Steel vs. Alloy for Winter Use?

[Kestas]

I've had corrosion problems at the bead seating surface with both steel and aluminum rims.

Steel rims are getting harder to find, so that may explain why cost is nearly the same as aluminum rims.

Curb crach testing at work reveals some aluminum rims can be stronger than steel rims. It's really on a case-by-case basis.

 

[supton]

At the same price I'd wonder just what got skimped on for the alloy rim to get that cheap. That alone might drive me to steelies.

I haven't balanced tires just yet, but I'd think clip-on weights would be easier to reuse. And, not sure I'd cry if I scratched up a steelie, ever, even if it cost more than an alloy.

Plus I tend to think black steelies with stupid aggressive snow tires is the proper look in winter. All the more when on some otherwise mundane FWD car.

Will say it's a bit easier to see what the rotors look like through alloys. Which can be a bad thing, if you don't like the looks of chewed up rotors.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: Traction
Originally Posted By: badtlc
This can't be serious. Snow tires in KC? It is too warm for snow tires in KC. You'd have to take the wheels off every weekend.

After last winter I would want them in Atlanta.


Why? When road temps are above 45F, you are just tearing up those tires. Even in KC, we hardly go a week in the winter without temps jumping above 45F.

My experience is that winter tires aren't that sensitive to temperature. I've run them all summer a few times now and the wear isn't that bad. I'm sure you could kill them quickly on a track day, but for average driving, they did fine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

One of my Focus' winter tires (from a 2004) had a bead leak that had to be cleaned up. Two of the towncar alloys (2000 towncar) have bad leaks on my cherokee (cleaning those up this weekend).

I can think of 4 or 5 friends of mine who have cars < 10 years old that have bead leaks on alloy wheels.

Check out my topic for "I think my tire is flat" - both of his tires were from bead leaks on the alloy wheel.

 

[Traction]

With aluminum wheels, a bigger problem is too many hurry up tire shops not taking the time to clean the bead seats. No sealer needed with clean bead seats. Instead, they spend more time slopping bead sealer all over the wheel and tire. Keeps it sealed good for a few months, then when you have to fix it again you have a even bigger mess to clean up. Believe or not, NITROGEN makes a big difference too! Keeping the wheels clean as possible in the winter helps but, hard to keep the backside clean, which is where they usually are corroded the worst.

 

[sciphi]

I'd go alloy. Did it for both cars for looks reasons. No problems after 3 years. The aftermarket alloys on the Cruze look very much like OEM, which I happen to like.

 

[kkreit01]

Just an FYI, the alloys are the same price, because they have $100 in rebates vs. $0 for the steel wheels. There seems to be several opinions towards both.

I'm not even discussing the reason behind wanting them. We've gotten dumped on 1'+ storms for the past few years. My lousy, OE 18" low profile Eagle LS2 tires will not do well. The cost of the winter set is about the cost to replace 1 OE 18" wheel. I drive early in AM, and haul kids to school (25 min ride). The car is also quite low to the ground. To each their own, but coming from 4x4 & AWD, I want a winter set.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: badtlc

Why? When road temps are above 45F, you are just tearing up those tires. Even in KC, we hardly go a week in the winter without temps jumping above 45F.



It's not the ambient temperature, it's the road temperature. Winter tires grip better than all-seasons on cold pavement.

 

[Rand]

yokohama IG51v's are 150$ rebate currently

I'd probably get halfway decent alloys even if it cost an extra 50-80$ over the unique steelies. They are usually made to fit a vast amount of tires and are lug centric instead of hub centric.

Its also not possible to use hub centric rings? adapters?
that make them fit your hubs due to their design.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
Just an FYI, the alloys are the same price, because they have $100 in rebates vs. $0 for the steel wheels. There seems to be several opinions towards both.

I'm not even discussing the reason behind wanting them. We've gotten dumped on 1'+ storms for the past few years. My lousy, OE 18" low profile Eagle LS2 tires will not do well. The cost of the winter set is about the cost to replace 1 OE 18" wheel. I drive early in AM, and haul kids to school (25 min ride). The car is also quite low to the ground. To each their own, but coming from 4x4 & AWD, I want a winter set.


if it is for a car, i can see some reasoning. My 2WD Escape handled the 12"+ snows just fine with run of the mill H/T tires. Had no problems. If it gets icy, I just stay home.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: badtlc

Why? When road temps are above 45F, you are just tearing up those tires. Even in KC, we hardly go a week in the winter without temps jumping above 45F.



It's not the ambient temperature, it's the road temperature. Winter tires grip better than all-seasons on cold pavement.


Yeah, hence my use of "road temps."

 

[Traction]

Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
Just an FYI, the alloys are the same price, because they have $100 in rebates vs. $0 for the steel wheels. There seems to be several opinions towards both.

I'm not even discussing the reason behind wanting them. We've gotten dumped on 1'+ storms for the past few years. My lousy, OE 18" low profile Eagle LS2 tires will not do well. The cost of the winter set is about the cost to replace 1 OE 18" wheel. I drive early in AM, and haul kids to school (25 min ride). The car is also quite low to the ground. To each their own, but coming from 4x4 & AWD, I want a winter set.


if it is for a car, i can see some reasoning. My 2WD Escape handled the 12"+ snows just fine with run of the mill H/T tires. Had no problems. If it gets icy, I just stay home.

Earlier you said it was too warm in KC for winter tires. Handled just fine on AS tires in 12"+ snow isn't good enough. Winter tire are so much safer, and cheaper than a trip into the ditch.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: Traction

Earlier you said it was too warm in KC for winter tires. Handled just fine on AS tires in 12"+ snow isn't good enough. Winter tire are so much safer, and cheaper than a trip into the ditch.


Those snows are rare and the next day will usually be 30-40F and sunny. Roads are clear within 24 hours typically. A typical snow here is about 2-3". We only average 30" total/year. Road temps are probably above 45F 80%+ of the time during winter during the daytime. This isn't a snow tire friendly climate.

Snow tires are great for packed roads and icy roads. They help tremendously. We just don't get that around here for more than a 24-48 hr period a couple times a year.

 

[kkreit01]

Originally Posted By: badtlc


Those snows are rare and the next day will usually be 30-40F and sunny. Roads are clear within 24 hours typically. A typical snow here is about 2-3". We only average 30" total/year. Road temps are probably above 45F 80%+ of the time during winter during the daytime. This isn't a snow tire friendly climate.

Snow tires are great for packed roads and icy roads. They help tremendously. We just don't get that around here for more than a 24-48 hr period a couple times a year.


There is no "typical" weather pattern in KC. The past 2 years we've had more than 1 storm dump over 1' around our parts of town. This was nothing for my previous Ram, nor Jeep, but now I have about 4.5" of ground clearance.

Here was a "typical" storm last year, and this was taken after the sun as out, and melted some:

We usually receive a "dusting", or 8-14".

Anyways, I think I will go with steelies. I can then use my OE lugs, and I won't have to worry so much about their appearance. It will also be 1 less rebate form to fill out.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The light fluffy snow is a lot easier to drive through than the heavy wet lake effect snow we get in central NY.

You could drive through 3' of the fluffy stuff with regular A/S tires and not have a problem. 6'' of the heavy wet stuff ... not so much.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01


There is no "typical" weather pattern in KC. The past 2 years we've had more than 1 storm dump over 1' around our parts of town. This was nothing for my previous Ram, nor Jeep, but now I have about 4.5" of ground clearance.




Do you realize I live there too? I know the climate. We have had 4 storms over the past 2 winters drop 10"+ in single snows. Those are not normal in my 30+ years of living in the area. We had 2-3 winters before that where less than 8" total fell for the entire winter. Like you said, nothing is typical but even a bad winter isn't a snow tire climate because the extreme temperature changes. I mean, go ahead, it is your car and i get the fear but snow tires aren't going to have a long life around here.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Traction
With aluminum wheels, a bigger problem is too many hurry up tire shops not taking the time to clean the bead seats. No sealer needed with clean bead seats. Instead, they spend more time slopping bead sealer all over the wheel and tire. Keeps it sealed good for a few months, then when you have to fix it again you have a even bigger mess to clean up. Believe or not, NITROGEN makes a big difference too! Keeping the wheels clean as possible in the winter helps but, hard to keep the backside clean, which is where they usually are corroded the worst.


I will say I was surprised by a local Wal-Mart. Whenever I have to have tires mounted (nice alloy wheels) and can't do it myself, I go there.

I brought a tire there once that had a good bead leak (one of 3 on friend's accord) and they scraped the bead area real good, didn't apply bead sealant, then reseated and listened to see if it would leak. I was really surprised!@

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I would not go with aftermarket alloys-- nowhere to crimp weights on the outside, most times. Leads to sticky tape weights or an indifferent tech doing a static instead of dynamic balance.


A lot of OE alloy wheels do not allow crimp weights, either. I've got two of them with those in our garage. There's nothing wrong with stick weights. I've gotten perfect RF balance jobs with them. But neither sees winter roads, either.

It's not just the road salt, it's the torn up roads. Steel can put up with that pounding better.

That said, I'd be looking for boneyard OE steelies for a hard winter vehicle. Clean and overcoat them with rustoleum before mounting the tires.

Aftermarket steel wheels and road salts are a big headache.

 

[kkreit01]

I ordered the steelies + Hankook Winter i-pike RS W419 in 215/65/16 last night. I was also debating between the Hankooks or Yokohama IG51V. I would have preferred the General AltimaxArtic -- as I have past experience with them. However, there were no rebates on them. The complete set came to $540 shipped after rebates. The includes mounting, balancing, and valve stems.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
I ordered the steelies + Hankook Winter i-pike RS W419 in 215/65/16 last night. I was also debating between the Hankooks or Yokohama IG51V. I would have preferred the General AltimaxArtic -- as I have past experience with them. However, there were no rebates on them. The complete set came to $540 shipped after rebates. The includes mounting, balancing, and valve stems.


That's not a bad deal!

My parents were going to run that size on their Focuscape for winter tires. But 16'' wheels won't clear a cotter pin on the caliper.