Alloy V Steel rims.

[scott oz]

I’ve always been told that the problem with alloy rims “off road” (aesthetic damage aside) is they are less resilient to impact damage than steel rims. Alloy tend to “fracture” rather than bend therefore you can’t do a roadside repair job on Alloy where as with steel it is “possible” to do a bit of panel beating and get out of trouble?

Alloy on the other hand are lighter and will take a fair bit of beating before they fail. And “supposedly” save fuel because of their light weight?

I’m looking to rationalize my “fleet” of rims/tires as I’ve just purchased a Jayco and I’m changing the hub to suit the LR pattern..

I’ve selected the Cooper Maxxs ST 235 x 85 x R16 tires as replacements for my 11 year old originals (150,000K’s on them). I have the standard Defender Alloy’s and also 5 Disco rims which have never been on a vehicle since I had them sandblasted and powder coated about 3 years ago.

Either I sell the alloys or sell the steel’s. One will fund the other.:D

What would you do.:angel:

[MR LR]

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

[newhue]

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.

[Loubrey]

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.

[gusthedog]

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. ;)

[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

[JDNSW]

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

[gusthedog]

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 :D - My relax time is worth $10 an hour!

[Marty110]

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.

[MR LR]

My pop has performance alloys on his Cruiser farm ute, we all laughed when he bought it back in 06 and replaced the brand new steelies with alloys, but they are also rated to 1400kg, look great (white) and never had a problem. IIRC they also come in LR pattern

[Marty110]

Agree - Performance and ZU are probably the only alloys I would fit due to great load rating and looks too. Was going to fit the OEM Boosts to my van until I took them off the Defender and saw the rating stamped on the back - up til then I thought they were higher load rating. That's why LR don't fit them to 130's I guess.

[KarlB]

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.

Where did the rim load ratings come from?

Cheers
KarlB
:)

[Marty110]

I was wrong about the Boosts - trouble with going from memory - but only by 10kg. Attached a photo of the back of one of my Boosts - they are rated at 970kg. The ZU rim load rating is here: Zu Rims Ltd - World Class Rims! (http://www.zurims.com/) and the Performance rim here: http://www.performancewheels.com.au/Home/Wheels.asp'theGroup=4&Cat=4WD the TX-1 being the most popular one I have seen on Defenders. The Wolf rims here: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/technical-chatter/61752-rim-wheel-load-ratings.html
Hope this helps.

[Marty110]

oops!! meant to also add that I went for the ZU for the increased offset - in 16x7 the Performance only goes out to -4

[newhue]

Not sure what a Boost or Zu rim with a tyre weighs, but my Wolf rim and 255/85/16 tyre came in at 40kg. I can tell you chucking them on the roof is a struggle.

[Marty110]

not sure what the Boost alloy weighs but my ZU rims are only 10.4kgs each and I can tell you that to lift my spare on the ZU is substantially lighter than lifting my Wolf rim spare on my work trailer!! If I had to lift onto the roof I would definitely prefer to be lifting the ZU!! One other benefit of the ZU is it is really easy to get your hands in and clean out mud caked in behind the wheel after a serious bogging.

[Blknight.aus]

ID fit steelies....

They can be beaten into shape, welded and bodged pretty much anywhere. And they dont mark as easily when you get onto them with manual tyre wrangling tools.

[Marty110]

right, went out to the shed with scales and ZU rim is 10.4kg, Boost is 12.2kg and Wolf is 15.4kg. Add a General Grabber 235/85 at 22.4kgs and you get ZU at 32.8kg, Boost at 34.6kg and Wolf at 37.8kgs. All heavy to lift onto a roof rack at my age!!

4WD Action mag assessment put alloys ahead of steel due to their inherent strength - so you were less likely to damage them - and surprisingly also found that they can be beaten with a hammer almost as well as a steel rim. They made the point that 'modern' mags are a far cry from older ones. These days with plug repairs kits (seen some bloody big holes plugged for temporary travel) and most people carrying 2 spares, for most of us alloys would be adequate. But, would I head off up the CSR on alloys or steels........... I have used both over 38yrs of off roading and I have no problems using either wheel type - so comes down to personal preference at the end of the day???

[SVX37]

I'd go the Alloys for sure. Anyone who tells you that Alloys are not strong enough are still living in 1984!:D

[Blknight.aus]

I've seen quite a few modern ones cracked and of those that bent but didnt crack during the initial hit or after the panel beating some were still too out of round to seal the tyre bead. Some of the latter rims however (in 2 cases that I kept track of) came back with professional "adjustment".

Im also not sure that Id be game to try some of the skulldugery that gets resorted to in field recovery/repair situations with ally rims over steel. (such as using the rim and tyre as a jacking plate to do a chassis lift with a hydraulic jack)

[Davehoos]

when ive been servicing vehicles it common for bent steel rims without the owner knowing.
but not alloy.it might be that alloy wheels take more.before they crack.

Ive been very happy with the strength of the rangerover/disco wheels but these are not fitted with a low profile tyre.

the local falcon/commodore car owners ive been watching in my rural are slowly loosing the after market big dia wheels i often see these geting pink slips and repairs with a missmatch of rims.after the rain damaged road of last year there are very few left in daily use. I recently see lots of box trailers with these discarded sets.

the tyre service in wickham newcastle always had a ute loaded up with wheels for scrap.parked out the front.alloys out numbered steel--but in a CBD area i expect there to be a lot more alloy wheels fitted.

[scott oz]

Thanks for all the input.

All things considered I’ve decided to go with alloy’s for the Jayco.