I guess I've been lucky. Three of the four Jeeps that I have owned drove at sixty five MPH with no problem. I've bent them off road and bent it back and put air in them. I just can't afford other wheels and steel was on them when I bought them. Not everybody on this site can throw thousands at their hobby. Maybe next year.
Who has steelies? (pics and discussion)
- Thread starter matkal
- Start date
I've done both. I was real disappointed with powder coating, rust within 5 years, then what. I've been painting for the last 30 years and this is my favourite product.
You cannot beat the price and recoat as often as you need too. The paint on that rim was 6 years old.
Another rim painted silver with RustCoat, the rim is an '87, 33 years old. With paint you can make 5 old steel rims look new in an hour for $15. I paint mine everytime I buy new tires. No masking required.
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Well if you restoring anything Mopar with a Hemi it needs original Mopar steelies. And when done with an over the top restoration, it'll sell for 6 figures, the odd time 7 figures so yeah ORIGINAL Mopar, Nocar steelies are kinda priceless.
I switched from aluminum to steelies 15 years ago and that experiment only lasted maybe a year or so. My trails are mostly rocks and I couldn't keep the steel l wheels straight enough to hold air. Constant dents and bends, often bad enough they wouldn't keep the tires sealed well enough. More than a few times it took a BFH and an extension, big screwdriver etc to pound a dent out so the tire could hold air.
If your trails aren't rocky odds are it wouldn't be an issue but they are I'd avoid steel wheels.
This is my previous TJ on steel wheels, never again. Went back to aluminum and never looked back. ☹
If your trails aren't rocky odds are it wouldn't be an issue but they are I'd avoid steel wheels.
This is my previous TJ on steel wheels, never again. Went back to aluminum and never looked back. ☹
50 cars later, I never buy cheap Princess Auto rims but with OEM steel rims, I've never had trouble balancing a rim. And out of round, bent is as simple to check as rolling it across a garage floor. So no, in 40 years, never had a problem. I have 9, factory Jeep dimpled steel 5 spoke rims, all 33 years old, they balance like new.
At my favourite hang out, the local tire shop you often see guys coming in with the cheapest steelie they could find to get new tires mounted. The tire guys wont even look at them unless the bill is prepaid.
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Even when I had my 2004 Rubicon I never came across rocks like you get in Cal. Lots of mud here. There may be other Tennessee Jeeps that knows rocks like you go over.
This ^^^ you won't find a race car running steelies unless the rules require it. Alloys will outperform steelies... if you need that performance.
Having spent the money a few years ago to have a set of rims powder coated, only to discover afterward that one was bent, I now have my new rims spun on a tire machine prior to powder coating. That way, if one or more is too wonky, I can return it/them, and get replacements. The five I ordered for my TJ were fine, and I had 'em powder coated. After having the tires mounted and balanced, the one requiring the most weight will be my spare.
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OK sounds like the bad reviews I've gotten off people are from getting cheap/inferior wheels.
And sounds the OEM steels are about as durable as you can hope for.
derekmac
TJ Addict
OP
OP
Thank you for confirming my thinking on paint vs powder coat\. Idon't think we can get that paint in the states, I imagine Rust oleum is our equivalent.
derekmac
TJ Addict
I have Steelies but they not anywhere near stock or the norm. StazWorks Dual beadlocks that you can order in 15 or 16 or 17 or 18 or 20 or 22" sizes. Pick your width and he'll make them for you. But I'll worn you that they AIN'T lite. You also won't BEND these on the rocks, well yes you might but not enough to loose air.
You can read more about them in my thread I started on them.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/stazworks-dual-beadlock-wheels.35325/
You can read more about them in my thread I started on them.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/stazworks-dual-beadlock-wheels.35325/
OP
No
If you look at the pictures you can see that it is a rim that is split in the middle and the two sides bolt together. And then you have to run the insert in your tire to make the two beads clamp the tire in between. This is what makes them a dual beadlock.
The thing to remember if you are going to run steel rims in the rocks is that you have to have some type of bead protection on your rims. There are TONS of options out there to do this. You can run rolled rebar if you want or rock rings or other options but you have to protect that bead. Here's my old rims after 1 day of playing in Moab.
When I bought it, the TJ came with Pro-Comp steelies 15x8 and I like them. Will take the center cap off and either ditch it, or paint it black.
