What are the lamest factory wheels and lamest aftermarket wheels?

[Charles Cook]

I was expecting to see more green cars. He must be your uncle on your mother's side.

My dad purchased all of the green ones. Maybe that’s what happened to me. Lol.

 

[j-c-c-62]

I agree. Aluminum mags, even factory truck wheels, do not belong on trailers. Especially tandems. They were never designed for the forces exerted from the trailer during a tight turn. Aluminum will crack. Usually, the studs are too short to properly torque down also.

Well likely with millions of semi trailers on the road for many decades, how do you explain no significant reported alum wheel failures?

 

[RemCharger]

Interesting comparison of an apple to an orange.

 

[j-c-c-62]

Interesting comparison of an apple to an orange.

"Aluminum mags, even factory truck wheels, do not belong on trailers. Especially tandems. They were never designed for the forces exerted from the trailer during a tight turn. Aluminum will crack."
You mean because apples. oranges, and wheels are all round or is the color?

 

[RemCharger]

The conversation was about half ton truck wheels on a car trailer.

 

[torredcuda]

Pros and cons of both but aluminum are used in many applications and so I assume pass any standards/testing for those uses.
The great debate: aluminum vs. steel wheels.

 

[F4R/T]

What wheels suck: the ones with rubber band tires, they are mounted with huge hub spacers to mount the wheel and tire outside the body. Of course they have wheel well led lights to highlight their ignorance and intelligence as their ride eats it’s hub bearings . They sometimes raise the front end sky high and lower the tail end.. and call it the Carolina squat. The other ones are 99% of the wheels and hub caps from the 90s stink. I do agree the donk wheels are just ignorance other than the oil change doesn’t require a jack anymore.

 

[torredcuda]

Strong enough for airplanes - "Airplane wheels must be manufactured to withstand tremendous pressure and high heat from heavy braking. For this reason, the most common manufacturing methods for airplane wheels are casting and forging, since both result in incredibly strong wheels. Many aircraft wheels are made from aluminum alloy, but magnesium alloy is also a fairly common material choice."

 

[F4R/T]

DOT inspector told me he liked polished aluminum truck wheels, the dirt will make the crack stand out. I have mixed feelings on steel versus aluminum wheels on a truck.. but aluminum sure does look better... I do like the look of the old 5 spoke Dayton wheels but those are a pain!

 

[cosgig]

I already made my point if you read it.

Look back at my post that pictures my car. This was purchased from the original owner, who drove it as his daily driver. He was not interested in buying new rims, he was interested in driving it to work to make money and feed his family. Not all cars back then we’re bought as hot rods, although they actually were. Now, tell me this isn’t a factory built sleeper….no stripes, no hood treatment, not even the engine call out sticker that was supposed to be standard equipment on the hood. 383 callout in the hood bulge, whitewall tires and dog dish hubcaps. The original spare is still in the trunk, and even after a couple of tire changes, the original owner saw fit to keep the dog dish caps. He did paint the rims black tho, but the original color is coming through.

 

[torredcuda]

V code but 383 on rear of hood, something was changed?

 

[cosgig]

V code but 383 on rear of hood, something was changed?

I asked Jerry the original owner about that. He said he never changed a thing, he just drove it the way it came. He was too busy working and raising a family to bother with doing anything like that.

 

[torredcuda]

So a factory mistake?

 

[cosgig]

So a factory mistake?

Or possibly intentional. I’ve asked more than a few folks in the know, and they all state that the engine callout stickers were standard on the hood regardless of hood treatment, whether it was an air grabber or not. Other than the V code drivetrain, this car has no options at all.

 

[j-c-c-62]

This conversation was about half ton truck wheels on a car trailer.

This is the "conversation" I was replying to:
"Detective D said:
I agree. Aluminum mags, even factory truck wheels, do not belong on trailers. Especially tandems. They were never designed for the forces exerted from the trailer during a tight turn. Aluminum will crack. Usually, the studs are too short to properly torque down also."

Regardless, there are crappy wheels in the market that should not be on any road vehicle, but the fact remains, "cracked" alum wheels from trailer use is a rarity. and I shared an example of alum wheels in severe applications on trucks that handle multi use quite fine. Therefore, I disputed Detective D unsupported claim quoted above.

 

[torredcuda]

Or bad memory by the owner and he changed it, I`ve had numerous guys at shows tell me about the `69 Challenger 440 Hemi five speed that came that way from the factory or some similar story.

 

[torredcuda]

The conversation was about half ton truck wheels on a car trailer.

I know trailer tires are made for the specific loads and forces of a trailer but are there actually specific trailer wheels that are made to different specifications?

 

[68BabyBlue]

DOT inspector told me he liked polished aluminum truck wheels, the dirt will make the crack stand out. I have mixed feelings on steel versus aluminum wheels on a truck.. but aluminum sure does look better... I do like the look of the old 5 spoke Dayton wheels but those are a pain!

My 42 years of experience in the tanker business - aluminum would wear out, but steel would fail without prior notice. I ran Daytons all the way around when I started in the 70s. Advantage of being able to dismount a wheel on the road without an air wrench. Disadvantage was shifting on the hub, especially on the drive axles. I carried a 20 ton jack and full set of tire tools, and often ended up re-torquing a wheel while unloading.

 

[chargervert]

Or possibly intentional. I’ve asked more than a few folks in the know, and they all state that the engine callout stickers were standard on the hood regardless of hood treatment, whether it was an air grabber or not. Other than the V code drivetrain, this car has no options at all.

My 70 Road Runner was Hemi orange V code 440 six barrel, 4 speed ,dana,with the black hood stripe and N96 Air grabber hood. No doubt what it was. Those factory f 70 tires didn't stand a chance against a 440 Six barrel engine, so even if he pulled off the sleeper look,he was still losing spinning the skinny useless tires on ugly wheels he wasn't winning any races. Spinning ain't winning.

 

[cosgig]

My 70 Road Runner was Hemi orange V code 440 six barrel, 4 speed ,dana,with the black hood stripe and N96 Air grabber hood. No doubt what it was. Those factory f 70 tires didn't stand a chance against a 440 Six barrel engine, so even if he pulled off the sleeper look,he was still losing spinning the skinny useless tires on ugly wheels weren't winning any races.

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He wasn’t interested in winning any races. His story is typical…..fresh out of Vietnam, he wanted a Roadrunner but couldn’t afford it without help from his Dad. His first car, and first new car. He wanted a bench seat and a 383 with a 4 speed, and sat in every Roadrunner on the lot, but according to him “I just couldn’t get my *** in those damn bucket seats”. All the way in the back of the lot sat this car, he sat in it, grabbed the pistol grip and said “I’ll take it” to the salesman. The salesman told him it wasn’t what he thought it was and opened the hood, when he saw the 6bbl engine he yelled “where do I sign”? It had a trailer hitch on it when I got it and I asked him what that was on there. He told me he used to tow his buddies dragster to Milan on the weekends. I asked him if he ever ran the car and he said only once. He just couldn’t afford to have the car break down and he couldn’t get to work. He was the foreman at the Chevy spring plant about 5 miles from his house….”too far to walk” he said. He did however win his class and received this trophy. This was on the same street tires he drove on every day. He is a wonderful guy, and has an answer for every question I ask him. This is him, the car, and the trophy the day I took the car back after working on it for a year to get it back on the road. Incidentally, the car ran 13:07.

And, to quell your opinion of me and my love for dog dish, I’m considering buying a set of torq thrust rims for the car, because my Dad had those on his 70RR 6bbl convertible. And, my car and Dads both came through the same dealership, so there’s a kinship there.