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Aftermarket steel wheels.
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:43 pm
by Dane
I am currently trying to source some decent aftermarket steel wheels for my HZJ75 Cruiser. I ordered some wheels from Speedy (Sunraysia style) and they were rubbish. Heaps of runout, some so bad that you could feel the car hopping up and down as you drove along. Also, the centre disc was not punched concentrically so the triangles snaked in and out from the centre as they rotated. Out of twelve wheels they ordered in for me, only one was what I considered to be any good.
Today I spent $120 a wheel on another brand of Sunraysia type wheels (which I had originally been told were ROH Trak 2, but are not) only to have a similar runout problem, although to a lesser extent.
I am a fitter and turner by trade so I am pretty fussy and have a good eye for these sorts of things. Am I expecting too much? These wheels are manufactured by rolling a piece of steel and welding the ends together to make a circle, rather than machining, so I don't expect them to be perfect but they look crap to me.
My vehicle is not a show pony and gets worked pretty hard. I am considering spending a lot more money than I want to, for mags, just so I can have a round wheel.
I am only running 235/85 - 16 AT's and went from the splitties to single piece tubeless rims to improve the wheel balance and ride.
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:50 pm
by Dirty
Try the Procomp Series-51 steel wheels. The 8 i got are all perfect.
- David.
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:50 pm
by dogbreath_48
I've always been a fan of Dynamic rims. Never cared enough to check runout but quality otherwise is 10x better in my opinion. I did have one out of five come in with some messy welds - it was replaced no questions asked.
Not sure where you'd get them up your way, the importer is in vic.
http://www.simex4x4.com/html/s01_home/home.asp?dsb=13
Mightn't be up to your standards but worth a look.
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:07 pm
by Dane
Thanks for the feedback guys. Neither of those brands of wheels have suppliers up this end of the state. I really want to go through a local supplier because if I have similar problems I can deal with it locally instead of over the phone and via freight.
I ran up some 80 series GXL rims for comparison and they were worlds apart. I was flat out picking the butt weld on the Toyota rims and run out was negligable. I had to convince myself that they weren't quite perfect as opposed to the aftermarket ones.
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:34 pm
by ozdave
I recently bought a set of 4 ROH trak 2 16x7 rims for my HZJ75. They were about $100 each. ( I was originally quoted $140 each). I have BFG LT235/85R16's on them. I'm very fussy about tolerances too and these ROH's are very good for runout. During my research before buying rims, I was told to stay away from speedy rims because of the problems you stated. I don't know about the other brands but ROH got good reports from everyone, and they are powder coated, not painted.
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:04 pm
by roi
there is a substantial price difference between speedy/csa and ROH.
Whislt the ROH used to be made in australia, they could charge a little more.
NOt only that, the quality of a ROH trak11 is a lot better- it's a thicker steel in the wheel.
get alloys dude, they are cheap as chips these days.
otherwise, if you ae going to give them a hard time, who cares if the face of the wheel doesn't line up perfectly, as long as the circumferance hasn't got excessive runout.
if you are a fitter and turner, how out of the way is it to build your own?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:20 pm
by SIM79
You can get Procomp rims through TJM and Quick Fit in Townsville. I know 3 members up here running Procomp steel rims and they all rate them and I am getting a set when I order my creepys.
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:25 pm
by Dane
Thanks for the feedback guys
ozdave - Cheers mate, I am planning on checking out some ROH's tomorrow. Won't be as cheap as you got them but hopefully they should be round.
roi - not much choice in alloys in 16x7 but I am going to get some prices on them. I have a mate in Vic that builds his own wheels. He buys the rims ands makes his discs then fabs them. It would be easier and cheaper for me to buy decent wheels, sorting the hay from the chaff is a pain atm.
SIM79 - Thanks mate, I will get some prices from them tomorrow.
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:50 am
by Dane
Just got off the phone with Pro Comp and they are concerned that their wheels may not fit due to contact between the brake caliper and the wheel disc (not brake disc). Does anyone have Rockcrawler series 52 or 97 wheels fitted to their HZJ75 who can confirm or deny this? They will fit with a 6mm wheel spacer "for off road use only" but I don't want to go down that path.
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:33 pm
by coxy321
The last 4 sets i have bought have been Kings Wheels:
http://www.kingwheels.com.au/kingwheels ... page=steel
The first set i bought a long time ago were ROH 15x8 Sunnies, as this is what my old MK at the time had fitted (they were 15 years old and still looked really good). The first time i fitted them paint flaked off the rim near the nut chamfers. I had those replaced under warranty, only to have the same happen to my second set - except big flakes this time.
Out of all the King wheels i've bought, i havent had a single drama. They've all been a true round, easily balanced, no issues with flaking/chipping, and come in a variety of sizes, colours and offsets. The black/white rims have that nice red pinstriping on them too.
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:53 pm
by Dane
Had a look at the Dynamic wheels today and the example I saw ran very true. I have ordered a set for my vehicle and will be inspecting them closely before purchase. They seem to be painted rather than powdercoated and cost $120 each up here. Heard a number of reports that ROH are no better than most of the cheaper ones and will be a three week wait. A local dealer said he ordered three pallets of ROH Trak 2 and inspected each one, and sent the lot back. They only sell alloy rims these days for this reason.
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:41 am
by taps
Unfortunately, most steel wheels are mass produced junk. Hence there price
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:04 am
by Dane
Seems to be pretty accurate taps.
Dynamic wheels are powdercoated in black or white and painted in Silver.
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:41 pm
by bazuka
procomp alloy wheels are some of th the best out there or try the extream rock crawler range ither way you will end up with some quality wheels that i am shure you will be happy with
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:48 pm
by dogbreath_48
Dane wrote:Had a look at the Dynamic wheels today and the example I saw ran very true. I have ordered a set for my vehicle and will be inspecting them closely before purchase. They seem to be painted rather than powdercoated and cost $120 each up here. Heard a number of reports that ROH are no better than most of the cheaper ones and will be a three week wait. A local dealer said he ordered three pallets of ROH Trak 2 and inspected each one, and sent the lot back. They only sell alloy rims these days for this reason.
Will be interested to see how your set goes. In victoria (around the corner from the importer warehouse AFAIK) I payed about the same for 16x8 and 15x10 dynamics in black so you're not getting ripped. The powercoat finish shits all over that of ROH rims.
-Stu

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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:46 pm
by Wilba
Dane, I`m running the procomp extreme rock crawler series with weld on mec beadlocks on my race ute and have found them fine. I have used other cheaper steel rims and had trouble with failure of the bolt up plate and bead strenth.Not sure on off set for your drum axle though these seem to be fairly narrow.Some of the comp trucks are running rims made by "fourbys" and they seem to be strong as hell. Mabey you could order to spec?
Wilba....
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:07 pm
by Jeeps
coxy321 wrote:The last 4 sets i have bought have been Kings Wheels:
http://www.kingwheels.com.au/kingwheels ... page=steel
The first set i bought a long time ago were ROH 15x8 Sunnies, as this is what my old MK at the time had fitted (they were 15 years old and still looked really good). The first time i fitted them paint flaked off the rim near the nut chamfers. I had those replaced under warranty, only to have the same happen to my second set - except big flakes this time.
Out of all the King wheels i've bought, i havent had a single drama. They've all been a true round, easily balanced, no issues with flaking/chipping, and come in a variety of sizes, colours and offsets. The black/white rims have that nice red pinstriping on them too.
I recently bought a set of black powder coated king steel wheels from Bob Jane for $84ea, couldn't pass them up at that price

Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:40 pm
by Yom
whatever steel rims ryano from fourbies sold me, well, they're coping fine.
paint is getting scratched off but mud and rocks (and even brake calipers falling off) - but its not flaking. im happy with them even if they do look boring.
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:29 pm
by Dane
Cheers guys. I picked up my Dynamics today and was happy with all but one of them. The one I rejected was better than any of the other makes previously listed. They ran true, were neatly made and nicely painted (I got silver). Thanks for everyone's input.
I also looked at Infinity wheels during my searches but the one I saw was quite out of round. The supplier said it was normal, and only reccommended them for trailers.