WHY ARE MY STEEL WHEELS ALWAYS RUNNING OUT?

I read your blog on ‘STEEL WHEELS VS. ALLOY WHEELS FOR OFF-ROAD USE’ and I have to agree that steel wheels bend much easier than alloys, and are definitely harder to balance. It feels like I’m constantly rebalancing my Land Cruiser’s steel wheels after a long off-road trip. Unless there’s something else that’s making the rims run out?

ANSWER:

There are a number of things that could be affecting your Cruiser’s wheel balancing. The most common of which is wheel quality.

NOT ALL STEEL WHEELS ARE EQUAL

Just like your Land Cruiser is built to a different standard to many other vehicles on the market, so too are wheels. Sadly, many budget steel wheels are made from inferior steel quality, and/or a reduction in material quantity. As a result, these wheels are far more likely to bend and buckle when exposed to tough off-road terrain. 

Of course, it’s often hard to gauge these differences by simply looking at the wheels, however, as a general rule: You should never fit a steel wheel if it doesn’t clearly state its official load rating. Typically speaking, this number is stamped on the wheel itself. 

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RUN OUT

Manufacturing standards and tolerances greatly vary between steel-wheel brands. It’s important that the ‘run out’ of the wheel’s barrel does not exceed tolerance specifications. This isn’t always the case with cheaper rims.

CENTRE BORE

It’s not uncommon to find that many budget wheels are manufactured with an oversized centre-bore diameter. They do this to save costs by designing a generic wheel that will fit a wide range of vehicles. The problem with this feature is that the wheel often locates on the bolts / lugs, instead of on the rim’s hub ring which serves to centralise the rim on the drive shaft.

We hope this helps.

Regards,

TyreLife Solutions

Get an instant online quote on high-quality steel wheels from Australia