Wheel Question

[The Dude Abides]

It has been discussed on which is better for offroad. Aluminum vs Steel. The question i have is now that im running 27inch tires with steel peugeot the car feels way heavy. I was curous as to the people who have run both aluminum and steel peugeot wheels have noticed a difference between the 2. I have both a steel and aluminum setup and i was wondering for driveability sake if i should switch over to the aluminum setup for a lighter feel or keep with the rugged steel. I know steel is toughter then aluminum but if i keep at this rate this clutch isnt going to last more then a few years.

[NoahDL88]

Its not your wheels, its the tires, a full size super swamper weighs a good 25-30 pounds, where as the wheel weighs probably around 15 for the alloy and 20 for the steel. Honestly the only way you can use the big tires and keep clutch life is to have a separate set of wheels for the street that are stock sized.

[3eyedwagon]

He's right. The wheels aren't the problem. You've gone from a very small 23ish" street tire to a 27.5" 6 ply light truck tire. The weight being felt is all in the tire. Moving weight away from the center rotation of the hub increases the effect exponentially.

 

As far as durability; I'd almost be willing to bet that the puegot aluminums are every bit as durable as the puegot steelies. Those puegot steelies are garbage in the sense of offroading. They are very light weight crappy steel. They were made to haul a French car around on highways, so they don't hold up worth a crap to beating around on trails. I have a few of the steelies, and they are ALL bent. They are just crappy wheels.

 

That's another reason alot of the guys that wheel alot use 6 lug wheels. They are plentiful, and made to handle a light truck. I haven't seen alot of 6 lug rims get bent, especially in comparison to the steel puegots.

[mudduck]

Steel, because if you mangle a wheel on a rock, you can always pound the steel out enough to get you home.