Wing'n'it
04-13-2005, 10:15
After searching through all the posts concerning replacing OEM steel wheels on my '03 GMC 2500HD with all the aftermarket options, last week I took the plunge and purchased some takeoff H2 wheels. For tires I chose TOYO Open Country LT265/70R17E tires from my local Les Schwab Tire store. The tires are 10 ply and rated for 3195 max load at 80 psi, perfect for towing my 9000# 5'er. The wheels fit perfectly with no trimming or torsion bar adjustment required.
The only thing that was somewhat unexpected was the fit of the OEM center caps. I had been expecting to just trim the nubs on the back of the plastic OEM center caps from my steel wheels. Not so. The bore of the H2 wheel is about 1/4" narrower than the center cap. So using a milling bit in my drill press I am grinding material off the outer edge of the plastic cap. Hope to have all four done by this weekend.
In one of the previous posts someone asked about wheel weights, so I borrowed the digital bathroom scale and this is what I got:
Bare H2 wheel (cast, painted) 33.5 lbs
H2 wheel mounted with TOYO Open Country LT265/70R17E 79.5 lbs.
OEM GMC steel wheel mounted with Bridgestone LT245/75R16E 71 lbs.
Hope this helps others that are looking to change factory wheels. BTW, I wasn't happy with the initial spin balance. Had a slight wheel vibration at 70mph and felt like the rear was hopping around at slower speeds. Took it back to Les Schwab and they did a Road Force balance with the Hunter GSP 9700. WOW what a difference!! Smooth as silk now. They found both rear wheels had over 50 lb road force imbalance and had to rotate the tires on both rear wheels, one 90* the other 180*. No question that it's worth the extra few bucks for the Road Force balance, should have just had them do it from the begining.
Thanks to all the previous posters on the subject, hope this fills in some blanks for others.
Mike
The only thing that was somewhat unexpected was the fit of the OEM center caps. I had been expecting to just trim the nubs on the back of the plastic OEM center caps from my steel wheels. Not so. The bore of the H2 wheel is about 1/4" narrower than the center cap. So using a milling bit in my drill press I am grinding material off the outer edge of the plastic cap. Hope to have all four done by this weekend.
In one of the previous posts someone asked about wheel weights, so I borrowed the digital bathroom scale and this is what I got:
Bare H2 wheel (cast, painted) 33.5 lbs
H2 wheel mounted with TOYO Open Country LT265/70R17E 79.5 lbs.
OEM GMC steel wheel mounted with Bridgestone LT245/75R16E 71 lbs.
Hope this helps others that are looking to change factory wheels. BTW, I wasn't happy with the initial spin balance. Had a slight wheel vibration at 70mph and felt like the rear was hopping around at slower speeds. Took it back to Les Schwab and they did a Road Force balance with the Hunter GSP 9700. WOW what a difference!! Smooth as silk now. They found both rear wheels had over 50 lb road force imbalance and had to rotate the tires on both rear wheels, one 90* the other 180*. No question that it's worth the extra few bucks for the Road Force balance, should have just had them do it from the begining.
Thanks to all the previous posters on the subject, hope this fills in some blanks for others.
Mike