steel vs aluminium wheels

Dain Bramage · Oct 18, 2007

what is better for a daily driven wheeler, aluminium or steel wheels? my understanding is that steel wheels are more prone to bend, while aluminium wheels break easier, and since it is softer, it is easier to scrape the lip off on rocks. your thoughts? i am getting tired of bending my wheels.:corn:

Glenn · Oct 18, 2007

Steel is more forgiving of fawk-ups. If you are bending steel wheels, what do you think will occur with aluminum wheels? Aluminum is usually more rigid.

Hip · Oct 18, 2007

IMHO alum is stronger from the get go but fragile they seldom bend and if they do they will crack when bending back. so they can leave you stranded.

steel is less strong but will readily bend back into shape enough to hold air.

either way **** will get into your beads unless yo go beadlocks then the expense is the main difference.

my next rig will have alum double beadlocks.

Kat · Oct 18, 2007

I personally would have to go with steel.

! cost of replacment
2 ease of trail repair
3 ease of putting on bead lockers
4 cost
5 almost weight

cheesemaker · Oct 18, 2007

One other fact of steel vs. alum is the amount of thread engagement on the studs! Steel, you will have more thread engagement than alum, because alum is thicker!

Eric · Oct 18, 2007

cheesemaker said:
One other fact of steel vs. alum is the amount of thread engagement on the studs! Steel, you will have more thread engagement than alum, because alum is thicker!

Just get the right lugs and you will have more then enough thread engagement.

If you are bending them every run, you may want to start looking where your wheels are going more, and avoid hitting them on rocks when posible. Also maybe look into a wider tire that may protect the rim more.

If you have steel, and they are cheap off the shelf, then run them, easy to fix on the trail and cheap to replace.

Mark m. · Oct 18, 2007

Been wheein 20 years with aluminum wheels and have had or never seen any issues with them.

Glenn · Oct 18, 2007

cheesemaker said:
One other fact of steel vs. alum is the amount of thread engagement on the studs! Steel, you will have more thread engagement than alum, because alum is thicker!

I have steel inserts for the lug holes on my aluminum wheels, so that is a non-issue. I have the same thread engagement.

Dain Bramage · Oct 18, 2007

it looks to me like a lot of competition buggies are running aluminium wheels, am i wrong? if they can stand up to that kind of abuse, then the kind of wheeling i do should be cake.

KarlVP · Oct 18, 2007

I used to have aluminum wheels on my Jeep. I really wailed on them and they never bent or broke. I did scratch the crap out of the lip, but they held up fine.

I kept getting crap in my beads so I bought some 8 inch steelies. (The alum's were 10) Still the same things happened, but the steelies didn't hold up to the abuse as well.

For a non beadlocked wheel, the aluminum will hold up to the abuse better.

Not Jobless · Oct 18, 2007

There's only one reason to buy steel wheels.

They're cheap.

If you are bending steel rims than learn how to drive

Hip · Oct 18, 2007

Dain Bramage said:
it looks to me like a lot of competition buggies are running aluminium wheels, am i wrong? if they can stand up to that kind of abuse, then the kind of wheeling i do should be cake.

just to keep things in perspective the buggy comp dudes are running very expensive double beadlocked two piece alum wheels. either walker evans or rockmonster. again very expensive.

i am drooling over the rockmonster for the whillys project.

http://www.rockmonsterwheels.com/

Not Jobless · Oct 18, 2007

Hip said:
just to keep things in perspective the buggy comp dudes are running very expensive double beadlocked two piece alum wheels. either walker evans or rockmonster. again very expensive.

i am drooling over the rockmonster for the whillys project.

http://www.rockmonsterwheels.com/

They also use Staun, Trail Ready & others...

2 piece rims are a PITA.

2pwrlftrs4u · Oct 18, 2007

BFH=the steel wheel fixer

Eric · Oct 18, 2007

2pwrlftrs4u said:
BFH=the steel wheel fixer

Just dont get the street locks, Right :redneck:

2pwrlftrs4u · Oct 18, 2007

Eric said:
Just dont get the street locks, Right :redneck:

dont have no more... put my other wheels back on long time ago

JThompson · Oct 19, 2007

I am not hardcore, and never have claimed to be. I do my share of wheeling, try to push the envelope, but don't just ram through things....

That being said, I didn't have any problems with my aluminums I ran many moons ago, nor have I had any problems with my steel wheels (5+ years, 60k)

I have never bent a steel wheel, and that with me airing down consistantly to around 5-8 psi.. One time, on Sac-up, I ran the last half running the "original lines" with no pressure at all in one of my front tires (lots of spinning, sharp turns, rocks, front locker...)

I have ran 12.5 wide tires on my 15x8's. And if they do bent, stop nailing rocks and buy a 3lb sledge!:;

CHOP SHOP · Oct 19, 2007

nobody has addressed this yet. there are two allum. wheels- cast/forged and spun cast /forged (ALCOA) works fine for the most part and if your tires have been mounted for along time they dont like to break free as easilly. spun are most common (CENTERLINE ENKI etc.) and they suck offroad they fold easily, but are bent back easily, but the rim diameter is a tad smaller everytime you bend then straighten it out. the cast/forged styles are prone to crack when you bend them back. just go steel-you can bend em, fix em, beadlock em, then beat em. all for cheap. i can always find steelies cheap (my 15x10 were$20 bucks used for all 4). just make sure the safety bead lip is on the inside if your making beadlocks someday. outside if not. steel wheels rock.:awesomework: and hardly anybody changes thier studs to longer ones for thick allum. wheels:masturbanana[1]:

Digger 5 · Oct 19, 2007

Chopshop is right on!!
Not all wheels are equal, whether aluminum or steel. You get what you pay for. I used chome spoke 15x10's for years without any issue and always aired down to 6 PSI without beadlocks. I lost a bead once. A couple of friends also ran chome spokes but a different MFG, with the same tire and lost a bead every trip out. Same tire, same basic rig, same air pressure, same trail. The only real difference was the wheel and it even LOOKED the same.
The spun aluminum crap has given the good forged wheel a bad name off road. People hear aluminum and think thin and brittle. It ain't always true. A good wheel aluminum wheel is as good, or better, as any good steel wheel.
The real problem? Many of us off road types are really cheap bastards. I'd rather buy a good used part than a cheaply built new item. Weld-on beadlocks are a good example. A good weld-on beadlock, done correctly, will rival a good steel beadlock in quality. Yet I frequently see cheap ass 16 bolt weld-on locks that are a real POS. Inexpensive doesn't have to mean cheap. Just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you have to shop at Wally World :wtf: