amxpress
Clayton, NC
Senior Member
Joined: 04/14/2007
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
 Online
|
The aluminum rims you get on a TT or fiver will not be Alcoa.
Aluminum rims, besides being aesthetically more appealling to many, are lighter, more corrosion resistant, and usually easier to balance. In many cases, they can have a greater load capacity than your typical OEM steel rim. Having to keep them torqued is not an issue.
2007 Dodge RAM 2500 Quad Cab w/6.7 Cummins
2008 Palamino Sabre 31RKTS
Reese 15K Pro Series manual slide
Prodigy
Firestone Air Bags
Champion 3500 genny
Travel in peace, left the M-I-L at the zoo with her relatives...
|
thomasmnile
Deltona, Fl.
Senior Member
Joined: 05/14/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
 Offline
|
amxpress wrote:The aluminum rims you get on a TT or fiver will not be Alcoa.
Aluminum rims, besides being aesthetically more appealling to many, are lighter, more corrosion resistant, and usually easier to balance. In many cases, they can have a greater load capacity than your typical OEM steel rim. Having to keep them torqued is not an issue.
True. Alcoa trailer wheels are forged (one piece) vs. the aluminum or alloys used by RV manufacturers which are "modular" (two piece). The biggest difference is price: Alcoa wheels (I priced them) are nearly $300 apiece vs. $130-$175 for modular wheels I have found on many trailer parts websites. Alcoa also sold its wheel manufacturing business to a company based in Spain this year. More jobs gone.....
|
richfaa
Ohio
Senior Member
Joined: 04/24/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
A quality aluminum wheel should be no problem . We have had quality wheels on our trucks and cars with never a problem. We did not order our 5th wheel with OEM aluminum wheels because we were doubtful of the quality and there have been many issues with the OEM wheels. We will at our next tire purchase get quality aluminum wheels.
06 Montana 3400. 08 Ford F-350 6.4L
|
Dr Quick
M'boro, Tn
Senior Member
Joined: 08/25/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
|
I painted my rims black and got some shinny wheel covers from that auto parts store, for less than $50. Gives the look of aluminum at about 10% of the cost. Now I do not have to clean at the center of the wheel where all the dirt and gunk seems to accumulate.
Dr quick
|
smkettner
Southern California
Senior Member
Joined: 03/21/2005
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
|
What size tire? Most OEM tires are right at the weight limit and if spending money I would go up a size and/or load range. Then you need wheels to accomodate the larger tires and increased pressure.
Otherwise it is just for looks 
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
|
|
|
rchonly
Kingman, Arizona, USA
Senior Member
Joined: 07/12/2001
View Profile
Offline
|
I replaced the steel/chrome wheels with aluminum on my TV a few years back because the steel wheels developed slow leaks at the welds on two different rims that were about 5 years old.
When you consider the pressures we run on the trucks and the trailer tires the solid cast aluminum wheels with the higher weight ratings make a lot of sense to me.
That's my nickles worth.
Roger
1995 Alpenlite - St Andrews 33RK
2001 Dodge CTD-2500 Quad Cab,4x4,AT,LngBed,w/B&W-GN & Companion
|
chiefneon
Livingston, TX
Senior Member
Joined: 12/03/2001
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
Offline
|
Howdy!
When we purchased our 5er it came with steel wheels. All four developed pin hole leaks at the welds due to the high pressures required 110 psi. They were replaced with aluminum wheels.
"Happy Trails"
chiefneon
|
Mile High
Lone Tree, CO
Senior Member
Joined: 02/05/2008
View Profile
|
With the new technology and alloys, I'm not convinced a steel wheel is stronger than alloy anymore - I think the alloy wheels have a higher tolerance than the steel both in weight and impact.
Either way - Keystone has had more problems/recalls with steel than aluminum in the last few years (Keystone buys both wheels from China). The steel wheels have had leaks in the welds, leaks by the valve stem hole (recall), and maybe unrelated but loose lug nuts because of too much paint on the hub (recall). Around 2003, Keystone was having trouble with stress cracks on the aluminum wheel.
Go for the looks - I don't see any other advantage either way!
Brad & Dory
2006 Ford F350 4X4 SB CC SRW Powerstroke 6.0
2007 Montana 3400RL 5th Wheel Our Rig - Our Mods
Visit Us, Our previous rig - 2003 2955RL
|
2bit
OC
Full Member
Joined: 03/18/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
we had steel on our last toyhauler, but had to replace them..Our weld broke loose from the hub and left the center and the outside of with the tire went down the road. We just purchased a new fifth wheel and it has the steel again. Just can't afford the new aluminum wheels right now because we now need 6 instead of 4...whew..
|
Cox89XJ
Tennessee
Senior Member
Joined: 07/27/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
As mentioned earlier. When buying new wheels you may as well upgrade to a better tire. Make sure the wheel you get will withstand the pressure. When I upgraded from 15 inch to 16 inch I went with aluminum. They looook great!
|
|
|
