Aluminum vs steel wheels

[RockyMountaineer]

Wider width=wider stance=more stability. Cosmetic is the least of my concern. My concern is weight and strength. Steel or aluminum, I will buy the same size. 15"X10".

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6 one way half a dozen the other in terms of material. You will have at least one full size spare anyway.

One last thing about the width. I understand the mechanics of it. I still don't understand what it is your vehicle Diane so now that the wider tires will correct.

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[hairy_apple]

Why is this such an issue. Wider tires, more traction. More stability. Literally millions of people put wider tires on their vehicle to improve the way they handle offroad. I'm confused...

 

[RockyMountaineer]

Why is this such an issue. Wider tires, more traction. More stability. Literally millions of people put wider tires on their vehicle to improve the way they handle offroad. I'm confused...

It is his vehicle too do with as he pleases. But it also advisable to leave ones vehicle as close to stock as possible. Bigger tires also equate to bigger cost. Some guys just like big tires and that is fine. I just don't understand incurring unnecessary cost and putting additional stain in the drive train without purpose.

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[000]

It is his vehicle too do with as he pleases. But it also advisable to leave ones vehicle as close to stock as possible. Bigger tires also equate to bigger cost. So guys just like big tires and that is fine. I just don't understand incurring unnecessary cost and putting additional stain in the drive train without propose.

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I think that stability would be better addressed with the suspension components. Wider might make some trails more difficult. If you're mostly in sand or mud maybe the traction would be better but airing down off-road helps a lot without making road handling worse. In a narrow jeep wide tires probably could help, a lot of jeeps run 12.50 wide tires, but your drive train and steering better be up to the task of all the extra force. In a full size truck it probably doesn't matter either because you probably won't be on trails that are that tight either, but most of those trucks are plenty stable anyway. Unless you have seriously beefed up the steering and suspension, wide tires are probably just going to break things, prematurely wear things and not be great on the road. Taller medium width tires always made sense to me, ground clearance is a much better gain, but there is still the drivetrain strength issue and gearing issues to address. I guess it all depends on how much money you want to spend preparing or how much you want to spend repairing.

 

[Miguel Hernandez]

all depends on your liking. I had 16x10 on 305/70r16 mt bfg on my old ram and changed to 16x10 alum with 37x12.50r16 and even though I went a lot taller in size I actually saved 40lbs per tire on the truck buy doing that. its a combination of research and availability really.

 

[Kenslittle72]

I have had multiple vehicles all with alloy wheels. I know multiple real rock crawlers that run alloy wheels. It is rare to see a wheel fail. The only one I have seen fail not on a race vehicle were H2 wheels.
Taller tires make a smoother ride, get over rocks and ledges easier, and keep your under carriage off the rocks and out of the muck.

 

[AdventureWithDanan]

I will be buying wheels and tires for my rig soon. I am looking for opinions on steel wheels and aluminum wheels, pros and cons. I am looking at pro comp steels and aluminum.

I personally would go with steel. The only reason being that if I smacked a rock too hard, I can bend it back. Aluminum will be done for... That being said, how likely are you to have that occur? I've never done it before. I have alloy wheels on my truck.

 

[Kenslittle72]

If you are going fast enough that hitting a rock wrecks your wheel, then the wheel is going to be the least of your problems.

 

[AdventureWithDanan]

Best to use no wheel at all I think...

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tread-and-trend/tire-talk/airless-concept-tires

 

[GCWJ]

Resurrecting an old thread to add a point I didn't see addressed.

On my WJ, the stock rims are 16" aluminum. Many people want to run 15s due to the fact that tires can be somewhat cheaper as well as the trail-fixability mentioned earlier. However, on that Jeep you can't do a 15" Al wheel because you can't clear the front caliper without grinding it down because aluminum wheels are simply thicker. So to drop an inch on the rim, they must go steel, which are thinner, and possibly drop 1 1/2" to 2" in backspacing to get clear. (Stock is in the neighborhood of 6", for the record.)

I'm sure this model is not the only one with this kind of obstacle.

And steel rims are cheaper...most of the time ;)

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

I am sticking with my stock wheels. Cheaper and I was able to replace the steel spare with an aluminum spare for $40 from the local pull yard. Unless I break them, I'll just stick with what I already have. If I had a need for something better or different, that's a whole other story.

 

[WE ROME]

On my FJ60 I switched to aluminum wheels made by Held Racing, so they don't rust and for less unsprung weight. I powder coated them with clear so they stay shiny much longer.
One got bent but did not crack and it still holds air fine.

 

[MazeVX]

I would go for steel if the rest fits.
For me it doesn't, available steel rims are unnecessary wide and have to low backspacing, that puts unnecessary stress on my axles and steering and I don't want my tires to stick out of the fenders.
I'm going for 8,5x17 with 4,5"backspacing with 285/70r17 tires.

 

[WE ROME]

Spacers have definite disadvantages I am not willing to accept (less bearing life, etc.).

Steel versus aluminum; they each have their advantages and disadvantages, I chose aluminum for less unsprung weight and am willing to accept they are more susceptible to bending compared to steel wheels and they are likely more expensive.

Yin and yang, I have steel wheels on other vehicles:-)

 

[Jorrie]

Ronny Duhl
4 Wheeling in Western Australia
did a nice video on this subject.

You can check it on his youtube channel.

 

[MOAK]

I'm a bit late to the party here, but have read all of the posts with amusement. What choice did the OP make? Steel or aluminum alloy? Oh no one mentioned the vast differences between cast alloy and forged alloy. If I had more money than I knew what to do with I'd be running forged alloys. As it is I have always run with the stock wheels on every vehicle I have ever owned except my first Landcruiser, circa 1976. Some things the engineering departments get right and drive train to rubber is usually one of those things. However back then in my testosterone induced stupidity I put on a set of counterfeit "Jackman" steel wheels. The real Jackman's had welded iron spokes. The knock offs I bought were stamped and nearly impossible to balance. and ended up denting very easily. Again, a huge difference, even between steel wheels. Wider tires, wider stance =s more stability? The difference is just not really noticeable unless you are hard core rock crawling or street racing. Do wider tires look cool? I'd say yes, as long as they are kept tucked up under the fenders. Anything sticking out just looks like a bad idea gone awry. I've had skinny and I've had as large as I do now, 285/75/16s. Anything larger than that my drive train would have pooped out on me a hundred thousand miles or so ago. I posted a while back about starting up a mechanical advisory thread as many of us have been doing this thing for a lifetime, and I know that I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, (sans, cheap steel wheels on my first 40 series, etc etc etc etc).... In the end , bigger wider tires, may look cool, give you an imperceivable amount of stability (do the geometry) and will cost you big bucks for ever and ever as everything in your drivetrain will wear out prematurely. So Hey there OP. What did you end up spending your hard earned dollars on? Cast alloy? Forged alloy? Stamped steel, or welded steel? Just curious. Peace out !!

 

[totalnobody]

I run 2 sets of tires aluminum with stock mall tires and steel with my off grid set up

 

[WE ROME]

Aluminum rims are lighter so they have less unsprung weight, an advantage, although steel rims are stronger, their advantage. I've used my aluminum rims for years w/o an issue, but if I was into rock crawling I would use steel rims for sure.

I think there may be a misconception "out there" where most believe wider tires = better traction in most every scenario.

Wider tires are not a panacea of good, but it depends on what terrain you will be in. Witness the old Land Rover Camel Trophy vehicles with narrow tires which worked best for them.

I've gone from wide-ish tires back to more narrow tires on my Toyota FJ60 and prefer them. Yes the wider tires look better, but they have more drag, etc., and both on and off road they don't work as well overall for me.

See
http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/search.php?searchid=11048137&photoplog_searchinfo=1

http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/f42/skinny-wide-13808/

A wide tire changes the contact patch from "long and skinny" to "short and wide." I can't find the link for this, but if I correctly? recall, long and skinny actually gives more square inches of contact between the tire and the ground. It seems counter intuitive, but do the math to compare.

See
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-alloy-wheel-section/90524-off-roading-tires-wide-narrow-better.html

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/why-skinny-tires.31096/

I like my more narrow tires due to their better performance overall.

 

[MOAK]

Agreed, I went from 255/85s to 285/75 - 16s. Mistake # 5,289. LOL I'll be going back to the 255s when these iron clad BFGs wear out. Andrew St Pierre White has an excellent video on tire choices, Mud, versus AT, skinny versus wide. He has strong opinions on the matter of width and backs those opinions up with ( heaven forbid, ) science... have a great day

 

[Horse Soldier]

I will be buying wheels and tires for my rig soon. I am looking for opinions on steel wheels and aluminum wheels, pros and cons. I am looking at pro comp steels and aluminum.

YouTube Ronny Dahl = steel vs alloy. Good info