Scion xB Tire/Wheel Questions

PF_Flyer

Discuss tire and wheel issue with your xB here.

jwats

I am about to buy an XB with larger aftermarket rims and tires, and want to get a set of smaller tires for snowy conditions. I live in Minnesota. Does anyone know of an inexpensive source for 15" or 16" steel wheels? Or what other toyota models are interchangeable?

Are there all season tires you would recommend? I would prefer NOT to have dedicated snows, although I could if need be

thanks for your help
John

jimw0238

according to toyota shop and my tire shop- the xb has a standard toyota 4x100 4 bolt pattern......
i have seen people selling stock steel wheels on ebay for as cheap as $15 each
hope this helps

jsaeli

I have an 06 xb and am verry happy with it. I had to get a steel rim and my toyota dealer had takeoffs which are rims that they have when they install specialty rim and tire package for $49. You can also check with tire rack. they have takeoffs available also. The orignial rim that coimes on the XB is a 15"

jimw0238

i have seen them on ebay for $10 to $15.....

jwats

Call your dealer--I got a set of four FREE--they may be cheap on EBAY but they are expensive to ship

odie6l

Hello all,
I'm just reading over all the posts and taking into consideration what everyone has been saying. My wife and I are looking at trading in a '01 Escape XLT 4wd for a new vehicle soon. The xB jumped up onto our list after we went to a local dealer Sun 3/26/06 and found all three xB's they had on the lot UNLOCKED. It was nice to actually get in at see how well it fit and the amount of room it has (compared to the Escape).
Vehicles we are looking at (not in any order),
1. '06 Scion xB
2. '06 Ford Freestyle SEL
3. '06 Saturn Vue Redline
4. '06 Mazda 5 Touring
5. '06 Mazda MPV LX Sport

The main question I have for anyone with the '06 xB is who got the 18" tires and are they better than the 15" alloys (I refuse to buy wheel covers). And next question to those who got the TRD Sport Muffler, is it worth the extra?

Odie

scootertrash

"who got the 18" tires and are they better than the 15" alloys"

Better in what way?

odie6l

"Better in what way?"

Do they hold up better to road punishment (potholes)? How are they in both rain, snow, and ice? Are they quieter than the 15" tires?

I live in Central Pennsylvania and we don't have the normal 4 seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter), we have the PA 4 seasons (almost winter, winter, still winter , and construction), and not to mention some of the lousiest roads around.

Odie

aatherton

"... Are there all season tires you would recommend? I would prefer NOT to have dedicated snows..."

You must be buying a used xB where the P.O. sold the steelies. Try eBay for used OEM steel wheels that people have removed from their xBs.
Bridgestone Blizzak and Bridgestone Winterforce (cheaper) and Michelin x-Ice are popular winter tires. If you don't get the special rubber and tread of winter tires, all-season tires won't work as well in snow and ice.
Look around Tire Rack http://www.tirerack.com and TireSavings.com.

crazedcommuter

I drive fairly often in Central and Western Pa. I run dedicated snows in the winter due to the increased gripping force they give the driver in the snow. The OEM Goodyear Eagles (15") were pretty lousy in the snow and my commute is 110 round trip daily. I bought the Blizzacks and am quite pleased with their performance. I'll be putting them on in another month. Snow tires do come in performance models so you might want to check out those as well.
If you have 18" rims, then you're going to pay high $$$ for whatever tire you put on the XB. You may want to consider moving down in rim size. 15 and 16 inches will be fine for the XB.
The best all season tires that I've ever driven were the BF Goodrich Traction T/A's in 205/50/16 size on my 02' Ford Focus ZX3. The tread is more aggressive than most tires and the grip is better in the snow. Handling was good. The only issue that I had with them was the amount of road noise that they generated, but then I turned up the audio.
God luck with your shopping and keep us posted on what you buy.

aatherton

"... I bought the Blizzacks... I'll be putting them on in another month."

Do you use one set of rims? If you put the Blizzaks on separate rims, where did you get the rims?

crazedcommuter

I put the snow tires on the stock rims. I bought the 15" Scion alloy rims at time of purchase and the dealer gave me $90 off the list price. I informed the dealer that I wanted the stock rims also for the snows, and they and the hubcaps were bagged and in the back of the XB when I took delivery. In hindsite, I should've bought the alloys at Pep Boys. I saw a post here that another XB owner paid about $300 for nearly identical rims, and I saw a set at Sears that is a close match for that price. I ran the Blizzacks from Dec. to the end of March and notice hardly any tread wear. The tire manager informed me to take the snows off when the days's high temp. gets near 50 degrees to prevent excess wear.

rteague

I just purchased the 08 xb and I want to change the wheels.It has the black steel with the tire pressure monitoring system. Can the tpm valves be removed and placed on the new wheels? Or do I have to buy new valves? Please help me with any answers anyone may have.

dwynne

There are two kinds of TPM systems - one is a band that goes around the wheel and holds the sensor, the other is connected to the valve core.

I would THINK either could be moved to a new wheel, but if the band type is used the band would not go around a +1, +2, or +3 rim. The one made onto the valve should work on another wheel.

Ask the service manager at your local Scion dealership and see what they say.

There is actually a 3rd type of system - one the measures the pulses from the ABS system. It does not check the actual pressure of the tires - it just checks all the pulses against the others. If one tire is too low the pulse rate from that ABS sensor will be faster than the other three. If if gets enough off, the TPM light will come on. It will not tell you which tire is low (or high) just that something is wrong. With this type of system you can replace the wheels and tires and not worry - as long as all four have the same diameter.

Dennis

crazedcommuter

I just installed the third set of tires on my 2005 TCM XB auto at 85,000 miles. The Falken 195 60 15's were a great handling all around tire but they wore to the wear bars in 26,000 miles. I researched the usual websites and opted for the Kumho Solus 716's with an H rating.

The Kumhos really improve the ride a great deal. They have much more cushion than the Falkens and thus more of a comfort ride. They grip well in the rain as well as in tight, sweeping curves. The sidewalls feel like they are flexing more than the Falkens but they feel like they track better. The Kumhos are twitchy though. You turn the wheel slightly and these tires go there immediately. I'm hoping that as they wear they'll settle down a bit, but overall I'm pleased with them.

So far MPG has been on a par with the Falkens-about 325 miles out of a tank. MPG has gone down in the last 2 weeks due to the high temps here in the DC area, and my use of the defroster in the morning annd the A/C on the drive home.

ladyfavored

Hi Crazed
My 2005 Scion rides rough. I want to purchase tires to make a smoother ride. Hoping you have found them. It is now almost one year since you purchased them. How goes it?

I agree the steering on these is very touchy. I replaced a small steering wheel with a larger one on a toyota I had once and it helped immensely. What do you think?

Do shocks need replaced frequently on the 2005 XB? I have been wondering what is the widest/ largest tire I can go? I thought it would look really cute with the fat tires.

crazedcommuter

Ladyfavored,
I now have 100k on the 05 XB and 15k on the Kumho's. They ride great still and the wear is relatively low on them. I rotate them every 6k miles. For the price the 195 60 15's are a good buy.
As far as the widest you could go in size--I'm not sure. I've read that some members have 205 series tires on their XB's but I'm not sure what size rim they're running with that tire. I stayed with the 15 inch tires due to lower replacement cost.

atxblackbox

Well my '05 xB came with some after market 17 in. motegi wheels. They had Nexen 5000 radials that were 215/40/R17 and they don't rub at all and in fact they've lasted quite a long time. They're getting bald but still get traction even when it was pouring outside. I just bought some 225/45/R17s to see if they fit. I'll let ya'll know how it works out.

crazedcommuter

Just an update on the Kumhos on my '05 XB. Now at 20k mark they are starting to lose their wet gripping traction. Wet traction is noticeably reduced with slipping and sliding around corners and when taking off from a stop. Tread wear is light and I would say they could run another 20-25k but traction is reduced. They roll great on dry pavement and still handle great but the wet traction concerns me. I will run then through the summer and probably put on a set of Michelin Hydroedges in the fall.

alexandy

Hello: Looking for feedback...I purchased a 2009 Scion xB with the optional 19" TRD wheels and "recommended" Toyo Proxes 4 tires. The original wheels/tires were 205/55/R16 and the original tire placard calls for 35psi front and 32psi rear. Long story short, I've been running these tires at 35/32 instead of the proper 39/37 (Toyo and Scion Customer Service have confirmed these numbers). Scion says that the dealer should have replaced the original placard with the proper placard. The dealer says they never got a replacement placard, blah, blah. I've got over 18K miles on the tires and they show severe signs of underinflation (shoulders worn down while center hardly worn). Looks like they are trying to "scimp" and give me some prorated value while I contend that the tires have never performed like they should because they were underinflated. Also, I had to replace a rim a few months ago after hitting a small pothole...I'm thinking if the tires were properly inflated, the rim wouldn't have been damaged and I wouldn't be out ~$500. thoughts??
Gary

crazedcommuter

I've never seen a dealer replace the original door sill placard, and I've bought a few wheel upgrade packages. At a minimum, the salesman should have briefed you on the pressure difference. I ran into this initially back in '89 when the pressure changes on the performance tire and wheel I purchased from a Chevy dealer were not mentioned and I did the same thing that you did. After I complained loudly in the service bay they replaced all 4 tires and it cost me $75.

After that I always ran the pressure 5-6 psi higher than stated on the door for better fuel economy and handling.