All Entries Tagged With: "wheels"

After-Market Truck Wheels – Materials and Methods Explained

When choosing a wheel for your truck, sometimes the number of different options can seem overwhelming. Not only are there many different designs and brands to choose from, but the way the wheels are manufactured, and the material used, are important as well. This article deals with common materials and manufacturing methods – we’ll have something on wheel finishes a little later.

Here’s a break-down of common wheel materials and manufacturing methods:

Steel wheels are great for trucks because they're cheap and strong.

Steel wheels are the most basic and inexpensive type of rims available. Steel wheels are usually stamped out by a press in two different pieces and then welded together. This makes them easy to repair, which isn’t usually a major concern because steel is a very strong material. Of course, steel is also very heavy. The large un-sprung weight of steel wheels can have a significant negative impact on suspension performance, not to mention acceleration and fuel mileage.