People Laughin @ my Steel Wheel

[steelman]

I should have grabbed these amazing wheels when I had a chance. :bonk: :wink:

[peteyg]

When I got my set of MT crawlers they were on a set of fake beadlocks. At first I figured I'd get rid of them, so I felt free to trash them on the trail.

Then I discovered that that fake beadlock rim actually works well. It just grinds right along on the rocks, like a skateboard rail.
Amusingly I saw an ad for them: "streetlocks" LMAO.

Let the posers that run chrome and whatnot on the trail do their own thing. I hate wheeling with people that are afraid to get scratches and minor dents in stuff. As long as you have a good time and can get home at the end of the day, who cares what it looks like?

I think the debate is over the comparable strengths of steel vs. aluminum. Each has it's own set of unique advantages and disadvantages, and really in the end it all comes down to the preference of the driver.

I have run both. I think steel gives me better flexibility. I have beat dents out of them on the trail. However, aluminum is certainly lighter and gives me much better throttle and brake response (not that it matters....Krawlers are heavy no matter what wheel I put them on).

But the example posted above by Nailer is the extreme case, not at all indicative of typical wheel damage. Conversely, I have seen only two aluminum wheels catastrophically fail in all the years I have been wheeling, and even though one of them broke badly, it still held air for the rest of the day.

So, the bottom line is, run what you like. They both have their place. In the end, though, you're going to pay a LOT more for those nice alloy wheels, and you'll still beat them up badly in the rocks if that's the type of wheeling that you enjoy.

[Madbunny]

When I got my set of MT crawlers they were on a set of fake beadlocks. At first I figured I'd get rid of them, so I felt free to trash them on the trail.

Then I discovered that that fake beadlock rim actually works well. It just grinds right along on the rocks, like a skateboard rail.
Amusingly I saw an ad for them: "streetlocks" LMAO.

Let the posers that run chrome and whatnot on the trail do their own thing. I hate wheeling with people that are afraid to get scratches and minor dents in stuff. As long as you have a good time and can get home at the end of the day, who cares what it looks like?

[steelman]

i dont like the steel wheels

HAAAA! That pic is a CLASSIC!

[blkTJ]

i dont like the steel wheels

SAWEEEEET!!! :thumbs_up :yay:

[NAILER341]

i dont like the steel wheels

[4point]

Good forged aluminum wheels can be bent back.
Good steel wheels adhere to the KISS principle, Keep It Simple, Stupid.

More than likely you were wheeling with the chrome and go crowd. Or the fake beadlock crowd. Or even the "I wheel my D35 hard crowd". Either way, all three groups are losers.....

Well I got the D35, no fake or real bead locks and chrome around my head lights. 3 time loser?

[brokenujoint]

I CAN say that with my heavier steelies over the old eagle 589's that i had that braking is much slower.

right now i run steelies. i used to run the eagle 589's as mentioned. i had a sidewall blowout with the alloys thanksgiving day of 2003 up in lytle creek up in the very very end of the wash about 1 mile in the rocks. i limped a mile in the creek bed w/nothing but rocks. when i was out my rim's lip was chewed to death but it worked fine. just looked like crap


last yr i was up in big bear and got a similar blow out in the rockgarden with my steelies. when i got through (same technique, nice and slow) my steelie's lip was trashed. the rim didnt hold air and after beating it with a hammer it just became weaker.

point, (not that the eagle was a strong alloy but) a higher end more expensive aluminum rim will outlast a steelie, but when it goes its done and it goes in a larger monitary fashion. at 40-50 bucks a pop, who cares if the steelie craps out every other trail run, its 50.00. last few medium hard trails ive done i chewed up my steelies and i didnt even know how.

[Long&Low]

Good forged aluminum wheels can be bent back.
Good steel wheels adhere to the KISS principle, Keep It Simple, Stupid.

More than likely you were wheeling with the chrome and go crowd. Or the fake beadlock crowd. Or even the "I wheel my D35 hard crowd". Either way, all three groups are losers.....

[swbooking]

nope, no roll eyes here.

the thing is... "MY" axles don't need to spin any more weight than they already do. don't need any more broken stuff.

HAHA Good, i was just makin sure

Huh... Yeah never thought of it that way. The more unspring weight the harder it is on the axles when they spin. So i guess we'll leave the heavy wheels for comp buggies.

[blkTJ]

Damn really? or is that just sarcasm?

nope, no roll eyes here.

the thing is... "MY" axles don't need to spin any more weight than they already do. don't need any more broken stuff.

[peteyg]

A lot of the competition guys run water in the tires to keep the COG as low as possible. That's the purpose of putting weight in the tires.

[Dukes69]

Damn really? or is that just sarcasm?

No really. Granted its a competition buggy that weighs like 2200 pounds or something. Most of our jeeps are around 4500-5000 pounds and any savings in weight be beneficial.

[swbooking]

Damn really? or is that just sarcasm?

[blkTJ]

I know some of the people talk about how heavy a steel wheel is, but isn't more unsprung weight good for flex and to keep your tires down on the ground? Just thought of it and was curious...

sure, I know a guy that runs 250 lbs of steel shot in his front tires...