Aluminum wheels

[donhardman]

I want to replace the orginal steel rims on my 1976 31' Sovereign with Aluminum wheels. I contacted Airstream and they said:

"The alum. wheels we use here is made by Alcoa. You will need 15 x 6 on 5.5 centers, 6-lug. You can purchase the wheels we use now from any Airstream dealer."


I have contacted a couple of A/S dealers but have not received any response on the availability or cost of the wheels. In the meantime I contacted Southwest Wheel an Alcoa distributor and they said they had a comparable wheel that they recommend for Airstreams:

"The part number is a MT157111 and is priced at $137.74 each. It is actually
a 15x7 wheel."

Has anyone changed out their steel rims to either the "Airstream" aluminum wheels or an aluminum wheel from the retail market. Thanks

[driftwood]

Don,

You can utilize the search tool in the top of the page to source most anything you desire on this Forum.

For your wheel deal you might start here:
http://www.airforums.com/forum...luminum+wheels

[Steve Heywood]

Originally Posted by donhardman

I want to replace the orginal steel rims on my 1976 31' Sovereign with Aluminum wheels. I contacted Airstream and they said:

"The alum. wheels we use here is made by Alcoa. You will need 15 x 6 on 5.5 centers, 6-lug. You can purchase the wheels we use now from any Airstream dealer."


I have contacted a couple of A/S dealers but have not received any response on the availability or cost of the wheels. In the meantime I contacted Southwest Wheel an Alcoa distributor and they said they had a comparable wheel that they recommend for Airstreams:

"The part number is a MT157111 and is priced at $137.74 each. It is actually
a 15x7 wheel."

Has anyone changed out their steel rims to either the "Airstream" aluminum wheels or an aluminum wheel from the retail market. Thanks

When I contacted SW Wheel that's the part number they quoted me. I asked specifically about the 5-spoke design used on the late model Classic trailers.

I have found another wheel that is the same wheel used on the pre-05 Safaris and Internationals. Found them on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...544095286&rd=1 He had a set of 4 a while back that sold for around $300.

[uwe]

Don,
I have successfully used AR OutlawII wheels on my 1971 Tradewind for several years now. The size is 15x7, zero offset, same bolt pattern as you have stated. They cost about $ 90.00 each, and mine have a 2450lb weight rating.
These wheels look similar to the wheels Airstream used for some time now, but have a neat row of rivets around the perimeter. They hold up well, and are easy to maintain due to a coated surface.
If you check my photo gallery, you can see them on the trailer.
I had no trouble whatsoever fitting the 7in rims onto the wheel wells. The tire scrapes the inside of the wheel well a little during installation, but once mounted, there's better than a 1in space. The wheels are lightweight, which makes servicing the bearings/hubs much less of a backbuster.
There are other, more trailer specific wheels available. I might get these ones for the 1963 Overlander: http://www.trailer-parts-forless.com...re/wheels6.jpg

[Ken J]

I see that the wheels from trailer-parts-forless are 15x6 size

Ken J.

[donhardman]

My 76 Sovereign has lug bolts, not lug nuts. Are new lug bolts available for the aluminum wheels. Don

[Ken J]

Uwe - just checked the freight on wheels and tires - $155 - kinda makes it not a good deal...

Ken J

[donhardman]

Thanks guys for the input, you have added to my limited knowledge base on this subject. I expect that I will hear something back from the two A/S dealers today about the price on the "Airstream" aluminum wheels. You can bet it will be high. I am also going to check on the wheels that SW Wheels said that they had as well as the AR OutlawII wheels as well as the ones from trailer-parts-forless. I also am going to look in to getting my tires from the Tire Rac as Uwe recommended from a previous post. Very good deals.

I will update the subject as soon as get more information. Thanks again.

Don

[JD85EXCELLA32]

Don I won the bid on the 4 wheels that Steve mentioned above and I'm very pleased with them. They are 15x6 6lug rated at 2580lbs and I had new marathons load D mounted on them for our 32ft Excella. If you would like to see them visit my photo profile and you can see them plus the old steel wheels sort of a before and after. Also the Ebay seller is out of Mich. and ships very fast and is good to work with I know that he currently has an Ebay listing for a set of 2 on ebay but if contact him I'll bet he can take care of you with out ebay. Good luck.

[3x2x4sp389]

Help! Can anyone tell me how to lower the spare tire on my 82 280 MH. Looked for instruction manual or just a visable lever. The tire sits on a mount above the rear bumper and below the rear window.

[donhardman]

I spoke to SW Wheel and their part # MT157111 is referred to as the Airstream aluminum wheel. He could not give me a picture of the actual wheel but told me the wheel looks like their LTS wheel. I posted a picture under my photo section. The wheel is 15 x 7 5.5 centers 6 lug for $137.

Don

[Zettervall]

Someone mentioned that some 80's Ford pick-ups had the same wheels. Thus, some salvage yards might have a used set. These old wheels can be refinished easily and made to look like new.

[uwe]

Originally Posted by Zettervall

Someone mentioned that some 80's Ford pick-ups had the same wheels. Thus, some salvage yards might have a used set. These old wheels can be refinished easily and made to look like new.

Might work, but you must watch out for the offset and the weight rating of the wheels.
Many pickup truck/SUV wheels have a positive offset, meaning that the hub plate of the wheel ( the center part where the wheel mounts to the hub) is set back quite a bit. this will cause the tire to come outward too far, and can cause clearance problems. Better to stick with 15x6 or 15x7 wheels with zero offset. I personally like the look of the 15x7's, makes for a nice fat look under the wheelwell. 225's on a 7in rim looks " just right".

[donhardman]

Since my 1976 Airstream has lug bolts, not lug nuts what do I do about getting new chrome plated lug bolts in the correct size and thread for the aluminum wheels. Are they available? Do the new Airstreams still have lug bolts?

Don

[davidh]

Try a farm implement dealer They use lug bolts for wheels, or bring to a chrome plateing shop, hope this helps..

[Chas]

They stopped using lug bolts sometime in the late 70's or early 80's.

I know with the factory alloys on my 74 Overlander the studs were barely long enough, if i remember correctly the threads actually engaged the studs only a half an inch or so, leading to several stripped hub threads which I had to helicoil. I tried finding longer bolts but to no avail. I think Uwe and others have already upgraded their axles and/or hubs so they have no problem mounting the thicker alloy wheels.

I painted my wheel bolts silver, dig around in my pics if you like.