Steel Wheels and Offroading

[The Fixer]

Hey all,
I really like the look of some of the aftermarket steel wheels, like an old school 8-hole wheel or Tactik has a 17x9 version of an OEM-style steel wheel. My Jeep is 95% street driven, with 2-3 trips a year wheeling in places like Rausch Creek or AOAA. I run Green trails with the occasional Blue. I don’t bounce or send it over obstacles because it’s my daily driver and I have to make the 3 hour trip back home with it.

So with that said, are steel wheels a safe and strong option or will they get wrecked on the rocks?

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[DarthAWM]

Steelies are perfectly fine, aluminum has mainly taken over due to aesthetics and weight concerns

 

[Flip]

I prefer steelies however, options these days seem somewhat limited as @DarthAWM mentioned.

I have some rock rash on my steelies but its nothing a rattle can of black paint can't fix.

 

[AZ Hella]

Steel wheels are better for bouncing off of rocks.

 

[JEEP4U]

Back in the day......... Steelies worked fine for the most part.......until I started rock crawling. The bead lip area will bend and get chewed up in a manner which makes the tire prone to pinching/cutting; when running lower tire pressures.

 

[NPC 20883467]

I will posit that all things being otherwise equal, steel wheels are superior for off-roading. They simply bend in situations where aluminum breaks.

 

[6.2Blazer]

Steel wheels will be fine. I've been fourwheeling for 30 years and back in the day most people would say steel wheels were better for wheelin' versus aluminum.

 

[Heimkehr]

are steel wheels a safe and strong option or will they get wrecked on the rocks?

Steel wheels were the standard for decades precisely because of the abuse that they were and are able to tolerate.

As the Wrangler gets ever more bloated and the tires ever more larger, though, the matter of unsprung weight gets considered more frequently. That, and the fact that, as mentioned above, the market is willing to spend the money on a certain look that is easily accommodated by the plethora of alloy wheel designs.

It's similar to the recurrent bleating about horsepower: it's always "More more more!", with nary a mention of putting the vehicle in question on a diet.

 

[Reinen]

Steel wheels are better for off-road for one simple reason. Both steel and aluminum can get damaged by rocks. With steel, it tends to bend. You can get a hammer and pound it back into shape on the trail. With aluminum, it tends to crack and chip. A trail fix (or even a shop fix) is very unlikely.

 

[The Fixer]

Thanks for all the responses!! Looks like a set of steelies are in my Jeep's future. My son scooped up some takeoff Goodyear 35's at his job for me so I just need to pull the trigger on a set of wheels.

 

[2nd 392]

Steel wheels were the standard for decades precisely because of the abuse that they were and are able to tolerate.

As the Wrangler gets ever more bloated and the tires ever more larger, though, the matter of unsprung weight gets considered more frequently. That, and the fact that, as mentioned above, the market is willing to spend the money on a certain look that is easily accommodated by the plethora of alloy wheel designs.

It's similar to the recurrent bleating about horsepower: it's always "More more more!", with nary a mention of putting the vehicle in question on a diet.

Weight weenies exist, especially unsprung, “Less less less !” My 8.5” wheels and 35/12.50’s combo is 80 lbs, 2 lbs lighter than the stock 7.5’s and 285/70 KO2’s but I did install a ported TB and intake manifold today for some more power, exhaust already done, headers when and if CARB approved (not Currently approved), and a tune after the warranty expires.
“More more more !!!”

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