leave cool rims on for the winter, or put stockers back on?

[tbomb]

guys, im putting my new rims on next week, and i think im gonna leave em on for the winter, but what do you guys think? theyre 17x8 enkei rt6's and theyre a machined finish, and i believe theyre clear coated. while im up here at school, i only drive about 10 miles per week, so they shouldnt get destroyed, and because i drive so little, they wont see too much road salt, though they will see some. im putting 285 60 r17 pirelli scorpion zeroes on them. my stock setup is the 16x7 teardrops with 265 70 r16 with goodyear wrangler rts's - i hate them, but they might be a little better in the snow cuz theyre a touch narrower than the pirellis.

i mean, the enkeis arent $3000 rims or anything, but that doesnt mean i wanna screw em up, but i dont wanna get them next week and not put them on till next march/april.

in the end, if i decide to leave the enkeis on for the winter, i think ill prolly sell the stock ones with the tires on em - anybody have any reasons/suggestions why i should keep the stock ones?

thanks for any input guys.

 

[jimbo74]

me vote:

leave cool rims on for the whole year and sell the stockers

 

[leenjen]

i agree with jim.

keep the cool rims on

 

[tbomb]

jim & lee, thats what im leaning towards, but i just want to see if anyone has any suggestions/reasons for keeping the stock wheels (or horror stories for that matter.)

and jim, where the hell have you been for the last 3 months? heh.

 

[expo5.0]

i voted before hearing that your rims were clearcoated and how much you'd be driving. my kmc hellions came off in the winter when i was in minnesota, but you should be alright. sell the stockers

 

[RFR2212]

I didn't vote, but fer the salt thing, after yer done driving, you can always take a damp rag, and wipe them down to wipe off any salt.
Pete

 

[Xplor]

I would leave new ones on. Why? Because you said the new ones are machined finish. Even though if there is clear coat finish on them, they should be fine. I believe that the factory wheels are the same way, expect you have the polished (I know most '98 with 16in. does)version on yours. The new wheel should defiantely last better than a chrome or those Boyd's, Colorado Custom's type of wheel, which needs a lot of maintance in order to keep them looking at there best.

Plus why not sell your factory to get some extra X-mas money to spend

 

[sideswipe]

Leave the kool ones on, you'll be fine. I leave mine on all year, just make sure they dont get too dirty, simply keep them clean.

 

[Heath]

I kept my stockers because no one wants to buy deer hoof stockers!!!

 

[rpenner54]

Doesn't seem like the rims would really matter which ones you have on during the winter. Just the tires. As long as those tires you got on it now work fine in whatever winter conditions your in I would say you should be fine. Otherwise keep the stockers to get a good set of winter tires.

 

[rockymntnhi]

Keep the wheels on year around and sell the stockers . You paid your hard earned $$$ , get your use outta them . If you happen to damage one , it'll be the same price to repair , or cheaper to replace than the stock . When you sell it/or trade in you will brake even but it'll go faster to a private buyer .

 

[tbomb]

yah, im leaving the cool ones year round, but im holding on to the stockers for a while, just in case. i change my mind so often, i might wanna throw some 31" bfg's on em for next winter or something

 

[rockymntnhi]

Good Idea .

I've noticed you change your mind often , so good thinkin'

 

[DocVijay]

Keep the stockers.

Get some good snow tires and mount them on the stock wheels. Swap when needed. When snow melts... back with the new. Simple.

 

[STANN]

Keep the stockers. My reason being that if for whatever reason you decided to sell your X, you could throw the stockers back on and keep your hard-earned bad-ass rims. If you never intend to sell your Explorer, then I say sell the stocks and get some $$$.

 

[Joe93]

If you get alot of snow and is icy alot in the winter I would use the stocker rims for the winter. Several of my friends have nice expensive rims on there cars and they swap the stockers on every winter. The reason is because you never know what could happen you could loose control and hit a curb when its icy. Then your screwed out of your nice rims. I would rather screw up a stock rim then a badass rim. Just my thought.