steel or aluminium wheels?

[will e]

I like the looks and weight of aluminium but just a few trail rides ago a friend was able to take a bfh to his steel wheel and get it to seal again. What are your thoughts?

[AwesomeJ10]

I feel the aluminium H2 rims have held up good on the Honcho. I have yet to bend one, but they do have a few scratches and nicks. The tires are 14.5" wide on 9" rims, so they are on the narrow side of things, which has helped keep them away from damage. Now the D60 lockout hubs have taken a beating though!

I also feel the reduced weight of the aluminium helps me to run 42's at hwy speeds.

[Stuka]

There are certainly pro's and con's of each.

Steel can be more durable, but is also far heavier. Which hurts braking, acceleration, and fuel economy (although this is not much of an issue in your case). It can also make a vehicle handle worse due to the added unsprung weight, but this is more of an issue for cars than trucks. They are also harder to balance. I do not think I have ever seen a steel wheel that has a neutral balance.

Forged aluminum wheels can weigh far less (Depends on the design and alloy), and can actually be more durable in some cases. A forged aluminum wheels is extremely hard to damage to the point of it no longer functioning as a wheel. Sure they will scratch, but thats more cosmetic. The downside is forged wheels cost a lot (like 350-400 per wheel). They also typically have perfect neutral balance, so they require very few weights. Although they may still need a few with large tires. But less than a similar steel wheel. Forged wheels actually can bend, but it takes a huge amount of force to do it (Also dependent on wheel style).

Cast aluminum wheels share some of the benefits of forged wheels. They can weigh less than forged wheels depending on design, as the alloy is less dense. But some forged wheels can get away with smaller spokes, which can greatly drop their weight. Cast wheels will not bend, but they can chip, crack and break.

When shopping for an aluminum offroad wheel, stay away from wheels that have a thin rim. AEV pintler wheels are prone to breaking the rim that tire weights attach too as its quite thin. Sometimes they break far enough down to cause air to leak. Some offroad style aluminum wheels have a very thick outer rim though, which can make them quite durable.

It ultimately comes down to what you want to spend. If cost is no object, I see zero reason to go with a steel wheel. But steel is far cheaper, so sometimes it may be a buyers only choice simply due to finances.

[serehill]

Extreme rock crawling I think would warrant steels. Other than that I run aluminums on the Cherokee. I'm putting steel smoothies on the Honcho just for looks. It is preference to me unless you're going to beat them & then steel is the only way to go in my opinion. Good quality aluminum/magnesium wheels are cool. I like the fact they are straight & tough. There are some thin cheap ones out there though. Like Stuka says & they will break easy which in turn gets generalized into the aluminum wheels are like that..

The BFH approach is a good asset if you run your rig like that. It does justify the steel wheel but at that point the wheel is still destroyed. I've seen some contested conversations of folks that say the aluminum wheel would survive what bends a steel wheel but I believe that statement to be subjective to the situation. the fact is ther eis no after life without expensive repairs to aluminum. I've never destroyed a good one.

[REDONE]

I dunno about the "aluminum is lighter" hooplah. I know for a fact that my Chevy Rally steelies from a blazer are lighter than my aluminum 15x8 five slots (looks like the Jeep 5 slots but were from a Chevy of the same vintage). Recently having both bare and stacking them side by side (in storage) the difference is noticeable and in steels favor, at least in this case.

[Stuka]

I dunno about the "aluminum is lighter" hooplah. I know for a fact that my Chevy Rally steelies from a blazer are lighter than my aluminum 15x8 five slots (looks like the Jeep 5 slots but were from a Chevy of the same vintage). Recently having both bare and stacking them side by side (in storage) the difference is noticeable and in steels favor, at least in this case.

Like I said, depends on the style of wheel. 5 slots are among the most heavy because they are one big chunk of aluminum with 5 small holes. Wheels of that era also had pretty poor metallurgy so they are not the quality of todays wheels. A more modern wheel will use thinner material but without being weaker.

The weight difference grows as you go to larger wheels too. 17" steel wheels are HEAVY when compared to most 17" aluminum wheels. But again, it does depend on style.

But there is a reason no performance vehicle uses steel wheels. Unsprung weight can greatly affect handling. So they want the lightest wheel/tire combo they can (for a given amount of money anyway).

[Southern Gorilla]

I dunno about the "aluminum is lighter" hooplah. I know for a fact that my Chevy Rally steelies from a blazer are lighter than my aluminum 15x8 five slots (looks like the Jeep 5 slots but were from a Chevy of the same vintage). Recently having both bare and stacking them side by side (in storage) the difference is noticeable and in steels favor, at least in this case.

+1
For any given volume, aluminum is far lighter than steel. But aluminum is alos much weaker. So it has to be thicker to get the same strength as a given piece of steel. There's a whole lot more aluminum in any wheel design than steel in the same design. I wouldn't doubt that aluminum is always lighter. But I do doubt the difference is that impressive. Especially after you factor in the tire, beadlocks, LED valve cap, etc.

I'm planning to go with steel just because I don't think a five-pound weight reduction is worth the extra expense and reduced durability.

And I've seen more than one steel wheel get hammered back into shape. Got one on the rig at work as a matter of fact. I watched the guy at the tire shop beat it back with a BFH and it's been rolling just fine for several months since. I don't put much stock in the idea that an "adjusted" wheel is junk. But it does seem logical that an "adjusted" wheel could use a bit of annealing afterwards.

[Atla]

Steel?



"Having run one set of steel wheels on my previous TJ and three different sets of aftermarket aluminum wheels, I will never run steel wheels again. Steel wheels are fine for easier trails but on tougher trails, they simply bend and dent too easily. Aluminum holds up far better, period. I lost track of how many bent and dented steel wheels I had, but I've only had one cracked aluminum wheel (due to an exceptionally difficult rock crawling trail) and that was a cheapy cast aluminum wheel.

Here's a great pic of Erik Jordan's (he's a JF moderator) steel wheel after a day on the rocks in Johnson Valley. Erik no longer runs steel wheels either." -Jerry Bransford

Edit - No mention if it still held air

[will e]

Thanks for the input guys. I have run aluminum for years both factory rims and aftermarket. I have scratched the heck out of them, roughened up the bead edge and taken out a few small chunks but never had a failure. I am trying to remember anyone having a failure on an aluminum rim on the trail.

So I will probably go aluminum. I see there is cast, alloy and forged. Forged are expensive. Alloy not too much more than cast. I am going to need some 8 lug, 17 inch and probably 9 inch or so width. Anyone have suggestions? I like what I have now:





I don't want some fancy crazy design. Simple is preferred.

[nc wagoneer]

I don't know about the width but I *think* the late 90's f250-f350 bullet holes are pretty close to what you want.

Sent from my Motorola Moto X

[Stuka]

I don't know about the width but I *think* the late 90's f250-f350 bullet holes are pretty close to what you want.

Sent from my Motorola Moto X

Those wheels are metric bolt pattern, not 8x6.5.


Here are a few wheels I have seen hold up well. The ones with "fake" beadlocks actually are quite a bit stronger. These are all on the more affordable side. If you are willing to spend more, take a look at ATX wheels. They can be expensive, but are really very good.

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Wheels/La-Pa ... 5129-78582

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Wheels/La-Pa ... 5129-78582

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Wheels/NV-17 ... 0578580300

There are also the exact wheels you have now for that size/lug pattern. The holes are just larger because of the larger diameter wheel.

[Atla]

When shopping for an aluminum offroad wheel, stay away from wheels that have a thin rim. AEV pintler wheels are prone to breaking the rim that tire weights attach too as its quite thin. Sometimes they break far enough down to cause air to leak. Some offroad style aluminum wheels have a very thick outer rim though, which can make them quite durable.

Aw man, I really liked the AEV wheels too.

[REDONE]

But there is a reason no performance vehicle uses steel wheels.

NASCAR! You wanna go fast and turn left, you need you a set of steel wheels!

[haminawag]

And besides, steel wheels can do amazing things, just watch Terry Thomas' '58 Willys wagon in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".

[Stuka]

But there is a reason no performance vehicle uses steel wheels.

NASCAR! You wanna go fast and turn left, you need you a set of steel wheels!

LOL! You also need to make sure they are only 15" wheels so that you can only fit little tiny rotors on your big 4500lb race car! That way you continue to go fast even when you dont want too!

[Grand_Wag_85]

LOL! You also need to make sure they are only 15" wheels so that you can only fit little tiny rotors on your big 4500lb race car! That way you continue to go fast even when you dont want too!

Don't forget disconnecting the LF brake, atleast that's how to do it on a dirt track.

[HowardT64]

One day...The Duck Blind will sit in front of this sign too:)


Howard