When the time comes that you have to buy some tires for your car, you need to be aware of a lot more than the price tag.
Several sellers display tires with rims installed and you might be wondering whether or not they come bundled together, so we’ve created a complete guide of what you should expect when placing your order!
Do Tires Come With Rims?
Tires don’t come with rims unless stated otherwise by the seller. This is because tires are fitted onto existing rims, so there is no need for tires to come with rims. However, customers still do have the option to purchase both rims and tires together which are usually sold as a package by tire, auto, or rim shops.
To dive deeper into the topic and learn if used, snow and spare tires come with rims, the right size tire to buy, what a wheel is and more, keep reading!
Do Used Tires Come With Rims?
When buying a used tire, whether or not it comes with rims depends on who or where you’re getting it from.
If you’re buying them from a dealership or auto shop, you’re likely to get just the wheel without the rim because it’s better for business and variety in their stock to sell them separately.
If you’re getting them from an individual, there’s a higher chance that you’re going to get both the wheel and the rim because they’re unwilling or unable to take on the extra work of removing the rim from the tire.
Another reason for the latter is that some individuals selling tires are doing so as part of a push towards upgrading their whole setup or clearance like in a yard sale so they make the offer more attractive to buyers.
Do Spare Tires Come With Rims?
Spare tires of all sizes and types – full-size, compact, folding, etc. – come with rims to make it easier to install them.
As mentioned in the previous section, taking out and replacing the tire itself (the rubber part) is a task that’s intensive on its own, let alone when one is stranded on the side of the road.
This is why spare tires come with the rim already installed, making it easier to swap them for the damaged one in a pinch regardless of whether the issue is with the tire or the rim.
Do Firestone Tires Come With Rims?
Firestone tires do not come with rims. The rims shown on the tires on their online stores are for illustrative purposes only.
Do Michelin Tires Come With Rims?
Michelin does not sell rims with their tires so if you buy from them and need to change your rims as well, that would be a different purchase from a different vendor.
Do Bridgestone Tires Come With Rims?
Bridgestone and Firestone are the same company that primarily manufactures and sells just tires. Like Firestone, Bridgestone tires do not come with rims.
Do Continental Tires Come With Rims?
Continental doesn’t manufacture or sell rims with their tires. Their online shop only mentions rim diameter to let the buyer know which rims would fit the tires they’re looking at.
Do Goodyear Tires Come With Rims?
Goodyear tires do not come with rims, but the company operates a network of centers where you can access a variety of auto services, including new tire installation that could also fit rims you picked up elsewhere.
Do Toyo Tires Come With Rims?
Toyo neither manufactures nor sells rims with their tires, and the rims used on their online store are only there for illustration.
Do Winter Tires Come With Rims?
Like regular tires, the answer to this question basically boils down to where you’re buying the tire from, but they often don’t come with rims.
That said, we recommend you get your snow tires with dedicated rims so that when you’re installing or unmounting them depending on the season, the tire doesn’t get worn or possibly damaged in the process.
Do Costco Tires Come With Rims?
Costco sells both tires and rims separately, so you can pick them up and have them installed at the Costco Tire Center for an extra amount.
Do Tires Come With Rims At Walmart?
Like Costco, Walmart tires do not come with rims by default, but they sell both so you can pick them up separately if you want.
The rims shown in most tires on Walmart’s online store are only used for illustration and are not included with the purchase unless specified otherwise.
Can You Buy A Tire With A Rim?
It is possible to buy a tire along with a rim. As stated above, some sellers do have them as a package deal.
It’s also standard that this is what you’re going to get when you buy a spare wheel regardless of size.
Do Tires Have To Match Rims?
Rim size has to match tire size, otherwise, the consequences could prove disastrous.
If you get a tire that’s significantly larger than the rim, it won’t be as snug a fit, resulting in instability that could see the tire come undone from the rest of the wheel and you’d lose control.
On the other hand, if your tire is smaller than the rim, the tighter fit could place a strain on it that it wasn’t meant to withstand, and it might rip when you’re driving at high speed.
Always check to make sure the tires you’re getting are made to fit the rims you plan to fit them onto.
Can I Put Wider Tires On My Stock Rims?
Tires being made from rubber makes their application more flexible, allowing for ones up to 20 millimeters or about 0.8 inches wider than the stock rims to be installed comfortably.
As per the previous section, you should try to keep it as much within this range as possible for your safety.
Does Wheel Mean Tire And Rim?
“Wheel” is one of those words where a lot of people mean different things when they say it but their intended meaning is almost always obvious in context.
Excluding auto enthusiasts, most people do use it to refer to the whole setup, i.e. rubber and metal but technically, it shouldn’t include the rubber/tire.
Moreover, a wheel’s “rim”, like in basketball, refers to the wheel’s outer circumference that connects to the tire.
Several dealers like Costco and Walmart, however, use the word “wheels” to refer to the entire metal structure that most common folk call “rims.”
Do You Need A Rim For A Tire?
Regardless of how you define the word “rim,” you absolutely do need one because it’s what’s going to hold your tire up.
You can customize the face of the wheel according to your personal preference, but ensure that its structure is up to code, with no chips or cracks that could compromise it, to ensure it performs as intended.
How Much Does It Cost To Put Rims On Tires?
Auto mechanics charge by the tire for this service and at a rate of $10 to $15 per tire, the cost ranges between $40 and $60 to fit new rims onto every tire.
For example, Sam’s Club, Costco and Walmart charge $12 per tire and that comes out to $48 for the whole vehicle.
To know more about tires, you might also be interested in reading up if tires have metal in them, what are titled tires, what does sanding tires mean, which tires wear faster, and how long do performance tires last.
Conclusion
Most major manufacturers do not sell rims with their tires, but it’s possible to find a package deal that includes both from third-party vendors.
Winter and snow tires also usually don’t come with rims, but it’s best to get a dedicated set for each tire so you don’t risk damaging the tire during swaps.
Major retailers like Costco and Walmart sell tires and rims separately so you can pick them up and have them installed at their auto shops.
All kinds of spare tires come with the rim to make it easier to install them safely and faster while addressing different scenarios that caused the vehicle to break down.
For safety, it’s a good idea to avoid getting tires that are either much bigger or much smaller than the rims onto which they’re being mounted.