Bryan (or others) just how bad are steel wheels? I am worrying over that
issue right now. I was just about to order some 360 degree welded NASCAR
wheels. They have will have a special narrow rim width of 4.5" to fit my LSR
Goodyear's. I'm glad I saw this thread :-)
All of the ALUMINUM types mentioned are machined on wheel lathes. I'm
guessing the Total Indicated Run-out (TIR) on most of those machines is
0.001" to .002". By default you should get a true product simply due to
manufacturing technique. However, steel wheels with pressed in hubs on a
formed rim, could be a problem. When I was a kid I could "reverse" rims and
get them trued up fairly well in a lathe. I can't remember the run-out but
it sure wasn't as little as 1 or 2 thousandths. However, with drag racing
speeds of less than 100 mph, it made no difference. What should I ask for in
a fabricated steel rim? When it is all over, would it have cost the same as
aluminum wheels in the first place?
I am biased to steel for its fatigue ability, strength, and different
corrosion characteristics than aluminum. I haven't considered unsprung
weight a big issue at Bonneville. Is there really a big difference in wheel
weight comparing a strong, Bonneville ALUMINUM wheel, with steel? -Elon
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2008 From: Bryan Savage b.a.savage@wildblue.net (snip . .
. ) The steel wheels we used were from a junk yard. Days were spent working
on the wheels.. Ended up with 6 wheels. Each was checked for run out,
stripped of paint, crack tested, spiders welded, normalized, crack tested
again in the weld area, sanded blasted and painted.
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