Rav4 (2003) Original Wheel Pulling Weights

[fred.perry]

Hi,

I am hoping somebody on here can assist.

We have recently purchased a 2003 (53 plate) RAV4 2.0 D4D GX manual car and loving it.

I have just had a 4x4 specialist look over the car and the only concern he has is that the alloy wheels have been retro fitted and as I use the car for towing my caravan raised a concern as to the wheels not being man enough for the job.

He has asked my to find out the original pulling weight if the factory fitted wheels and then look at my alloys to see what weight they have.

My problem is that my local Toyota dealer and Toyota UK cannot give me the information required.

Has anybody on the forum any further info on this

Thanks

Fred

[Bezzer]

I don't quite understand what you're after never heard of pulling weight of wheels before, but your Rav has a max towing limit of 1500kg , I would have thought you'd already got this so you know if it's suitable for your van. Bearing in mind that's the maximum tested tow weight and you should be more concerned with the weight of your car compared to the van. It's easy enough to find the max permissable Gross Vehicle Weight / MAM (max authorised mass.) of your car from the information plate that's usually on the inside of a front door frame and any wheels fitted should be capable of supporting that weight, I haven't got a clue what pulling weight might refer to.

[Davrav]

Do you mean really mean load rating for the wheels in the same way that tyres have load ratings?

I'd have thought a 'pulling rate' for a wheel is more like a torque rating.

[Hoovie]

As Dave says, the only really relevant weight info for a wheel is the load rating, and it would be unlikely if the load rating of a wheel is to low for a medium sized SUVs GVW.

What is something that I think you could (and probably SHOULD) check is if the wheel has the right fitting for the car. All to often, the only thing people check is that a replacement wheel set has the right number of holes (4 or 5 usually) and that the PCD is compatible (so for the RAV4, that would be 5 x 114.3).

BUT equally - and more so really - is to make sure the Centre Bore on the wheel matches the the Centre Bore on the car. For the RAV4, the Bore is 60.1 - if the wheel centre bore is smaller, then it will not fit anyway, but if it s larger, then the wheel will be supported by the wheel studs only and not centrally on the hub. The studs are not designed to take the weight, they are mostly only there to stop the wheel falling off! It is perfectly ok to make the wheel Centre Bore smaller with a reducing spigot ring to match the cars Bore, but larger and no reducing ring fitted, it would be most unsafe.

[Tech01]

This is sound and essential advice from Hoovie. Please check that the hub diameter and wheel bores match snugly. The weight must NOT be taken by the wheel bolts/studs.

Chris

[Overbomber]

Spigot rings are easily available from eBay (no prizes for guessing that) and come in a vast array of conversion sizes so even if the PCD is right but the bore is too large you'll get the correct rings so the wheels actually 'fit'.

P