Steel vs Aluminum Swap

Travis05Rubi · Saturday at 8:31 PM

I have Smittybilt front flat fenders and rear full armor. If I change to aluminum will the benefits outweigh the cost? I'd also look for aluminum sliders to replace my steel ones that I cant identify.

A little more pep, a little less sprung weight to rock back and forth. Thats all im looking to get.

I have a 42rle, will be moving from 4.88 to 5.38 and going to 37's from 35's over winter.

macleanflood · Sunday at 6:33 AM

My Jeep is a chunky 4400 lbs. I'm trying to stick to the Lotus motto of add lightness. And like you adding aluminum as I can afford it.

I'd caution against larger tires than 35s on Dana 30/35/44s.

-Mac

tnjeepguy · Sunday at 6:48 AM

macleanflood said:
I'd caution against larger tires

Travis = Ninja No problemo, possiblyo.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-would-it-take-to-run-37-inch-tires.30523/

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/upgrade-to-37s-or-35s.31744/

hear · Sunday at 7:56 AM

macleanflood said:
the Lotus motto of add lightness.

LOTUS = Leave Out The Unnecessary Stuff

I drove an Elise for a while. I was a little surprised they bothered with a passenger seat & the door hardware on that side, in the interest of saving weight.

Travis05Rubi · Sunday at 8:42 AM

macleanflood said:
My Jeep is a chunky 4400 lbs. I'm trying to stick to the Lotus motto of add lightness. And like you adding aluminum as I can afford it.

I'd caution against larger tires than 35s on Dana 30/35/44s.

-Mac

One of these days I'll go weigh in at the feed store and get a number.

I'm comfortable with the 37's. Have chromo shafts. Steering, ball joints, brakes were on my radar already.

NashvilleTJ · Sunday at 8:43 AM

macleanflood said:
My Jeep is a chunky 4400 lbs. ...

jjvw · Sunday at 9:10 AM

Travis05Rubi said:
I have Smittybilt front flat fenders and rear full armor. If I change to aluminum will the benefits outweigh the cost?
...
A little more pep, a little less sprung weight to rock back and forth. Thats all im looking to get.
...

If you care enough about some subtleties of performance, then keeping the weight down will be worth the cost.

Travis05Rubi said:
...I'd also look for aluminum sliders to replace my steel ones that I cant identify.
...

The best you can and should do would be aluminum rockers with a steel slider skin. An aluminum slider is not going to survive long with actual use in the rocks in part because of the point load on the edges.

Flux Off Road and Savvy are good examples. Otherwise, keep the steel and consider something like the GenRight miniboatside.

Travis05Rubi said:
...
I have a 42rle, will be moving from 4.88 to 5.38 and going to 37's from 35's over winter.

You will justify 37s on too narrow of axles and too little wheelbase regardless of all the good reasons why this is contrary to caring about performance.

Travis05Rubi · Sunday at 9:50 AM

jjvw said:
If you care enough about some subtleties of performance, then keeping the weight down will be worth the cost.

The best you can and should do would be aluminum rockers with a steel slider skin. An aluminum slider is not going to survive long with actual use in the rocks in part because of the point load on the edges.

Flux Off Road and Savvy are good examples. Otherwise, keep the steel and consider something like the GenRight miniboatside.

You will justify 37s on too narrow of axles and too little wheelbase regardless of all the good reasons why this is contrary to caring about performance.

I knew I shouldn't have put the tire size increase out there because the opinions are polarized. Just thought it relevant because the weight increase factor is considered in the motivation to move to aluminum .

I had the same thoughts about sliders, ill likely keep what I have. Savvy is probably out of my budget comfort. I hadn't heard of Flux OR but will put them on my list now, thanks for suggestion!

jjvw · Sunday at 9:57 AM

Travis05Rubi said:
I knew I shouldn't have put the tire size increase out there because the opinions are polarized. Just thought it relevant because the weight increase factor is considered in the motivation to move to aluminum .
...

It's less about opinion and more about having a grasp of how things work. 37s on factory width axles and not enough wheelbase might be of no consequence to you. You might not stretch the ball joint yokes. All for the same reason fully aluminum sliders might survive perfectly fine for your purposes. All that points right back to this effort not really being much about performance.

The4bangertj · Sunday at 10:08 AM

Depends on how much you value cost and preformance. I have all flux aluminum armor (bumpers and sliders have the stainless steel outer) and I wouldn’t do it any other way. I also don’t plan on selling this jeep so the investment now matters to me. I’m also a 4cyl so the weight has a larger effect on its drivability than others with a 4.0. I’ve had steel items and they have been swapped for aluminum. I can feel the difference between just a bumper swap. Some feel the weight in the wallet more.

jjvw · Sunday at 10:18 AM

The4bangertj said:
Depends on how much you value cost and preformance. I have all flux aluminum armor (bumpers and sliders have the stainless steel outer) and I wouldn’t do it any other way. I also don’t plan on selling this jeep so the investment now matters to me. I’m also a 4cyl so the weight has a larger effect on its drivability than others with a 4.0. I’ve had steel items and they have been swapped for aluminum. I can feel the difference between just a bumper swap. Some feel the weight in the wallet more.

Years ago, I removed over 100lbs of bumper and tire carrier. It was noticable for the better on the very first drive. Not long ago, I was forced to move the spare tire from the rear gate forward into the bed. That shift in weight was also noticable for the better.

Every little bit of improvement adds up.

The4bangertj · Sunday at 10:34 AM

jjvw said:
Years ago, I removed over 100lbs of bumper and tire carrier. It was noticable for the better on the very first drive. Not long ago, I was forced to move the spare tire from the rear gate forward into the bed. That shift in weight was also noticable for the better.

Every little bit of improvement adds up.

That’s a good point. The idea of saving weight is a whole system idea. It’s saving weight everywhere since a single components normally don’t make or break it. Like flux sliders. It’s an aluminum backer with a stainless outer edge. The weight savings is very very small. I didn’t even notice the difference of weight from a full steel slider to the flux. (There are other advantages that still make it worth the swap though)
People concerned about weight pick things like Aluminum or better material where you can, designs so not to have excess size and weight, placement of gear, etc. One bumper swap when everything else is steel probably won’t matter to most. But going from all steel armor, tire hanging off the back, overly large bumpers, extra gear you really don’t need like rtt, gas cans, shovels hanging off it, compared to a rig with all conscious designed aluminum where he can, spare in the tub, no junk hanging off it. That will be a very noticeable difference I think anyone will see.
If it’s a concern do the largest weight savings things first and work down the list till you find it’s not worth the cost.

Travis05Rubi · Sunday at 10:52 AM

jjvw said:
It's less about opinion and more about having a grasp of how things work. 37s on factory width axles and not enough wheelbase might be of no consequence to you. You might not stretch the ball joint yokes. All for the same reason fully aluminum sliders might survive perfectly fine for your purposes. All that points right back to this effort not really being much about performance.

Again, let's not focus on tire size. There are plenty of threads with rioters on both sides.

Travis05Rubi · Sunday at 10:56 AM

jjvw said:
Years ago, I removed over 100lbs of bumper and tire carrier. It was noticable for the better on the very first drive. Not long ago, I was forced to move the spare tire from the rear gate forward into the bed. That shift in weight was also noticable for the better.

Every little bit of improvement adds up.

This is just what I'm talking about. I literally feel the difference in drive just when I take the hard top off. Going from steel to aluminum can only be of benefit. Thanks for the verification!

Travis05Rubi · Sunday at 10:58 AM

The4bangertj said:
That’s a good point. The idea of saving weight is a whole system idea. It’s saving weight everywhere since a single components normally don’t make or break it. Like flux sliders. It’s an aluminum backer with a stainless outer edge. The weight savings is very very small. I didn’t even notice the difference of weight from a full steel slider to the flux. (There are other advantages that still make it worth the swap though)
People concerned about weight pick things like Aluminum or better material where you can, designs so not to have excess size and weight, placement of gear, etc. One bumper swap when everything else is steel probably won’t matter to most. But going from all steel armor, tire hanging off the back, overly large bumpers, extra gear you really don’t need like rtt, gas cans, shovels hanging off it, compared to a rig with all conscious designed aluminum where he can, spare in the tub, no junk hanging off it. That will be a very noticeable difference I think anyone will see.
If it’s a concern do the largest weight savings things first and work down the list till you find it’s not worth the cost.

One day I'd like to change out my Rockhard rear bumper, rack, and tire carrier for the Genright aluminum setup.

NDSpeed · Sunday at 11:06 AM

https://fluxoffroad.com/products/flux-offroad-tj-lj-aluminum-rear-valance-panel-no-light-cutouts

i’ve seen his mock ups for the front end. already have the front bumper. keeping my steel LoD rear bumper for the cooler rack. i don’t carry a spare anymore. and also in the group of needing to go to the feed store to get a current weight

jjvw · Sunday at 11:13 AM

Travis05Rubi said:
Again, let's not focus on tire size. There are plenty of threads with rioters on both sides.

You brought it up in a thread about performance. You made it fair game.

NDSpeed · Sunday at 12:18 PM

jjvw said:
You brought it up in a thread about performance. You made it fair game.

so which kinds of performance, street wise, 28” tires would give you the best launch at the red lights.

i’m just trying to keep mine light and nimble

jjvw · Sunday at 12:24 PM

NDSpeed said:
so which kinds of performance, street wise, 28” tires would give you the best launch at the red lights.

i’m just trying to keep mine light and nimble

There is no benefit to unnecessary weight

Travis05Rubi · Sunday at 1:40 PM

NDSpeed said:
so which kinds of performance, street wise, 28” tires would give you the best launch at the red lights.

i’m just trying to keep mine light and nimble

At work the plant ops guys put undersized tires on their golf carts. They look silly but maintenance response times are way down.

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