I've been kicking around the idea of getting beadlock wheels, but unsure if I should go with steel or aluminum. Give me some opinions. Are steel tougher? Is the lighter weight of the aluminum wheels worth the extra$? I know unsprung weight is a good thing for crawlin', but still not ready drop $1500 on aluminum beadlocks when steel will work and accomplish the same thing. What ya'll think?

 

I'm thinking of keeping my alloy's and running Staun Internal Beadlocks. I know it didnt quite answer your question but I was tossing around the same dilema myself.

My $0.02

Z

 

Allot of people prefer steel off road. It's a good bit stronger. It is heavier though. I have bent steel wheels on the trail, and used a sledge to straighten them up and hold air.

 

Steel locks are HEAVY! They are usually not true.

As for strength, a well done AL wheel will hang with a well done steel. Steel will bend before AL breaks. If you are wheeling hard enough to break it, I suspect you have other issues.

I have OMF locked American Eagle wheels. They are light and shiny. They rode better unbalances than my same tires on the steel wheels I had.

Staun is good bang for the buck. You get both beads locked, no apparent modification so officer friendly stays happy and if you already have wheels you like, they plug right in.

 

Champion wheel lists their al beadlocks @26lbs each. Most others are 30-35lbs. My steel wheels sans beadlock weigh 36lbs. I'm thinking a steel lock will add 5lbs, so 41lbs for a steel beadlock. That's 15lbs per wheel, alot when considering unsprung weight. I still don't think the benefits are worth the extra$. I looked into the staun beadlocks, and they are cool. They offer no valve stem or hub protection, but they are double locks and undercover from johnny law. Not like a cop could tell the difference with all the fakelocks runnin' around vegas anyway. I guess the real question is, should I spend double the money?

 

?!?!?!

rockstomper weld on bead lock rings are like 15 lbs EACH wheel! (hardware included)

the guy that was floating around that put the mog axles under a 2nd gen with air bag suspension..... he had some stock AL yota wheels turned into AL beadlocks. He had some good info about them if you could ever dig up his info....

 

Lance and Bruce did the same thing as well.

 

4Mogger - His were Hummer wheels, not Toy IIRC.

I have 2nd Gen alloys converted by Champion. Mine were $180 or so per wheel to convert.

 

one thing about alum wheels is they oxidize and its a pain. the worst set ive had to deal with r on my moms blazer every single tire has a bead leak cuz of the rims not to mention that if ur doing off roading u dont want alum unless is polished. once water hits around the beads it will oxidize with steel u dont have that issue so much and steel wheels are alot stronger too which helps cause u really dont want to beak a rim just cuz u slid off a rock and ur rim it another. ive seen waht happens to steel wheels when they hit a curb and its hardly anything maybe a lil ding on the outsite and the tire can be completley gone. id go with steel myself ive been thinking about getting a set and wrapping some wildcountry txrs around them but that wont happen til later but steel beats alum for rock rims unless u wanna break them

 

If you need locks, I hope aesthetics are not the primary decider.

Please discuss what you have.

Please use punctuation.

Ideas on weight ratings of steel wheels versus cast aluminum versus forged?

 

Aluminum is MUCH more resistant to oxidation than steel. Steel oxidation is called rust.

Aluminum and road salt don't get along particularly well, but aluminum rims will last much longer than steel in the same environment.

I doubt the original poster has much road salt (and therefore bead leaks) to deal with in Las Vegas.

Actually - strength to weight ratio for aluminum alloys and the "plain-jane" steel used for rims is about the same. A good quality, well-engineered steel wheel and aluminum wheel will weigh about the same and be about the same strength. Unfortunately, Al is a little less forgiving of manufacturing practices, and steel mfg's are trying to sell to the "low cost" market, so the gap in performance appears wider than it really should be.

In REALLY hard use, the difference will be the ductility - steel will bend when aluminum breaks.

If you had unlimited money, titanium alloys would make the best wheels. Actually, they wouldn't be that much more expensive than a well done aluminum wheel... Strength/weight ratio is almost double that of steel or aluminum, the ductility is as good as steel, and it is "springier" - it will bend more before taking a permanent set.

 

False (on the weight statement).

I've had both. Steel wheels are WAY heavier than alloys of the same size. I had Eaton steelies in my possession and took them back because they were so damn heavy. From a quality perspective, I don't think you'll find a better made steelie than the Eaton. I weighed them, but can't remember (or find) the exact weight - they were approaching 30 lbs each IIRC.

I ended up going with MT Classic II's - these were around or under 20 lbs. Both were 15x8.

My stock alloys with beadlocks are only 21.2 lbs BTW.

 

I think for the majority of people that run beadlocks, whether cast or steel - they will be plenty strong enough. That being said, I would still start with a good aluminum wheel if you go that route.

Recently this year I was in your same position, upsizing tires and in need of some new wheels as my previous steel wheels were beat up pretty good.

I narrowed down my choices between Allied Aluminum beadlocks and Champion or OMF. I ended up picking up the Allieds, as they were slightly less expensive, yet offered a stronger wheel, with thicker centers. They weight 34lbs. (15x10)

 

need I say more?

 

Right now I'm runnin' 36 swamper tsx's on 15x10 discount(unique) steel wheels. They work okay in the sharp rocks of vegas @8-10 psi, but they work awesome @4 psi. At the lower pressure, they burp air once in a while and come off the bead under extreme side pressures( nose down, full lock turns ). Corrision is not a factor, although it did snow last year at my house(is a 1 1/2" considered snow?). Aesthics are important, as my camo yota would look silly with some blinged out al wheels, but that's nothing some powdercoat couldn't fix. I would like to run a forged wheel, like allied new 'rockstomper', but the allied 'rock 8' is cool, already black, and $180 a wheel. Most of the wheelin' I do is rocks, with the occasional Brian Collins impression. Would the al wheels be easier to balance? And has anyone tried the powder or bead insertion balancing stuff, like equal or innovative balancing?

 

Because AL locks are lighter and the manufacturing of them does not include welding in the center, I have found all of my AL wheels to be truer, balance better and ride better than my steels. As I said, my AL locks were better unbalanced than my Eaton Steels with weights using the same tires.

Not sure how nice SX's will balance anyway.

The weight stuff bandied about is just WRONG! Walker Evans locks are some of the heaviest locks around, strongest too. They are still no heavier than locked steels. Again, they are the exception, not the rule.

 

just curious here, but why are the staun's not as good?

I always thought they were the best of all worlds. Both beads locked, easy to ballence, lightweight.

Is there a reason that they don't work as well as rings?

I was thinking this was how i would beadlock my wheels, should i be reconsidering that?

 

I think the Stauns are a nice option. They are more expensive than a beadlocked rim though. If they can get the price down, they won't be able to make them fast enough.

 

Like someone has said before in here, OMF really needs to consider welding those on. Stacking dimes around the rim really doesn't do much to keep the rims on!

 

Those are some nice wheels for sure. I have been really impressed with the work done by Champion and OMF on stock toyota alloys.