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Old 04-02-2023, 03:21 PM   #1
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Used aluminum or steel rims?

I am thinking I’ll need to replace my rear steel dual rims sooner than I had hoped. I replaced the tires in 2021 but the rims are pretty rusty now and they look like they’ve been repainted a few times before. Hoping to avoid the full expense of brand new rims when I’m sure there’s all sorts of take offs from big rigs around somewhere.

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Old 04-02-2023, 05:03 PM   #2
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Factor into your decision matrix the length of the studs. Aluminum wheels are thicker and it's common that a change to aluminum wheels means replacing the studs with longer ones. They do look nice, though!
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Old 04-02-2023, 05:58 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by rossvtaylor View Post
Factor into your decision matrix the length of the studs. Aluminum wheels are thicker and it's common that a change to aluminum wheels means replacing the studs with longer ones. They do look nice, though!
Yeah I have since realized that which kind of breaks the whole “cheap” part of this swap.
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Old 04-03-2023, 08:57 AM   #4
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I put aluminum. Wheels on my bus. You’re gonna have to replace the studs for longer ones!
Replacing the studs is not that difficult but it does require a bit of labor.
The cost of wheels will vary greatly but don’t be afraid of buying the ugliest wheels you can find. You can get those fairly cheap as compared to really shiny clean ones.

Aluminum wheels clean up real nice if you put the labor into it.
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Old 04-03-2023, 10:18 AM   #5
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unless you have access to dynacheck or magaflux and are familiar on how to use them i would stay away from used. all aluminium wheels have a date code (something that is present on things that age poorly) for a reason. when i was a mechanic we would not install any that were over 10 years old without a crack test. about half of them had really small fracture cracks that were not visible to a eye. be sure you check any you want to buy first and if they wont let you better pass it up
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Old 04-03-2023, 10:42 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by mmoore6856 View Post
unless you have access to dynacheck or magaflux and are familiar on how to use them i would stay away from used. all aluminium wheels have a date code (something that is present on things that age poorly) for a reason. when i was a mechanic we would not install any that were over 10 years old without a crack test. about half of them had really small fracture cracks that were not visible to a eye. be sure you check any you want to buy first and if they wont let you better pass it up
Very good point, I had kind of assumed aluminum rims would last forever because they don’t rust, but I suppose they could crack. Maybe I’ll just stick with Steelies and try to keep them covered. It seems that the issue around here is the water accumulation in the wheel causes rust.
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Old 04-03-2023, 11:55 AM   #7
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Checking the wheels for cracks is a smart thing to do.
Any idea on what the cost $$$ would be?

You could use that point when negotiating $$$ price for wheels.

In my paintball days i used to hydro test my air tanks every 18 months, religiously!

If your gonna keep the steelie’s maybe sandblasting and powdercoating might work out then ?
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