Are steelies obsolete?

Aenriquez · Jan 3, 2020

Coming from the old school, I have my own opinion about steel wheels for off road use. I was always taught that you should be able to fix your junk on the trail, if need be. This included banging out bent wheels with a hammer then blasting the bead with starter fluid (i've had to do it) to reseat the tire. I still adhere to this philosophy. Technology as I see it has been a blessing and a curse, making vehicles and equipment far more reliable and capable than ever while at the same making them so complex that sometimes trailside repairs are just not possible.
Back to wheels..........so with new technologies making for better materials and better manufacturing processes, which makes for much stronger wheels, are steel wheels, and the philosophy behind them, obsolete?
I know where I stand, just trying to gauge popular opinion, on the issue.

I should note, that to me aesthetics have always been secondary to function.......that said, I do have an affinity for the look of some oem steelies on offroad rigs.

Tyler · Jan 3, 2020

Aenriquez said:
Coming from the old school, I have my own opinion about steel wheels for off road use. I was always taught that you should be able to fix your junk on the trail, if need be. This included banging out bent wheels with a hammer then blasting the bead with starter fluid (i've had to do it) to reseat the tire. I still adhere to this philosophy. Technology as I see it has been a blessing and a curse, making vehicles and equipment far more reliable and capable than ever while at the same making them so complex that sometimes trailside repairs are just not possible.
Back to wheels..........so with new technologies making for better materials and better manufacturing processes, which makes for much stronger wheels, are steel wheels, and the philosophy behind them, obsolete?
I know where I stand, just trying to gauge popular opinion, on the issue.

I should note, that to me aesthetics have always been secondary to function.......that said, I do have an affinity for the look of some oem steelies on offroad rigs.

Good discussion idea.

I am not sure how often people are bending wheels anymore. I watch a ridiculous amount of YouTube 4x4 videos and have been wheeling with a lot of different rigs from stock to heavily built, obviously all on different wheel manufacturers and materials. That said, I seldom see people bending their wheels even when the bead pops (which is more common).

I actually think the wheels that are prone to getting bent nowadays are actually the steelies. Not that others can’t, it’s just what I’ve seen. But like you said, you can usually fix it to get off the trail.

Aesthetically, steelies are definitely still my favorite looking wheel with the exception being the tan Black Rhinos I just bought. But I was very close to buying four more of the stock steelie because I think that would’ve looked raw as hell.

Aenriquez · Jan 3, 2020

I like Black Rhino's, I really dig the look of the Fifteen52 Analogs. Wheels are so far down the list, though, I have time to contemplate. Maybe a spare set of blocky, grimy 35s on aftermarkets for the shitshow, and a regular set of 33's on OEM's for dd'ing...........because, what bills???

Tyler · Jan 3, 2020

Aenriquez said:
I like Black Rhino's, I really dig the look of the Fifteen52 Analogs. Wheels are so far down the list, though, I have time to contemplate. Maybe a spare set of blocky, grimy 35s on aftermarkets for the shitshow, and a regular set of 33's on OEM's for dd'ing...........because, what bills???

Wheels were really low on my list too. Everyone seems to do that first but I ran the stock wheels for about two years. I even had 35s on them, it was kind of unique.

Aenriquez · Jan 3, 2020

Tyler said:
Wheels were really low on my list too. Everyone seems to do that first but I ran the stock wheels for about two years. I even had 35s on them, it was kind of unique.

How'd did the 35s do on the stock wheels?