antichrist said:
Where are folks buying the NATO / wolf wheels these days? I'm thinking about switching over from the standard LR steel at my next set of tires.
REAL Truth About Steel Wheels
- Thread starter CaptainSpalding
- Start date
Where are folks buying the NATO / wolf wheels these days? I'm thinking about switching over from the standard LR steel at my next set of tires.
Steel wheels offer two advantages for Rovers, that I can discern. First, they're cheap. MUCH cheaper than aftermarket wheels from any mfg. Second, they offer much better backspacing options. With that said, I wouldn't put a steel wheel on anything I own or take off road with any regularity.
I have bent a slew of steel wheels to a point of them being useless (whoever said you can pound them back is spending a little too much time behind the computer). Some even came brand new out of round. Additionally, they're stupid heavy. Wanna cut down on broken drivetrain parts? Reduce the rotational mass.
I have broken exactly one aluminum rim (broke the inner bead surface off- tire still held air though) in 10 years of abusive west coast rocks wheelin and competition. The one I broke, broke from bombing thru the desert at excessive speeds on a set of swampers aired down to about 4psi. I have run 4 sets of aluminum beadlocks and have never destroyed any of the beadlock mechanisms. All of them have been and are run on the street regularly.
Steel is cheap. Aluminum is strong.
I have bent a slew of steel wheels to a point of them being useless (whoever said you can pound them back is spending a little too much time behind the computer). Some even came brand new out of round. Additionally, they're stupid heavy. Wanna cut down on broken drivetrain parts? Reduce the rotational mass.
I have broken exactly one aluminum rim (broke the inner bead surface off- tire still held air though) in 10 years of abusive west coast rocks wheelin and competition. The one I broke, broke from bombing thru the desert at excessive speeds on a set of swampers aired down to about 4psi. I have run 4 sets of aluminum beadlocks and have never destroyed any of the beadlock mechanisms. All of them have been and are run on the street regularly.
Steel is cheap. Aluminum is strong.
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Sethmark said:
My number one reason for running steel wheels is that I can get at my axle without having to pull the wheel off.
Well, I'll agree with Sethmark, especially about the smaller rotational mass. That being the main reason I like aluminum alloy wheels. But I'll qualify it a bit. Cheap is cheap. Cheap aluminum rims are not as strong as forged aluminum rims but those strong aluminum rims are also heavy. Cheap steel rims are lighter than good steel rims but are still a bit heavier than even the cheap aluminum rims and not any stronger. As a matter of fact, I prefer even the cheap alloys over cheap steel rims. I've run cheap steel and, like Sethmark says, they're seldom round and if they are they come out of round easily. They bend and yes you can hammer them a bit but even a small dent can spring a leak and guess what? Hammering it may not help. 1 hit, it leaks less. 2 hits, it leaks even less but still leaks. 3 hits and it leaks as much as it did before we touched it with the hammer. Darn!. Repeat procedure with fewer hits. I guess the key was 2 hits. However, in this instance, we think even the cheap alloy rim would not have bent in the first place. And had the wheel been hit harder, the cheap steel would not get "fixed" by simply hammering it. I prefer the cheap aftermarket alloys for weight savings and being round compared to cheap steel rims. If I wreck one I'll use a spare. If I'll wreck 2, well, hopefully buddy will have a spare. If wrecking more than 1 rim on a trip becomes an issue or if I'm hundreds or thousands of miles from civilization, I'll put heavy-duty steel rims on and suffer with less power. Luckily for D1 there's not much choice, so for now I'll run the stock alloys. Once I need less backspacing, I'll get aftermarket rims and if cheap alloys will be available, I'll go for those. If not, well, what else can you do? 
I just saw a nice set of bling aftermarket alloys for D2. And I was thinking, "hmmm. I wish I had a D2. I could have cheap round and relatively strong rims with less backspacing and less weight. If only I had a D2". But then I dismissed such horrific mind wanderings.
P.S. I hope people keep putting steelies on. It gives jokers like me a chance to buy aluminum rims cheaply. Go steel baby.
I just saw a nice set of bling aftermarket alloys for D2. And I was thinking, "hmmm. I wish I had a D2. I could have cheap round and relatively strong rims with less backspacing and less weight. If only I had a D2". But then I dismissed such horrific mind wanderings. P.S. I hope people keep putting steelies on. It gives jokers like me a chance to buy aluminum rims cheaply. Go steel baby.
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X
XScoutguy
Guest
Those are "wolf" I presume??I like em....How much-and from what vendor?Ruppsrover said:Personally, I like the look of stealth bling. It took me a little bit of convincing from Marc to do it but now I'm happy with the look. I can't wait to do the fronts.
http://www.pbase.com/ruppsrover/image/42774047
....yeah...supposedly its very rare but I did manage to destroy an alloy on my DII.
Feb at hollister, CA. Aired down to 18 psi and going through one of the obsticals. Came down hard on one of the logs and thats all it took....punched the lip in about 2 in. Tried bending it back for two hours with a piece of oak and a BFH to no avail. I am going steel wheels for the offset and to replace the busted alloy...(and so I never have to pound that long anymore....after a certain point there was just no progress).
Feb at hollister, CA. Aired down to 18 psi and going through one of the obsticals. Came down hard on one of the logs and thats all it took....punched the lip in about 2 in. Tried bending it back for two hours with a piece of oak and a BFH to no avail. I am going steel wheels for the offset and to replace the busted alloy...(and so I never have to pound that long anymore....after a certain point there was just no progress).
I just switched from Alloys to disco steelies. My reasons are as follows:
1. Needed them to clear heavy duty axles.
2. Do not have to remove tire to change axle shaft.
3. I think they look cool.
The first one can be gotten around if you go with rovertracks for alloy wheels which have a smaller flange allowing them to fit behind the alloy.
C-
1. Needed them to clear heavy duty axles.
2. Do not have to remove tire to change axle shaft.
3. I think they look cool.
The first one can be gotten around if you go with rovertracks for alloy wheels which have a smaller flange allowing them to fit behind the alloy.
C-
ptschram
Well-known member
I've gotten so many sets of alloys for stupid cheap on parts trucks, that it only makes sense for me to run alloys. That said, it took several parts trucks to get five Disco spare steel rims, now to decide what to mount on them.
For what a pile of alloy rims can cost, it doesn't make sense to spend the $ on bling bling steel rims.
PT
For what a pile of alloy rims can cost, it doesn't make sense to spend the $ on bling bling steel rims.
PT
CaptainSpalding said:
Aye captain,
I've bent motorcycle and ATC rims back into place with a hammer. The ATC rim was so bad, we used heat on it. Had to dismount the tire first tho. Both were in the field repairs. Someone had the spoons for the motorcycle tire (tube-type, so the damage wasn't really as critical). We used a couple of tire irons to dismount the ATC tire, then after remounting it we used the old trick of using a ratchet strap around the center of the tire to put pressure on the bead.
I bent a NATO wheel last year while whelling. I could hear the air escaping and see a flat spot on the rim. I took out a rubber mallet I keep in my truck and within 5 minutes dent gone and no longer leaking air. If it had been a much larger dent I dont think the rubber mallet would have been up to the task.
Aside from trail repair, I like the look of steel wheels.
Aside from trail repair, I like the look of steel wheels.
Now that's funny. I know people refer to steel wheels as bling, but when I bought my first land rover, it was the alloys that were called bling...well, not back then, "bling" wasn't a word...but you know what I mean. LOLptschram said:
