Oh I like those, looks much more civilized than the utilitarian black ones. It's the corolla rim, p/n 42611-02471?

A 2" ABS end cap pushed over the center will be a loose fit, with some sort of rubber band pushed on first (say cut off an old bicycle inner tube) it will be an interference fit, and will stay on. If left exposed the hubs rust up pretty fast.

 

They've worked for a couple of winters now. Hey, they're $2~3 apiece at Home Despot.

Again, the key is to push some sort of rubber band on first, then sorta screw/tap them on. The fronts ride up slightly, on my 2010, due slight projection of the axle nut. Very slightly. Have a look at yours, being different gen. The inside diameter of the end cap is 2.375".

 

Could probably wrap the end caps with non-adhesive rubber electrical tape, available at hardware stores or online. Works good for other projects also, lasts a long time and you don't have to worry about adhesive not holding up in temperature extremes

 

I put my stock wheels back on the other day and put my American Racing wheels and tires up for the winter. I have stock Toyo's on both sets of wheels. I bet I am the only one on Prius Chat that owns 8 stock Toyo's.

 

Yup, it's a bit funky, but it will REALLY save the hubs from rust. I also put a (single) drop of oil on each exposed stud tip, move it around with an old toothbrush. Then repeat maybe halfway through winter. You don't want to overdo, centrifugal forces could spin it out, make a mess.

 

Just put the winter attire on my Prius - Dunlop Winter Response 2 mounted on Tyota 15" 10 spoke hyper black alloy wheels.

PS For Europeans - enter the setting menu, Vechicle settings, Maintenance, TPMS - press the center (Enter) button 3 times Be happy using TPMS set 2

 

@Kiril is putting us to shame, anyway, put the snows on today:


(Still up in the air.)

 

Strictly function Mendel.

 

I'm getting cagey, trying to protect my back when swapping tires: my latest trick is to crabwalk the tire wheel/tire up, as close and oriented as possible, then lever it up and onto the studs with the help of a prybar tucked under. It invariably takes some jimmying, but if I try to just muscle them on I regret it, usually for weeks.

When the wheels are off I dress the hub by running an old toothbrush around, spreading the remnants of anti-seize uniformly.



Rona 2" abs end cap pushed onto the hub opening (with a rubber band gasket to fill the gap), a drop of oil on each open ended nut, chased around with aforementioned tooth brush, and it's good to go.

 

I have a technique for installing wheels. I have a stool I sit on and I move the wheel into position and try to rotate it so I don't have to try to turn it to align with the studs. I lay my forearms across my knees and both hands slightly below knee level and then just pivot my arms on my knees. I am able to install my 20 inch Prowler wheels this way and they are a foot wide. I need to make a video of it.

 

I just put my winter tire on as well.

 

It doesn't count if you can't tell.

Yeah I know, I know, those aren't stock fourth gen wheel covers, lol. But didn't you know: snow tires don't work, if they're not ugly as sin.

 

We had snow on the ground this morning, put my winter wheels on just in time.

 

We are expecting the first real accumulating snow tomorrow. Just in time, finished putting on brand new MB alloy wheels (cheaper than steely by courtesy of Discount Tire) and Xice snows for the first time. Even after consulting the manual and seeing diagram, I still could not figure out where the front and rear floor jack points are on PRIME (which should be similar to Gen4?). I ended up using the rocker panel jack points for each wheel. Using aftermarket external TPMS only on winter wheels, TPMS light did not come on initially. It took almost 1 hour, ~40 miles of driving for the car to realize that there are no TPMS. No audible warning. I think the warning light is far to the right of my view, it is easy to ignore.

 

Good to hear that's working for you. I might be able to dig up a picture of what our hubs looked like after a few years exposed. Toyota's rust-proofing is zero, they were rusty as heck. I wire brushed them and put on some oil, then started using those caps.