Steel vs Aluminum rims ???

[OB n Sue]

Can someone give me the pros and cons of steel vs aluminum rims?

Thanks OB

[OB n Sue]

Can someone give me the pros and cons of steel vs aluminum rims?

Thanks OB

[Spudwrench]

aluminum is more pricey,but they look better,JMHO,,Tom

[Ray,IN]

Do not mix steel and aluminum rims on the duals. The metals react and corrode quickly. I say this because some guys go the cheap route and just put aluminum on the outside wheel and run the stock steel inboard.

[Dagwood]

Aluminum is lighter resulting in less unsprung weight. And it looks good. Some tire shops dont like to handle alum wheels/

[RichR]

Ray-
Most all dually trucks come with steel on the inside wheel and aluminum on the outside,fresh from the factory.

[Rick A]

I have aluminum wheels on my dually with steel wheels for the inside rear. When I first bought it, I had a heck of a time getting the alum wheels seperated from the steel ones when I took them off to insdtall the 5th wheel hitch as they did corrode together. But ever since then I have not had a single problem. Once the clear coat wears off from age, you will have a heck of a time keeping them looking good too.

[450Donn]

1, Use an anti cororive grease between them and they will not stick.
2, Clear coat wear off? Must be some really cheep wheels. Even if it does come off, a little elbow grease can clean and polish them up just like chrome.

[BurbMan]

I had the white spoke rims and they started to rust out from the salt air at the beach. I just replaced the tires with new Goodyear Marathons on these rims. I got the "star" pattern on the right.

[Rick A]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by 450Donn:
2, Clear coat wear off? Must be some really cheep wheels. Even if it does come off, a little elbow grease can clean and polish them up just like chrome. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

These are the factory wheels on my '99 F-350 dually. The truck has 230K miles on it, and yes the clear coat on all the wheels is completely gone. Some mothers wax and a little elbow grease, they do clean up nice, but need to be polished too often. I'm thinking of using Duplicolor clear wheel coating to try and bring them back to new.

[Richard K]

Here in Colorado they use mag chloride extensively on the roads in winter. I've always had aluminum wheels without a problem. My last truck, an '04 GMC, came with chromed steel wheels which showed rusting at 15K miles. You can always polish and wax aluminum wheels but it's an expensive proposition to re-chrome.

[themisfitking]

Steel wheels on a trailer are more forgiving then aluminum in case you rub a curb If you look at most 18 wheeler's, steel trailer wheels out number aluminum. On the truck, go with Aluminum, less unsprung weight= better ride.