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sunseeker52 Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2010 Posts: 5 Location: tonga
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:18 am Post subject: Steel vs Alloy |
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For maybe driving off-road you DO NOT WANT ALLOY!! I've seen what the smallest rock can do to an alloy wheel vs. hitting the same size rock with a steel wheel. Alloy is just that,alloy,basically pot metal. Very brittle. |
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Glenn Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001 Posts: 76938 Location: Sneaking up behind you
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:21 am Post subject: Re: Steel vs Alloy |
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sunseeker52 wrote: |
For maybe driving off-road you DO NOT WANT ALLOY!! I've seen what the smallest rock can do to an alloy wheel vs. hitting the same size rock with a steel wheel. Alloy is just that,alloy,basically pot metal. Very brittle. |
That's an untrue generalization. There are sand cast, pressure cast and forged wheels. Forged are very light and very strong. _________________ Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
Member #1009
#BlueSquare |
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JasonBaker Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2010 Posts: 1642 Location: Cleveland, TN
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:23 am Post subject: |
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I was just thinking about this the other day. Does anyone have a friend or have knowledge about how and where wheels and made. Pictures or something? |
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wbrown45 Samba Member
Joined: July 08, 2008 Posts: 1318 Location: ada, ok
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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The Ultra wide 5 off-road wheels made in the early 90's were cast, but they were very tough. I have blasted mine for 17 years and have had no problems. You still see them running on a lot of seasoned off road cars. However some poorly cast wheels can break easily. I used to see the Empi 8 and 5 spoke wheels come back cracked after hitting a curb, or other road debris. _________________ OK Thang |
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Bruce Samba Member
Joined: May 16, 2003 Posts: 17290 Location: Left coast, Canada
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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JasonBaker wrote: |
I was just thinking about this the other day. Does anyone have a friend or have knowledge about how and where wheels and made. Pictures or something? |
What kind of wheel?
Depending on the wheel, it could be cast, forged, spun, stamped, ......... _________________
overheard at the portland Swap Meet... wrote: |
..... a steering wheel made from a mastadon tusk..... |
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tikitime Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2006 Posts: 443 Location: New Westminster, BC, Canada
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JasonBaker Samba Member
Joined: February 08, 2010 Posts: 1642 Location: Cleveland, TN
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:31 am Post subject: |
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Bruce wrote: |
JasonBaker wrote: |
I was just thinking about this the other day. Does anyone have a friend or have knowledge about how and where wheels and made. Pictures or something? |
What kind of wheel?
Depending on the wheel, it could be cast, forged, spun, stamped, ......... |
Doesn't matter what material or method is used. Any insight at all would be great. Just simply curiosity on my part. I used to skip class and wonder into the machine shop classes in high school. I majored in business, but I have always had an interest in fabrication in general. And there's probably not too many machine shops or wheel manufactuer's that will let me skip work and come check them out. |
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Joel Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2006 Posts: 11099 Location: NSW Australia
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:21 pm Post subject: Re: Steel vs Alloy |
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Glenn wrote: |
sunseeker52 wrote: |
For maybe driving off-road you DO NOT WANT ALLOY!! I've seen what the smallest rock can do to an alloy wheel vs. hitting the same size rock with a steel wheel. Alloy is just that,alloy,basically pot metal. Very brittle. |
That's an untrue generalization. There are sand cast, pressure cast and forged wheels. Forged are very light and very strong. |
This.
I live on some pretty dodgy rural roads where pot holes are so big entire cars vanish in them so to say I've had experience with buckled and busted rims would be understatement of the century.
But yes as Glenn said alloy rims are in general very strong, the cheaper shit out of China obviously isn't cast as well as quality alloys but in general a rock will do much the same damage whether it's a steelie or an alloy.
Alloys are much thicker in the rim area than steelies but the density does play into that though.
The thinner steel will still bend just as easy but the benefit is if it's not too severe a good flog with a BFH will get you home.
Most alloys will bend in the same manner as a steelie with a big hit, obviously tyre profile plays a big part in cushioning the effect
All depends if they crack or not
It takes a fucking hard hit to do something like this but a steelie hit with the same force will be bent beyond all hope so it's rooted either way, just a steelie is alot cheaper to replace.
_________________ Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle |
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Bruce Samba Member
Joined: May 16, 2003 Posts: 17290 Location: Left coast, Canada
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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You picked really weak wheels.
I have Fuchs on my car. I recall many years ago when I was approaching an intersection in the left lane. The transport in the lane to the right of me started drifting over into my lane, so I moved to the left going through the intersection. I didn't realize how far he had "pushed" me over until I got to the other side of the intersection. At about 40mph, I hit a standard 6" high concrete curb of the median, HARD. Of course the car bounced really high from it. I thought for sure, the wheel was junked, and possibly the tire too. I slowed, expecting the tire to go flat quickly. But the car didn't drive funny at all. I pulled over right away to have a look. There wasn't anything wrong with the wheel at all. To this day, it still spins true. _________________
overheard at the portland Swap Meet... wrote: |
..... a steering wheel made from a mastadon tusk..... |
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Bruce Samba Member
Joined: May 16, 2003 Posts: 17290 Location: Left coast, Canada
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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Here's a pic showing some of the stages of how a Fuchs wheel is made. They start with a piece of bar stock on the right.
The middle 3 show the different stages of the forging process to form the center.
The far left shows how the rims are spun into shape. _________________
overheard at the portland Swap Meet... wrote: |
..... a steering wheel made from a mastadon tusk..... |
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Joel Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2006 Posts: 11099 Location: NSW Australia
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:49 am Post subject: |
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Bruce wrote: |
You picked really weak wheels. |
They came on the car, I didn't pick them but regardless no 17" rim with 40 series tyre would have survived what happened.
It was a piece of road had broken away on a blind bend and I had to either hit it or an oncoming car.
Sliced clean through the tyre, bent the strut, popped the CV joint out and busted an engine mount, was on a FWD Toyota. _________________ Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle |
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