andrewmp6

extrashaky

Cool. That'll be really helpful info the next time I decide to go driving around with no tires on my rims.

Fred/N0AZZ

Good link to BJ Andrew, but he's preaching to the choir here right. I hope all would view this video thanks for posting.

andrewmp6

The reason he used no tire was to stress the rim and there is times on trails you have to limp along to a safe spot to change a wheel.The show stuntbusters did one on different rim metals how they react to damage i need to find that one for us.

extrashaky

How does running a rim with no tire on it along a road simulate limping along with a flat tire on a trail to a safe spot? And if that was the test, it seems as though the alloy wheel passed, since it was still round and in one piece at the end of the run and still would have gotten you off the trail.

Also, how exactly is a test of ONE steel wheel and ONE alloy wheel supposed to be representative of ALL steel and alloy wheels? That's like saying I know a stupid Texan, therefore all Texans are stupid. Any results from this test are only valid for one beat up old aftermarket steel rim and one 20 year old OEM aluminum rim and pretty much worthless for evaluating a new purchase.

I don't have any argument for or against either type of wheel, but this is not a valid test. The sample size is too small, the test scenario is not representative of actual conditions in the field, and the conclusions reached were not actually supported by the outcome of the test. Therefore it really tells us nothing about the performance of these materials.

andrewmp6

The steel rim is factory it was on the yj the xj and i think the tj its just missing its center cap that says jeep.There's a reason police cars run steel rims over alloy rims and its the same thing the video shows steel bends while alloy will crack and chip chunks out.I know that is just a cast alloy rim and forged would hold up better but even forged can break if pushed hard.Billet aluminum would out shine steel but its not cheap at all.

Fred/N0AZZ

You have never had a flat on a narrow rocky, rutted trail where the tire comes off the rim on the sides and you have to keep driving for some time till you find a place to fix the flat? That is obvious from your answer you have not I have and its not pleasant. What that show to all was the alloy wheel could not be used period the steel one was. I have one of my Cragar Soft Eights that got bent that way and I had to drive another 1/2 mi. on it then winch up the last 140' because I could not get traction.


The rim was bent in a 1/4+" about an 1 1/2" long in one place and 3/4" in another. I used a ball peen hammer and a file to beat it back out till it would hold air. It held for the rest of the day only adding air 2 times in 5 hrs.


Now how would you do this with an alloy wheel and that test was a cake walk compared to an off road case.

extrashaky

LOL no. The reason police cars run steel rims is because they are cheaper (or are believed to be so by the public). If alloy rims were cheaper, they would run them instead (unless they could figure out a way to misuse a Homeland Security grant to get them without getting caught by the local news). The public expects to see their public servants running basic black steelies. Anything else is considered an ostentatious misuse of public funds.

No, but neither did the guy in the video.

That would have made a much better video.

Again, I am not arguing for or against either material. My gut tells me steel would be a better choice in extreme situations. My gut also tells me that some alloy rims are probably sufficient for all but the most extreme situations. I don't have a preference one way or the other.

What I'm saying is that the "test" was meaningless because the sample size was too small, the test was not representative of actual conditions, and the conclusions were not supported by the outcome of the test. Even if I were to concede that driving around on a bare rim were a valid test, a sample size of one is not sufficient to draw any conclusions whatsoever.

SeriousOffroad

Meh....
Alloys any day.