runnin2fire

With so many brands of wheels each with several different models on the market, all made differently, are there brands of wheels to try to stay away from? I understand you get whay you pay for, but being a newbie to wheelin with so many different options it can be a little overwhelming. There are many different wheels that I think would look awesome on the jeep, but are some better than others?

Mark Doiron

Hey, runnin2fire, what part of MWC? I live in Windsong. Anyway, not a direct answer to your question, but I went with alloy wheels primarily because of the lighter unsprung weight--better performance for the JK and a little easier to handle the wheel/tire combo when swapping out the spare. However, after a run at Frieling's in Clayton the alloy wheels got pretty tore up. You can see it on the front wheel in the pic below--the grayish streaks along that wheel rim are where the flat black finish was abraded off exposing the underlying alloy. I'm okay with that (shows that I do wheel), but some folks would like their Jeep to look pretty immaculate even though they may wheel it. If that's important to you, you may want to stick to steel wheels that you can easily rattlecan back into shape after a few runs.

BTW: Keep an eye on the Midwest section here on JK-Forum. We plan runs, mod's and just getting together to share a meal on there from time to time. And, when you see me running around town, be sure to wave!

runnin2fire

Hey neighbor, thanks for the reply. I live about a mile and a half from you in Stone Creek (Reno and Westminster). As far as the alloy wheel goes can an alloy be repaired or do you throw one away if one gets damaged. Not that care a lot about scratches and dings more like bends and breaks.

We will have to get together and shoot the bull over a cup of joe.

horwitzs

Alloys can be touched up for cosmetic repair, but when they break, they break.
Steels can be hammered back into shape if they get bent a little. Not so with alloys.

runnin2fire

If you are hammering and bending on a steel wheel is that going to screw up the balance. but I guess you could deal with a little wobble if it was between walking or making it home.

horwitzs

It might a little, but unless you actually lose a chunk of metal, you're still going to have the same mass in the nearly the same place.
Only costs a few bucks to have the wheel rebalanced at a tire shop.
And don't forget, you should have a spare with you, so you can always swap if you lose a bead while you are away from civilization.

ifshinxs

I'll be the odd man out..I prefer aluminum wheels..
I used to run some steel wheels made by western..I always bent these wheels out of center..In other words they would wobble after a decent off road secession..

I haven't broken an aluminum wheel yet.
You can snap pieces off of these cast aluminum wheels..It just hasn't happened to me yet..

nangulator

X2, that is why I went with soft 8s, I beat the $hit out of them, beat them back and rattle can them & they look almost "new", try that with a high dollar aluminum wheel.

horwitzs

I also prefer aluminum, but I don't do extreme wheeling on rocks like some of you guys do.