20" wheels for winter tires

[chipspew]

I recently bought a 2011 CX-9 AWD GT. It also came with 20" snow tires. Most people I talk to tell me to go with 18" winter tires/wheels. But because I have the 20" that came with the vehicle, I'd like to use them. Searching around online, I have had trouble finding any 20" wheels for my winter tires.

The other option is to swap the tires onto the existing wheels, but I am told that will reduce the life of the tires. Any opinion on this?

Does anyone know of a good reasonably priced source for these?

Thanks

 

[rsvinylgraphics]

Tirerack has a huge clearance discount on these "Zinik z35" 20" wheels, but they don't have a complete set of 4 for them BUT you can buy the two different finishes and you can paint them or plasti-dip them black for example..

But you better hurry before someone else gets them. But Shipping to Canada might be a little pricey.

EDIT- just noticed they have different offsets one is 35mm and the other is 45mm so that might be an issue...

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/resu...rSpecial=false&filterWeight=All&filterNew=All

 

[Rawyzf]

Can you find some OEM takeoffs? Otherwise, Lorenzo (in my sig) is a nice wheel you could put winter tires on.

 

[tex2670]

Did you look on eBay, or call around to salvage yards?

 

[Rawyzf]

I'd suggest just putting the Winter Tires on your OEM wheels. Use the OEM Tires on some new Summer wheels, or get a Summer Wheel/Tire package and sell those OEM tires on craigslist or something.

 

[voldsom]

I'd suggest just putting the Winter Tires on your OEM wheels. Use the OEM Tires on some new Summer wheels, or get a Summer Wheel/Tire package and sell those OEM tires on craigslist or something.

I agree with Rawyzf... If you're set on using the 20" winter tire, then OEM wheels in the winter work really well. It would also give you time to look for a sweet set of summer wheels to customize your ride more. Keep in mind, a 20" lower profile winter tire is probably more expensive to replace when you need to in the future (low profile winter tires take a bit more construction considerations)...

As far as shortening tire life, I would think that swapping back and forth on the same rim does introduce the potential to damage the side wall, but I did it for three years on my old 6 (before I got a dedicated summer set of wheels) and never had any issues with the Blizzak WS-70's. Lower profile tires are also tougher to put on, so if the shop doesn't care they could damage the bead trying to force it on.

 

[Rawyzf]

I run 20" Winter Tires on my 9-7x, no issues or difference really in driving comparision to our 18" Winter Tires on the CX9. Price, maybe $20-$50 a tire depending on which brands you go with or compare to.

Usually the switching back and forth of winter to summer starts to take a toll on the tire bead. I think you can get away with it for a couple years, but I wouldn't trust for them to last 5+yrs. (Usually worn out tread by then anyway).