Steel wheels -- good source??

eBay?

 

I can't speak to "rural Oregon", but in any major city Craigslist is full of steel wheels that people took off their cars to install "rimz"

Look for Corolla or 2G Scion xB wheels. Direct fit, ought to be cheap.

 

You’re close to the 49th parallel, @Mendel Leisk should be selling his Corolla Steelies this year to make way for the PIP rims he has in the shrine.

I’m sure he’d cut you a deal.

 

@Stevewoods seems happy with his Subie.

Drive what makes the most sense to you and if it is an Outback, enjoy.

The Prime we just got I can tell will be enjoyed for many years to come.

 

Here's info on my snow tire rims. They were $70 (CDN) apiece back in fall of 2010, through a local dealership (in conjunction with a snow tire package), and the lug nuts were $31 for all 20:

Corolla steel rim, part no: 42611-02471 (2003-2008 corolla or matrix, CE, LS, S)
steel rim lug nuts, part no: 90942-01007 (plain, open-ended, galvanized)

I found with the exposed hub opening things were rusting badly, found a 2" (nominal size, ID is 2.375") black ABS end cap (Home Depot) covered it nicely. It's slightly loose fit, but I found cutting a rubber band from an old bicycle inner tube, pushing on the hub opening rim, then pushing the end cap on, it was a snug fit, and stayed on.

Also, the open-ended lug nuts mean the wheel stud tips are exposed, start to rust-bloom. After install putting a drop of three-in-one oil on the tip of each, brushing it around with an old tooth brush, they're pretty much protected, halfway through winter. Reapply in a couple of months to be sure.

 

Kris, since you are planning to buy snow tires and steel wheels, why not buy from tirerack.com ? Call them and ask for a package price.

 

When I was shopping for dedicated snow tires on its own wheels, I thought basic steely is the cheapest. After doing some comparisons, I ended up purchasing tires and wheels package from Discount Tire. It turned out, the least expensive alloy wheels are less expensive than steel wheels after discount and rebate deals they had. I got 4 alloy wheels, 4 Michelline Xice3, installation kit, tires mounted balanced shipping included total after discount and all the rebate for ~$450.

 

Given the crazy winter snow storm we had this year I agree. I drove a Honda Odyssey with Blizzaks on it that was just amazing - much better than a 4wd pickup truck with 'snow rated' all weather tires. Subies with snow tires would be fantastic.

 

Use the search term "take offs" when searching ebay for steelies (or alloys) for the Subie, and find out what other models use the same tire/wheel size.
I did this when buying replacment tires for my usta-truck.

I maintain that you can get a set of OEMs for cheap and mount snows on them.
Who knows?
Their TPMS sensors might be more easily reprogrammable too, since "snows" are a Subie kinda thing.
They just did a 'yuuge' makeover for the 2020 model year Outback and so the "leftover" G5s will be relatively cheaper.

Good Luck!