Steel Vs Alloy rims... lets here the Pro's & Cons

Submitted: Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 14:55
ThreadID: 34011 Views:3776 Replies:11 FollowUps:14
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Ok.. so alloy rims are much stronger than steel, but if they do crack.. their are cactus, steel you can bang back into shape with a hammer if worst comes to worst.. Alloy cost 5 times more ..
so what are the opinions of the 'forumites'' to Steel or not to steel?????
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Reply By: Scoey (QLD) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 14:59

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 14:59
Steel - all the way. Unless of course you just want to look pretty! ;-))
AnswerID: 173356

Reply By: signman - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:00

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:00
I guess it depends on the application. Are you cruising Rundle Street with the doof-doof music turned up, just doing easier tracks like the Oodnadatta/Birdsville, or hardcore OffRoad type stuff??
AnswerID: 173357

Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:11

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:11
OK. I guess I should have given more info.. Basically I want to do some of the tougher remote tracks and for that I have a set of Cooper STT's.. but for around town which unoforunately I am forced to do, I would rather leave the cheaper and quieter and smaller standard tyres on..
Now my dilema is.. do I pay to switch they tyres from my standard alloy rims before and after each trip or do I buy an extra set of steelies and leave em set up and just take off/put on as required.. I can buy a set of six steel rims for about $900 or it will cost me about $60-$70 to swap they tyres each time (up to $140 each trip by the time they have gone off/then back on)..

My main dilema I suppose is the outlay of a further $900 for rims that will sti inthe shed 80% of the time... If they really are a big bonus to have on a trip, then I guess its worth it.. otherwise I have 6 Alloys which have nothing wrong with them and I just need to bugger around with changing tyres...

just after general feedback on other pro's cons that may be relevant to the Alloy/Steel debate
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FollowupID: 429269

Follow Up By: ro-dah-o (WA) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:47

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:47
$900 is quite expensive???

Ranger rims or sunraysias which are the white rims you see on alot of trade vehicles and my rodeo, cost about $50 each
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Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:23

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:23
NINE HUNDRED?

do they come with free tire changing weekly for life?
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FollowupID: 429281

Follow Up By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:30

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:30
Coopers charge by the second and double it pricing on changing a tyre...if you get them to do the routine work, you lose the warrantee (how else do you think they pay for the "free" spares if you bust one???)

$900 way too steep for rims, ideally you want some that are easy to match if you do destroy one or two on your trip, as well as being readily available on the trip.

As stated above $50-80 tops per rim. As a rough guide most ROCK CRAWLING super strength beadlocked rims (eg, Cheezy Racing rims) are around the $200 mark each.

To quote comedian Ali G, "If you is payin that much you is bein ripped off"
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Follow Up By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:39

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:39
Tyre change at Beaurepairs/Bob Jane etc is about $15-20/tyre

How much is cooper warranty worth vs. how much does it cost to qualify for the warranty?

Total price of fitting + rims should be ~$300-350. Save your bucks and ignore the warranty and keep the tyres on one set of rims (steelies FWIW). Helps them seat better in the rims, and reduces the bead stretch that can occur with repeated changing
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Reply By: signman - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:24

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:24
I think I would opt for steelies. You can get the white Sunraysia type for $50 to $60 each- and I reckon on a deal for 6 they would sharpen the pencil. While a bit heavier, they are not 'brittle' like alloys. Yes, you can belt a major ding out of them, and if they are completely stuffed, it's not a huge sacrifice to dump them.
Start looking at wrecking yards too for wheels, and also larger Tyre outlets that do big business in wheels- they may have trade ins off a new vehicle.
Would only take 1/2 hour and a couple of stubbbies to swap over before and after trips!!
AnswerID: 173361

Follow Up By: Scoey (QLD) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:36

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:36
This is OT signman but I love a good figure of speech! I've never heard:

"...on a deal for 6 they would sharpen the pencil..."

what's it mean?? haha! Sounds good but! ;-)
Cheers, Scoey!
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Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:44

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:44
Thanks sigman.. but I want 17" steel rims and hence are proving hard to find.. Early days but the best I've found so far is $154 each... or slightly less if I go with white. not that fussed about color etc.. so will now try and track down some cheaper ones hopfully..
If anyone has tips on where to get em????????
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Follow Up By: disco_cox - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:30

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:30
You could try dynamic 4x4 in melbourne, they were the only place that did aftermarket steel wheels for my discovery...my point is they tend to deal with gear other than the "norm".
May have some 17 inch wheels for you.
Disco_Cox
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Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 14:50

Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 14:50
Thanks Disco... The penny finally dropped today when I was talking to you at the shop, now I know who Disco_cox is...

By the way.. someo in your field should have easy access to all the "bells and whistles" right.. so Have you fitted a "Mirror Ball" to your Disco yet?? That would have to be hillarious to have a little one hanging from the rear view mirror..
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Reply By: Member - Sam (NSW) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:35

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:35
Its not advised to use an alloy as a ground/sand anchor either.
AnswerID: 173363

Reply By: Robin - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:36

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 15:36
Steel/Alloy Rims

Run only steel rims on GU patrol - have about 4 sets different
tyres so can pick optimum for application.

With only manual tools can change 4 wheels over in 30min.

Often don't bother to change spare for odd weekend trips as its usually
same diameter anyway so works in a pinch.

Mostly use 16X7 rims as about 3kg lighter each than Nissan steel 16X8
and about same weight as Nissan alloys.

Steels offer a bigger range of offsets ,most alloys just zero, which
helps in getting most out of available wheel travel in wheel arch.
On long touring trips I run 33-34inch 255/85/16 cooper st.

In ROH Trak11 wheels I use 3 colors are available.

By picking 10mm neg offset the slightly narrower steels actually give
wider track and more stability to car with weight saving and strength
increase.

The available Nissan alloys don't even provide improved heat dissaption
so was in net no reason for them.

Careful of cheap alloys , many don't have steel wheel bolt inserts
and gouge quickly.

Steels of course don't mark so easily when using tyre pliers and if
you watch latest 4wd monthly simpson crossing disk they warn heavily
about using alloys as a ground winch anchor.

Robin Miller
AnswerID: 173364

Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:41

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:41
Thanks for the tips.. only prob is I want 17" so they are like hens teeth/rockinghorse bleep
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Reply By: Member - qld_bushpig - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:29

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:29
Get an R & R Beadbreaker kit and swap tyres at home. Easy and will save you heaps in the long run.
AnswerID: 173368

Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:42

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:42
Yeah I thought of that but balancing etc cant be done at home which If I;'m off on a big trip of say 3-4000k's then I'd go crazy if they weren't balanced properly..
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FollowupID: 429292

Reply By: Steve63 - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:37

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 16:37
Go the extra set of steel rims. I have always had an extra set of six steel rims, normally with a much more aggressive tread. If you bugga an alloy it will be more $$ than the six steel rims. Alloys are stronger only in the plane of the wheel, forces in the same plane as the axil will damage them. That is why you should not use them as an anchour point.

It makes sense to have a set of highway tyres that are quiet around town and a more A/T style tyre on steel rims. It only takes 1/2 hour or so to change them over and save yourself a lot of stress worring about stuffing an alloy that may cost $1200 to replace.

Steve
AnswerID: 173371

Reply By: bmwrider - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 17:55

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 17:55
I've just fitted 17" x 8" steel wheels to my 120 Prado. They are Kings Wheels I purchased through my mate who runs a Bob Jane T Mart. They were $130 each ($120 for white) plus $20 for dome centre wheel caps (not required just look pretty). Total cost $730. The cost of one Toyota alloy is about $830. I think the best option for yourself is to have a separate set of wheels as long as it fits your budget. You can swap the wheels depending on your expected driving needs. They are not going to wear out while their sitting in your shed. You can always sell them if you change your vehicle to something that does'nt fit your second set of wheels.

Garry
AnswerID: 173385

Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 18:52

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 18:52
Thanks bmwrider, that what I was hoping to hear.. they do exist and for less than 900 for a set of six (not much though) cheers
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FollowupID: 429334

Follow Up By: Member - Coyote (SA) - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 09:02

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 09:02
Hey BMWRider.. any chance you could memeber message me with your mates contact details?? The BobJane where I am says no such thig exists. Cheers
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FollowupID: 429872

Follow Up By: bmwrider - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 15:09

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 15:09
Coyote, I have sent an email to your email address listed in your profile. Sorry I'm not a member yet.

Garry
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FollowupID: 429939

Reply By: Member - Nick (Kununurra) - Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:19

Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 20:19
Well I like the look of alloy wheels and have just replaced our steel rims with alloy rims.I know if you damage one out whoop whoop your in trouble but if you totally stuff it chances are if you had steelies on you probably would have damaged it/or tyre beyond repair too.Have done plenty of outback driving on all sorts of tracks with both steel and alloys and have never damaged either,drive to conditions and your on the way .
AnswerID: 173406

Reply By: Willem - Friday, May 19, 2006 at 07:32

Friday, May 19, 2006 at 07:32
Coyote

Ahhh........ the vexing question

Me? I for one always ran Telecom Tyres on splits and scoffed at anything else.

Then I changed to tubeless a few years ago.

Last year I ran steels(Speedie's 16") and bent one,on a sidetrack off the Connie Sue.

This year I have run Cooper STT's on the original Nissan alloys in extreme offroad conditions and apart from a couple of staked tyres have had no problems.

Alloys are reputed to be far stronger than steels but as has been mentioned, if you stuff one, it is STUFFED.

The thing is not to stuff one.

I drive carefully, use correct tyre pressures to my specs all the time, make sure where I am placing my my wheels and hopefully will come through unscathed.

I carry a steel as a spare for the trailer and as an extra spare for the truck.

So there you have it....lol

Cheers
AnswerID: 173472

Reply By: Robin - Friday, May 19, 2006 at 14:08

Friday, May 19, 2006 at 14:08
Hi Coyote

I still see if you can go 16" where prices and tyre range is better , the trak11's I mentioned are better by design than some other steels and will fit the larger brakes that my petrol patrol gu has over the diesels.

My latest set this year are silver at $85 each new.

Robin Miller
AnswerID: 173535

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