Thread: 8" rims on a 130? Advice / info needed

Originally Posted by Cammo

Sam,
They're rated at 1200kg, just like the kings I had on my old defender. 4800kg > 3500kg (130 GVM) is the equation that simple?

No it's not - your rims need to have a greater load rating than the axle I.e. 1200+1200 needs to be greater than (insert max axle load rating here).

Regardless, 1200kg rims are plenty for a 130 it's when you get down to Disco rims/Boost alloys (~960kh) that you run into load rating issues.

Vlad, just to stir the pot - you do realise steel rims are heavier, weaker (more prone to damage) and more likely to lose a bead at low pressure than quality alloy rims, right?

Didn't realise that. However when a steel rim fails its usually a dent that can be fixed. An alloy will crack and we useless.

As far as the bead is concerned thats entirely down to rim profile / design and nothing to do with the material.

They are heavier, true.

Not sure you can say that steel rims are weaker then alloy...I would much rather have a steel rim in the bush. Small dents can be beaten out with a hammer...can not do that with an alloy rim.

There's not much weight difference between a 16 x 8 Dynamic steel rim with a 285/75 16 tyre compared to the standard 130 wolf rim with a 235/85 16 tyre.

Originally Posted by chewy7

Have you seen these Vlad? NEW USA Made 16 X 8 PCD 5 X 165 1 Thick Alloy RIM Defender County Series 2A 2 | eBay Little bit more expensive. But made in America apparently?

The seller has no idea what the load rating is or if the rim is Compliant for Aust.

Originally Posted by VladTepes

Didn't realise that. However when a steel rim fails its usually a dent that can be fixed. An alloy will crack and we useless.

As far as the bead is concerned thats entirely down to rim profile / design and nothing to do with the material.

They are heavier, true.

Good quality alloys don't crack, they dent too.

In my experience by the time you don't a good quality alloy you will have destroyed a steelie. By the time you destroy a good quality alloy you'll be more worried about your cracked chassis/rolled truck/broken back/etc...

Agree bead design and material, though in practice it seems that most steelies have weaker safety bead designs than most alloys.

Cost is a big issue though - although Performance Alloy TX1 rims are reasonably cheap and significantly tougher than your average aftermarket steelie.

Best if luck with it - FWIW I would be inclined to hold out for the round hole rims for aesthetic reasons.

This toing and froing regarding the strengths of Alloy versus Steel rims is in my opinion irrelevant for everyday use and the sort of off roading the majority of us do. By the time you have rendered an alloy wheel or a steel wheel unusable they are going to be the least of your worries! Having said that a steelie is able to be knocked into shape again whereas an alloy can not, but it again returns to the previous statement. If you are going to be that rough I assume you will have a few spares anyway.
For what its worth I run 16x7 steelies on the deefer and have never dented/bent/mangled 1 ever, saying that I have had alloys on cars and have never done either too, including an offroad excursion in the falcon after a animal strike!
Cheers Scott