Steel vs Alloy rims

[twake34]

Hi all,

Looking at new rims for my 05 SR5 (running Steinbaur chip and 3inch X-Force exhaust). Obviously steel rims are cheaper - but are alloys worth it? Would the weight difference be noticeable?

Thanks for any help...this wheel/tyre stuff is a proper headache!

Tom

[Blackie2008]

Alloys are way lighter, no doubt about it. Less unsprung weight lets your suspension work better. My off road set are on steel wheels due to their durability and the fact that if you bend one, you can belt it back into a usually usable shape. Alloys crack and shatter and are pretty much useless once you bend them.

[twake34]

So considering that im going to be running All Terrains and still doing a fair bit of normal road driving, alloys worth the coin ya reckon?

Thanks Dan

[Alby]

Go with the ones you like better
The most important thing is to buy good quality rims. There are cheap rubbish ones in steel and alloy

[10 luxxxx]

If your not doing anything too extreme alloys will be fine it's no fun trying to bash a steel rim back into shape anyway. And if you do a big trip with big risk of damage then take a couple of spairs.

[twake34]

Maybe I'm over complicating this for myself...Is the weight difference between alloy and steel so little that any impact on fuel economy/handling is not noticeable anyway? Anyone experienced this? Cause I don't want to turn my Hilux into a fuel munching boat by the end.

If steel makes little difference I'll go with it cause obviously its cheaper (100% agree Alby - good quality ones without question).

Ideally I'd stick with my factory 15x7s but you can't fit a decent/bigger tyre to these stupid things that meets load/speed rating and is legal. Also after the OME suspension upgrade lifted the front and back a little, the Bridgestone 265/70r15s I'm running look cartoonishly small (e.g. Ridiculous!). So I'm looking at 16"s or maybe even 17"s.

Any ideas in brands/styles for both alloy and steel?

[wholehog]

Alloys are way lighter, no doubt about it. Less unsprung weight lets your suspension work better. My off road set are on steel wheels due to their durability and the fact that if you bend one, you can belt it back into a usually usable shape. Alloys crack and shatter and are pretty much useless once you bend them.

One of the mags did a test on this and i was suprised that the alloy could be put back into shape as well..... and was the least prone to bend....

[Blackie2008]

Alloys are way lighter, no doubt about it. Less unsprung weight lets your suspension work better. My off road set are on steel wheels due to their durability and the fact that if you bend one, you can belt it back into a usually usable shape. Alloys crack and shatter and are pretty much useless once you bend them.

One of the mags did a test on this and i was suprised that the alloy could be put back into shape as well..... and was the least prone to bend....

Hmmm, that'd be worth looking up. I'm no metallurgist and I'm not sure about the differences in what modern alloy wheels are made of but, in my experience, once alloy bends, bending it back will crack it 9 times out of 10. The chances of steel cracking would be less IMO.

[Alby]

Mate you are over thinking this whole issue
Have a look at how many landcruisers and SR5 are getting about with factory alloys and then see how many posts you can find of them failing...... There is no problem
Have a look on ebay for some Prado or Patrol rims or some Sr5 ones if they take your fancy

The whole issue is no biggy unless you buy cheap rubbish. The rims will have negligible differences to fuel economy the type of tyre and tyre pressure will though

[kyle300exc]

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