Thinking about upgrading wheels. What do you think and will it work?

I think you're gonna need to beef up the offset a bit. I'm running 17x7.5 +50 offset right now. It just barely clears the brakes and struts.

 

What size tires did you use? I would assume either a 225/45 or a 205/50?
If you are using a 225/45 tire, it's 30mm wider (+15 towards the struts and +15 towards the fender)...
With a 50mm offset, that moves the wheel 10mm closer to the struts so the net is +25mm closer to the struts and +5mm to the fender.
It's interesting to learn there was actually 25mm of clearance to the struts...That must be pushing it pretty close.

 

I just bought new wheels from Tire rack. I got them the next day. I went with the OEM 15" size. I had a leak from the wheel, got a flat, tire was fine, and was told by Toyota that they would not cover the defective wheel. A replacement wheel from Toyota is $350, I got them for $107 each.

 

My 2 cents: wheels with big openings, that show a lot of the brakes/suspension, don't look that good.

 

We have one on the car and I'm waiting for the other three. I will let you know. I wasn't going to change the wheels until one wheel went bad and Toyota won't replace it under warranty.

 

195/65/15 is the stock tire.
A 35mm offset is only 5mm less than the standard rim...
The net result is just a 5mm (less than a quarter inch) shift in the wheel outwards towards the fender...There is plenty of clearance for that.

Personally, I'm a fan of he Michelin Defender...That would be my first choice.

 

I would call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at (800) 331-4331. Nothing in the Warranty Booklet says the "Wheel" is not covered by Toyota warranty. Tires no, but OEM wheels are manufactured by Toyota, so it should be covered.

 

This is what I'm toying with. Our stock are the 17", and I have a set of (15") PIP rims on hand, ready to go. And we're still on our original 17" tires, but they're getting quite long in the tooth. I may just relegate the PIP rims to snow tires, when I replace those (they're currently on steel rims), but I do like the idea of going to 15" rims with the all-seasons.

Anyway, here's a look I like. First, a shot of our OEM's:



And then with PIP rims (just Photoshopped in):



FWIW, what the PIP rims look like on a 4th gen, and I'd say they look a little out-of-place:

 

I agree with that, but am wondering how a wheel could suddenly start to leak air after thousands of miles of use. Perhaps it is the valve stem, which would be a simple replacement. Anyway, you now have three good spares; maybe keep one and sell the other two to Prime owners who want a full-size spare.

 

I bought the same wheels at Tire Rack last month but haven't put tires on them yet so I can't tell you how they fit. Tire Rack says they will fit the car and I am taking their word they will work. I was going to put them on but with snow and salt here in NW Indiana I decided to wait until spring. I plan on getting another set of stock tires and then I will have a summer and winter set ready to go. I am in the process of ordering Autel MX TPMS sensors and am going to clone them with the existing ones that came on the car so I can switch tires back and forth without messing with them again. If it ever warms up I might put the bare rim on the car to see how they look, cant wait till spring.

 

That's what I told Toyota. That it has to be the wheel, the tire, or the valve stem. The tire is fine according to two tire centers, the wheel is bad according to the tire store and "fine" according to Toyota. I asked about the valve stem. The guy couldn't tell me one way or the other. I'll call the number for Toyota.

 

I suppose you are tired of dealing with this by now. But if it were mine, I would return to Costco, have them remount the tire, and show you where the wheel is leaking air. Normally this would be done by dunking the inflated tire into a water bath. If Toyota is saying the wheel is "fine", you need proof and maybe a picture of where and how it is leaking. You will probably find Costco customer care better than your local Toyota dealer and there is a good chance Costco would do the test at no charge.

 

They did this a few times. They couldn't find a leak. The tire went flat twice, so something was wrong.

We bought four new wheels and will be using one of the original wheels as a spare. I can't drive 1k per week with a mystery problem. I replaced the original tire as well. It shouldn't go flat at this point and we have a spare. So, loads of money later, I'm hoping the issue is solved.

I'll attach a picture with the new wheels.