I'm working on putting some new off-road ready boots on my Heritage Blue LC that currently has the 20" wheels. I decided to go with the Method 703 (17 x 8.5, +35, Gloss Titanium) along with 255/80R17 (true 33") Falken WildPeak AT4W tires. While the rims arrived today, I'm still waiting on TPMS sensors (P/N 4260776020) from Toyota which are on backorder. This is my first time to put new wheels on a vehicle, so this has been a challenging process to learn and understand all of the details to find the right combination of wheels and tires for my LC. My plans changed numerous times along the way, but I'm excited to finally be moving forward with the new boots.
I checked the fit of the 703 front and rear and both rims have ample clearance for the calipers.
Here's why I made my choices:
703 in Gloss Titanium
Front View with OEM 20" wheels.
Front View showing 703 installed with no tire. More poke, but still under the fender.
703 installed on the front showing brake caliper clearance. No worries here.
703 installed on rear with ample clearance (but, less clearance than I expected!)
I checked the fit of the 703 front and rear and both rims have ample clearance for the calipers.
Here's why I made my choices:
- I'm keeping my 20" wheels to go along with the new set. I'll switch back and forth between the wheels depending on both the time of year and whether or not I'm taking my LC off-road.
- I wanted a wheel that would not substantially increase the poke of my current setup. For the 8.5" wheel I would've preferred a +40 offset to reduce the poke a little bit, but the difference between +35 and +40 is less than 1/4". The new wheel will poke out 1.48" more than the current setup (20" wheel, 7.5" width, +60 offset).
- I wanted a wheel in the dark gray/titanium color family to match up to the Heritage Blue. The pictures on the Method website don't give any idea of the true color of the gloss titanium - it's a dark, metallic gray - perfect for Heritage Blue.
- I preferred a 17" wheel over 18" because everything I see and read says that more sidewall is better for off-roading.
- I wanted an all-terrain tire that was off-road focused, but also 3 Peak rated and great on road in the wet and on snow. The quieter the better. I initially thought I'd go with the KO3, but landed on the WildPeak AT4W as a better choice for me.
- 255/80R17 E (33", 58.1 lbs) Tire size was tough choice. I kept thinking about getting the larger tires to increase my clearance, but ultimately decided that I would be better served by the pizza cutters. The 285/70R17 C is also 33" but weighs 65.4 lbs. The 285/75R17 C is 34.1" and weighs 67.9 lbs. So, to gain clearance I would be sacrificing a lot of unsprung weight. The 285/75R17 is also around $80 more per tire. In the end I decided that I'd take the $ I saved and use it towards improving the suspension a little bit.
- Sidenote - I weighed my current wheel/tire combination and the scale read 75 lbs. I expect the combined weight of the 703 plus the 255/80R17 to be 85 lbs (a 10 lbs gain!). If I'd gone with the 285/75R17, then the combined weight would've been an astonishing 10 lbs/tire more than the 255/80R17 and 20 lbs/tire more than the stock tires. That's a big penalty to pay to gain 0.5" clearance.
- My off-roading will be adventurous, but not crazy. We're looking to take the LC places where having high clearance, hi/low four wheel drive, and lockers might be needed. I imagine we'll start with easier trails and gradually work up to harder ones as we get more experience.
- I'm waiting on the TPMS sensors. I'll post pictures of the new wheels on the LC once I get them.
703 in Gloss Titanium
Front View with OEM 20" wheels.
Front View showing 703 installed with no tire. More poke, but still under the fender.
703 installed on the front showing brake caliper clearance. No worries here.
703 installed on rear with ample clearance (but, less clearance than I expected!)
