Mickey Thompson Classic II Wheels and Equal Balancing Powder.
UPDATE 06/09/05: I returned these wheels to the dealer and exchanged them for remanufactured Land Cruiser wheels. The Mickey Thompson alloy has no clear coat and is EXTREMELY reactive to road deicer chemicals. I drove through some early Spring puddles on my local Spokane streets and with two days the finish on the wheels that received the road splash blistered into dull gray powdery pits. This is totally unacceptable. It's a shame, because I loved the look. I certainly can't recommend these wheels to anyone who drives where caustic road chemicals are used.....
You can see the corrosion that formed in spite of a heavy
coat of wax. Elapsed time two days.
Closeup. They pits would not
polish out - it would require sandpaper to remove the them.
The wheels are P/N 648312, 16x8, 6 on 5.5 bolt circle, with 3 5/8 inch backspacing - about 1 inch less than the stock LX450 alloys. I was concerned that the tires would rub the flares, but so far I have seen no sign of contact, even when the tires are stuffed. The 285/75R16 MT/R tires have a comparatively narrow tread width that throws debris inside the edge of the flares, but I still get a few little stringers of mud creeping around onto the body. IMHO any wider would not be a good thing. The wheel is also available with a close-to-stock stock 4 7/16 inches B/S. NOTE: My truck has 3 inches of lift and I have NO idea if these wheels will work on a stock height Cruiser! (The Mickey Thompson fitment page does, however, recommend the 648312 wheels as stock replacement wheels for Cruisers.) I paid US$135 each, mounted and balanced at Discount Tire. Conical lug nuts and wheel locks were extra. The center caps are included with the wheels.
I think these wheels are gorgeous - they have a flawless high polish and are not clear coated, so they require waxing and routine polishing to maintain the shine. But they will not suffer from the disfiguring dings and chips that clear-coated wheels get. The inside of the holes are polished, unlike the Ultra Wheels copy of this wheel. They have a 3100 pound weight rating, but being cast they don't have the strength (or cost) of forged wheels.
In my opinion the truck looks much better with the wider stance. It seems a tiny bit more stable in turns with the additional 2 inches of track, but the steering is a little less secure, with more wandering on rough pavement and more steering wheel shake over bumps and rough pavement. It doesn't bother me.... I am willing to live with the handling.
I installed Equal Tire Balancing Powder instead of using conventional weights. I had the tire tech spin check each tire/ wheel to make sure it was reasonably close to balanced and running true, then had him drop in a 6 ounce bag of Equal. He also installed the filtered valve cores and gasketed metal caps that are necessary to prevent leakage due to the powder getting in the valve body. The jury is out on this mod - I get some shaking when I speed up over 40 mph that takes a while to go away. I think that perhaps the bead seating fluid and/ or moist shop air is causing the powder to clump. The manufacturer's website advises that dry air is required. I will do a "dry air change" and see if this helps. I have a water blocker filter on my shop compressor.
Update 06/09/05: The Equal powder was a failure. I tried dumping the air and installing fresh dry air in the hope that the powder would not clump. It had no noticeable effect. The wheels would shake and smooth out, shake and smooth out repeatedly at 70 mph. I think the powder is ineffective in tires of this size. When my new Cruiser wheels were installed I had the shop balance them conventionally and they feel fine. The MT wheels and Equal powder are equally disappointing....
Mickey Thompson Tires Classic II Wheel Specifications
Birfield.com Equal thread
IMI Products Installation tips from the manufacturer
Expedition Exchange - Equal tech and ordering info.