Aluminum wheels

[smily]

Has anyone changed their steel wheels to Aluminum?

I am considering this but I need to know about the 2600 lb issue.

I have heard of people buying standard aluminum wheels from your average tire and wheel vendor.

Doe anyone have a resource and or contact for purchasing the aluminum wheels?

Smily

[Chas]

I know Andy is gonna freak on this one but some of the better wheel manufacturers such as Weld and Centerline do have wheels that have weight ratings approaching the 3,000 lb mark. Just be sure your offsets are correct and in my opinion you shouldn't have any problems. Alcoa is a definite source but they can be a bit pricey.

Chas

[Road Ruler]

Yes Chas, I have always thought that the original Centrelines or knockoffs would look great on an A/S. A match made in heaven you might say. I wonder if anyone has tried it.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Chas.
There are a number of aluminum wheel manufacturers that make excellent wheels for an Airstream trailer.

The two issues are as always, the weight rating and the offset.
I personaaly think they look great on any Airstream trailer.
The only seemingly unanswered question though, is why would someone spend $200.00 to $400.00, per wheel, and gripe about the cost of a gasket, which is $.70 per foot.

The wheels do nothing other that look good. The gasket prevents damage.

Go figure??????????????

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com
airstreamcandy.com

[Pahaska]

Parked next to my International at the storage yard is a rusty hulk of a Chevy panel truck that has to be 25 or 30 years old. The windows are gone and there is a ragged tarp tied over the body. I guess someone is plotting to restore it some day, but right now it looks like something that should be queued up for the crusher in a salvage yard. The only thing decent about it is a set of shiny aluminum wheels.

Yesterday, I suddenly noticed that they are the precisely the same aluminum wheels as are on my 2003 International. They would be totally identical except that mine are 14" and the Chevy has 15".

Makes me wonder why someone would put a nice set of wheels on an undriveable junker in a storage yard. If it is to be restored, the wheels would be totally out of place.

[Chas]

Andy, da wheelz makes it look good,

I wish I could get a set of double dueces under my OV, then I sure to be stylin'!! ( double deuces are 22 inch wheels for you gated community forum members) I saw the same thing at a buddy of mine's high end car stereo shop. There was this 90's Lincoln Townecar, mismatched tires, broken windshield, missing the grille and the owner had just dropped five hundred bucks on new amp!! He says he sees it all the time.

Chas

[Dave-O]

I know someone on this board who has American Racing Outlaw II's on his trailer (early 70's 30ish ft) 15x7, said they were a bit of a tight fit to get them on, but once on provided enough clearance.
These wheels are in the #2400-2450 range and can be had for around $80 including center hubs and lugs. these wheels look like the centerline's. I'm considering this as well to pair up with the new Marathons that are on the way.
What are the offsets supposed to be?

[59toaster]

I'm looking at doing this also on my 59. I had never seen this before but my A/S has 14.5 inch rims. They are replacements for the 2 peice that came on it.

I just want to make sure I get a rim with the right weight rating. couple of questions I have is what are the Good Year tires rated for air pressure? I know the rims on my chevy truck has the right lug pattern but the factory chevy rally rim used 69-91 is only rated 40PSI. So that is a second concern. The tires on my campers are rated 100psi.
I was looking at some ultra brand rims. About $80 each. They have a cover over the lugs and a nice smooth look to them. Thought those might look good and be a little retro looking with a hub cap. I need to check the weight ratings and pressure ratings.

Need to know back space that would be appropriate for a pre torsion axle camper (Mine has conventional leaf springs) and PSI of a current 15 inch trailer tire.

[JD1]

dave-o
Do you have a picture of the outlaw II's??

[uwe]

Outlaw II

[uwe]

Ah, good. The post worked.
I changed my wheels for several reasons. One of them being the looks, but that's not the only one. It does sorta feel nice to see the trailer with the cool wheels in the mirror when turning, corners, I have to admit.
The other reasons are that my old wheels were very rusty, and had pitted areas under the rim bead, allowing air to leak out. And they were ugly, even after spending 6 hours with a wirebrush and spray paint on them. The hub caps were also pittet, and they wanted BIG$$$ to rechrome them.
The aftermarket hub covers did not fit well, which I found out after buying 3 or 4 different sets and returned them all.
Next point is the weight of the original wheels. I understand that heavy duty wheels are going to be heavy - but the A/S originals weigh 27lbs, no tire, no hubcap, just the wheel alone. It seemed that the new tire/wheel assembly was a lot easier to handle, even though they drag slightly at the bodywork when getting them in and out of the wheelwells. Once installed, there is no clearance problems, not even with my tired axles.
The new wheels do hols air much better, I actually never did have to refill since I replaced them last fall.
I tried several different wheels and brands, but these ones looked best on the A/S, had the clostst to the ideal 2600lb rating, and seemed to fit very well.

[3Ms75Argosy]

Uwe,
Is the bolt pattern a 5x5? or 5x5.5? Any what is the width wheel that you got? Thanks! (Good to see you on the board again )
Marc

[59toaster]

UWE:
Do you know the back space? what the rim width is? What size tire are you running on them?

3Ms75Argosy:
I know on my trailer that it runs a 6 on 5.5 and I think they ran that size at least till 70 is my understanding.

[Dave-O]

59toaster,
The Goodyear Marathons max air pressure ratings are #50 & #65 for the C & D weight ratings respectively.
I'd also like to note that the load ratings for both classes is below the #2600 for the steel wheel. I mean if you are running a tire rated for 2100lb, whats the benefit of having a wheel rated for #2600 as opposed to #2400?

[Inland RV Center, In]

There is a one word answer for the 2600 wheels.

SAFETY

It's a matter of where you want to be with safety.
1. Over the edge.
2. On the edge.
3. Away from the edge.

Road impacts do nasty things to underrated wheels.

Go to our web site


Click on articles. Check out the article on junk yard wheels.

Wheels with no reserve can and do end up the same way.

Tires don't bend, they flex. The underrated steel wheel can bend, and then the fun begins.

Think of your family and the other innocent people that could be harmed. For the few extra bucks, it's not worth the gamble.

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com
airstreamcandy.com

[uwe]

The bolt pattern is a 6-hole (5.5 diagonal pattern), the wheel size is 15x7, the tire size is 7.00-15, load range C.
I do not know for sure what the offset is, but I believe we ordered a 0 or -3/4 offset, if I remember right. The Original wheels were a -3/4, if I remember right.
I dragged the A/S to my tire dealer in Orange, CA, Just Tires, ( Bill) and they special ordered these for me, with the promise to return them if they could not make a good and safe fit. They would have ordered other sizes and offsets for me until the fit was perfect, but they succeeded with the first try.
They also got the right lug nuts and center caps.
As far as towing and handling, there seems to be absolutely no difference.
A strange thing: The weight rating was stamped on the inside of the wheel. It said this: Load rating 2000lbs ( 2450.00lbs trailer)

[Road Ruler]

UWE, Did you mount the Outlaws on your 25'? Road ready my 23' would be not much more that 4,500 LBs. Even with the lower 2,000 LB rating of the wheels one would think there would be enough head room to be safe. Not sure, but these Outlaws sure do look good.

[59toaster]

Originally posted by Inland RV Center, In
There is a one word answer for the 2600 wheels.

SAFETY

It's a matter of where you want to be with safety.
1. Over the edge.
2. On the edge.
3. Away from the edge.

Road impacts do nasty things to underrated wheels.

Go to our web site


Click on articles. Check out the article on junk yard wheels.

Wheels with no reserve can and do end up the same way.

Tires don't bend, they flex. The underrated steel wheel can bend, and then the fun begins.

Think of your family and the other innocent people that could be harmed. For the few extra bucks, it's not worth the gamble.

Andy
inlandrv.com
airstreamparts.com
airstreamcandy.com

Please don't take offense to this but I'm not convinced that the failure of that rim was the rims fault as much as it was a installer fault. That rim appears to be a 60's Chevy truck wheel. Should have been rated about 2500lb. It's looks like the same rims that were on my 70 Suburban project.

What makes me wonder if this was more of an installation error is the fact that one of the lugs on that hub is bent over. This indicated loose lug nuts. That would allow the rim to wobble and be dragged sideways. Another indication is one hole on the rim is not and ripped free like the other 5. The hole is elongated by the rim wobbling. Old studs probably did't let the nuts spin free like new rust free studs but it did let them loosen. The three remaining studs are proably chewed up pretty good around the base as a result.

The other possibility is the holes had already been damaged and elongated from overtightening. I personnaly do not like seeing rims torqued with a impact wrench. A good impact wrench in a careless persons hands (aka read as 90% of the idiots at the tire stores) hands is the worst thing you can do to your rims. Snugging the rims up on a low setting with a impact is fine but the final torque should be with a torque wrench to the wheel studs proper torque rating and no more. Anybody that has ever had to jump on a lugh wrench to get the lugs off is a victim of over tightend lugs. The average adult male should have no problem exerting 120lb of torque on a standard 14 inch long lug wrench.

My other observation is stud failure is often cause by improper installation. Studs should NEVER be drawn in by the lug. The torque rating is about 80-110lb depending on the stud diameter. To draw a stud in requres a couple hundred lbft of torque. I know because I tested this theory after I went to 4 shops including a Midas brake, Pepboys, Good year and Firestone shops to have studs PRESSED in when I needed to replace rotors when I was servicing the brakes on my truck. All four places said they "didn't have presses or they were broken but they would be happy to take an impact wrench and draw them in." I walked when I heard this. I have a healthy impact and I had to set it on 4 to get the stud to seat. That's good for about 300lbft of torque in forward. That is the torque it requres to rotate the nut. The actuall pull on the stud would equate to several thousand pounds of force inlin to the stud. You do this and your overstressing the stud and creating hairline cracks and stress fractures.

To further explore my theory the drum appears much newer then I would think a 1969 drum would look. There is almost no rust. The wheel mating suface has just a hint of surface rust. That drum had recently been replaced and that means the studs were recently installed. Look at how rusty those studs are. There is no way they are the same age as the drum.

Also the bluing indicates that the rim was bent back and forth many times. This was not a "POW" it failed. This was a thing that gradually bacame worse as they traveled down the road. Had that wheel been on the tow vehicle they would have felt and heard it long before it got to the point of catastrophic failure like it was shown. The fact that it was somewhat isolated from the tow vehicle they simply did not know it was failing. I bet the fenderwell was pretty beat up as well.

Now in no way do I want to down play the importance of having the properly rated rims and tires. I applaude you for being so concerned with getting your customers the correct information and parts for their vehicles. You should always use a rim that is properly rated and if there is any doubt don't use it. I agree with you 100% on that.

I just don't agree it failed due to the weight rating of the rim. I think there was more human error to this. I do however feel it's a good idea to carefully inspect the rims and replace them if there is any doubt. I don't like those style rivited rims at all and feel they should be replaced. The age simply says there is an unknown factor to the condition of the rivits holding the centers to the outer rim. I have run accross those rims broken at the rivits in the junkyards before

[uwe]

I just took a look at Andy's junkyard wheel pic set. Wow - this wheel looks identical to the ones I took off my trailer, just went and checked. Same rivets, same vent slots, same clips, same everything. I am a bit puzzled now.

[Dave-O]

Is the load rating #2000 or #2450 in this application for the Outlaws? Thanks