Is it bad to change wheels/rims often (10-20 times a year)?

Question

For reasons described below, I'm considering getting two sets of wheels (tires+rims) and swapping them back and forth pretty often (every few weeks, up to 10-20 times a year). I'm wondering whether this will cause any issues or problems, like maybe premature wear of wheel studs or something else?

Context: I live in San Francisco, it doesn't usually snow here during the winter and all-season tires are appropriate year-round. But I take a few short skiing trips every winter. On these trips, it would be very convenient to have snow tires, because roads are often covered in snow. After returning home from a trip, snow tires are no longer appropriate (they don't handle as well in warm climate and will wear out quickly). So I'm considering changing to winter wheels before each trip, and changing back to summer wheels after each trip. Each trip lasts 3-7 days, and in the winter I do maybe 5-10 of these (one trip every few weeks). I'm a bit worried that changing wheels that often would be somehow bad for the car. I drive a Toyota Camry in case it's important.

Answer 1

Not a direct answer, but an alternative is to take a look at the tire chain laws for the states you plan on travelling through (just Google for relevant states or call the local info number, it's easy to find out), and, assuming you are allowed to use them, just carry a set of chains in your trunk and throw them on when you get to the snowy mountain areas. In my experience most states with snowy mountain areas are pretty open to chains.

There are alternatives to chains, too, like the Spikes-Spider systems and such.

That way you can keep your all-season tires on, not bother with changing, they're easy to put on and take off and you can use them only when needed. Also, they'll get you through pretty gnarly conditions compared to winter tires. Plus they're not all that expensive, and they'll last through multiple sets of tires.

Answer 2

I wouldn't do it to my vehicle, but changing wheels wouldn't wear out your studs unless you cross-thread lugnuts or overtighten them. Most of the wear should be on the lugnuts from tightening/loosening them, but lug nuts can be replaced for under $2 each.

Can't you get a cheap rental with snow tires rather than buy a set of snow tires, an extra set of rims and going through all these changeovers?

Answer 3

I don't think there would be any problem, save for the hassle of all of the changing. You'd want to be careful of all of the usual things - safety, accurately torquing the lug nuts, maybe keeping track of which side the wheels go on (I think this is especially important if you use studs).

For all of the hassle and the cost of a set of wheels, you might want to accept the wear and tear on the tires between trips. But if you want to do it, it should be fine from the car's point of view.

Answer 4

they don't handle as well in warm climate and will wear out quickly

The winter climate in San Francisco is cold enough that just keeping the winter tires on the car all winter does not pose a problem. The extra wear and performance reduction are small enough not to be noticeable at these temperatures.

Answer 5

My personal experience is that it'll be fine. Having owned a Toyota that I autocrossed and rallyed for many years. I was changing tires 2x most weekends across 3 sets (depending on event: my daily driver set, autox set, and rally set). It's possible that you may end up breaking a wheelstud if you overtorque, but I've had no issues whatsoever.