Thread: Alloy V Steel rims.

I would match them to whatever you have on the towcar, if you have alloys on the fender, put alloys on the caravan

As LR jnr said.
But i rwad an off road mag which did a comparo on this not so long ago.
The out come was
Factory alloy took a lot to dsmage and bent more than crack. They managed to repaire them.
After market alloy cracked. No fix
Factory steel took a lot to bend and repairable
After marker steel bent easily, but repairable.

I'd stick with factory alloys if you can.

Scott,

I've never fractured an alloy wheel and I've done some significant damage to them over the years. I've always found them to bend on impact and I've had them repaired without any problems.

No matter what people's opinion are on the matter, the chances of "fixing" a steel wheel while in the bush with a sledge hammer is very slim (been there as well!) and as you rightly mentioned, they are pretty heavy compared to the alloys.

I agree with Newhue as well, but the quality of the aftermarket alloys does come into the equation. I've not personally damaged ZU's before, but I've seen them pretty seriously damaged and they also bent rather than cracked and the owners reported them repaired without problems.

So yes, the best option in this case is to get some OEM alloys to suit your car.

When I was doing my trip around oz I went through the same conundrum. I sold my boost alloys and put all steel disco wheels on my defender and camper. I found that on straight long runs of bitumen, the combination of 235 85's and the disco steel rims was that they never run true. They were always out of balance and couldn't be balanced properly. The vibration was horible at anything above 90kph across the nullabor. So I bought alloys from TRS in Adelaide. Same tyres were put on to the alloys and there was no vibration at all. Ran true and balanced easily. I asked TRS about damage to alloys and they said that with factory alloys they have only ever supplied wheels to a vehicle that had been crashed and that they had never seen one damaged by offroading. So I go factory alloys every time now.

I didnt damage one, nor have I ever damaged a factory alloy in my four wheel driving.

Also, disco rims are a slightly different offset and actually allow dirt and sand more access to your discs and the back of your wheels. This was a real problem for me on the tanami too as the wet sand stripped the rear disc pads out in 400kms.

As noubrey said, dont go aftermarket alloy.

If you doubt the strength of the alloys, check out what Slunnie runs.

I run the standard Boost alloys on my Defender for normal everyday running and a set of Disco steels for trips away in the bush etc (mainly on long trips)

I dont like the idea of trying to change a tyre on the alloys, but have no problems doing this with the steels as a scratch or two is not a worry (the alloys are too pretty to scratch)

As for weight.....a Boost alloy with tyre and a Disco steel with tyre weigh pretty much the same.

Perry

I think the replies confirm what I suspected - no clear advantage for either material as a class - depends on quality, and factory alloys have few downsides.

John

Originally Posted by numpty

I run the standard Boost alloys on my Defender for normal everyday running and a set of Disco steels for trips away in the bush etc (mainly on long trips)

I dont like the idea of trying to change a tyre on the alloys, but have no problems doing this with the steels as a scratch or two is not a worry (the alloys are too pretty to scratch)

As for weight.....a Boost alloy with tyre and a Disco steel with tyre weigh pretty much the same.

Perry

Its a funny thing tyre changing. Even in remote conditions I dont take a tyre change kit but I do take a tyre plug kit. I take two spares and have never been in the unlucky position of needing a third. During my travels though I have watched people struggle for 4 hours after a full day driving changing a tyre onto an alloy rim. I chose to sit down and have a few beers and relax with my partner while this was going on and paid the princly sum of $40 to have a tyre taken off, repaired and put back on the rim and balanced the next outback fuel stop. $40 well spent I reckon - My relax time is worth $10 an hour!

Just something else to consider - Boost alloys are rated at 960kg per rim - my van weighs 1400kg tare, so 2 boosts will carry 1920kg within their rating so I can only load a max of 520kg in the van - this includes fluids so my 180 litres of water takes out 180kgs.... not much left by the time I add a couple of jerries, gas bottles food, etc. By contrast my ZU rims are rated at 1400kg/rim and my Wolf steelies at 2,200kg/rim. Just thinking out loud......... I reckon I wouldn't fit Boosts to a van - I will put them on my work trailer maybe - its a lot lighter.