Vernon B Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 panagah - 2007-07-24 8:53 AM because they look nice, I'm not sure they do. Most of them are based on motor car styling which doesn't necessarily translate well to our 'vans. The designs are intended to go with speed and sleekness rather than solidity and grunt. I know its a personal thing but I'm yet to see a set on a motorhome that I feel have enhanced the vehicle - and I speak as someone who has spec'd alloys for every car I've had for the last 20 years. Certainly poor alloys come second best to a good set of steel wheels forming part of the designer's intended look for the vehicle. Vernon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b6x Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 I disagree. I think the fitted alloys installed on the outgoing Ducato in Kontiki guise where much much better than steel. These ones: http://tinyurl.com/2edvux Each to their own though eh. It'll be pretty boring if we all drove the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 come off it you out there,do you all live in tin shacks with sacks for wallpaoer and no orniments or any thing nice? whats wrong with nice shiny alloys, and other extras.? As for not many about, most manufacturers fit them to thier better models now, you must go to some shows. Don (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 My view - they can look nice but can be very expensive and with the bumping about that motorhomes get, both on the roads (some are absolutely awful) and when going 'off road' on campsites, car parks and other stopping areas, I'd rather not have the hassle of worrying about damaging them more easily than normal steel wheels and would rather spend my dosh on something a bit more useful. Some look better than others, some cost a lot more than others. I do know of someone who had to replace all of his wheels when he damaged one after he'd had the car a couple of years from new, he couldn't get another matching one anywhere, cost him an absolute packet. So long as you've got the correct number of wheels on your wagon when you need them it doesn't matter if they are alloy, steel or any other material that is out there. One bit of advice about locking wheel nuts though, make sure you can get them off! On our car when we wanted a new tyre and the front and rear ones swapping round the tyre depo couldn't get the locking wheel nuts off. It was a very expensive exercise as they eventually managed to get them off by destroying them! They tried to blame the garage that had done the service on thecar for putting them on too tight ... with all their expensive gear this shouldn't have made a difference. Turns out that instead of trying to loosen them with the proper 'end' on the equipment, they'd tried to do it with the airguns and stripped the hexagonal sides of the nuts. Consequently we played merry hell and made sure we only paid for the cost of the replacement tyres as originally agreed. We didn't get a set of replacement wheel nuts though, but after the experience decided we'd rather run the risk of having the wheels nicked (not very likely where we are) than not being able to get the ruddy things off again if needed. In the end, if you like them, get them, what anyone else thinks is irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Mike Parke - 2007-07-24 2:34 PM Years ago Ford fitted a steel wheel alloy lookalike to Mk 2 Cortina G.T & Lotus varients called 'Rostyle'. These had the look of alloy with the cheaper cost of steel. I do not know if they are still on the market but, perhaps, would have made a good compromise! Regards, Mike & Cherry. Hello Mike & Cherry, Back in the late 60's and early 70's my competition cars all sported magnesium alloy wheels, a great help to twin-cams and Cooper 'S' variants that I used on the Stage rallies of the time. Super strong and very light, especially when 4' in the air at speed above a hump deep in Welsh countryside or the Kielder forest. If we had a problem, always two spares were carried as very light. Handy when in the middle of nowhere and faced with getting back to the Gorleston area. But never a wheel failure encountered. When I hung up the helmet and the flameproofs I then moved on to the performance road cars of the time fitted out with the well remembered Rostyles. All cars that followed over the years were fitted with alloys (maybe 35 in total). My only vehicle now is an AS which arrived already fitted with alloys which I then neglected. However three months ago a new set was obtained from Simpsons (I am sure you know them) and the others binned. I realise that I would be a much richer person if I had not pandered to my vanities over the years after retiring from competition. I just like them although no intention of yumping a MH! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Back in the 1970s Dunlop produced an attractive hybrid wheel with an alloy centre and chromed steel rim. I had them on my Scimitar GTE. The chromed wheel-nuts were rather corroded and, when I explored purchasing a replacement set, it turned out they were 'special' and cost over £1 each (and £1 in the early-70s was no small sum of money). Being strapped for cash I bought a set of far cheaper chromed nuts intended for the optional standard steel wheels and sleeved them to fit the holes in the wheel-centre. Not a very wise thing to do with hindsight, but I was mechanically fearless (a synonym for "incompetent"!) in those days and safety was way down on my priority list. Another potential drawback to retrofitting alloys to a vehicle equipped with steel wheels is that, unless you replace all the wheels, you may well find you need different nuts/bolts for the steel spare-wheel to those needed for the alloys. The wheel-nut/bolt tightening torque-setting may also be different. You need to be sure too that the replacement alloys match the original wheels dimensionally, particularly regarding off-set. (Long-memoried Warners magazine readers may remember an Arto test, where the optional alloy wheels contacted the wheel-arches when the motorhome was only part-loaded.) Mel B mentions difficulty removing locking wheel-nuts. Removing ordinary wheel/nuts bolts can be a beggar if they corrode to a steel wheel and virtually impossible with an alloy wheel. "Autocar" had an alloy-wheel-equipped new Volvo on test and, following a puncture, it was found that the wheel could not be removed. After various increasingly aggressive ploys had been attempted the wheel finally had to be machined off the hub. The prudent motorist ensures that the THREADS of wheel-nuts/bolts are suitably lubricated together with the surfaces where the wheel meets the hub. And that the nuts/bolts are not over-tightened. Incidentally, although I've listed various minus factors that someone interested in fitting alloy wheels to a vehicle might wish to consider, I totally agree with Mel B's final paragraph. If I disagree with anything advised on this forum - however convincing the argument used might be - I've got absolutely no problem disregarding it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted July 25, 2007 Author Share Posted July 25, 2007 I’m very grateful for all who took the time to productively contribute and I’m sure many readers will feel better informed. I am, for now, persuaded that the sensible choice is to refurbish my standard wheels. I may though, at some point future, make the change. Thanks again.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Oi! let me get my twopenneth in. I have a range of vehicles, some on alloys, others on steels, so I would like to think I am relativly unbiased. It is true that alloys reduce the unsprung weight (not 100% true as the tyre acts as a spring to some extent) but the gross weight of vehicle has an effect, on my phaeton at 600kg with 5gals of fuel alloys have a great effect, but on a 3500kg motorhome! Corrosion of alloys can be a big problem with some makes, Honda had a lot of problems a couple of years ago, saying that I have a set of alloys 20 years old that are mint. As has been mentioned, you can break alloys with big impacts, with steels you usualy bend them and in Lanzorote a few years ago I bent two wheels on a hire car in a hidden pothole, garage applied a large blunt instrument and it was sorted, car half hour later was not so lucky smashed two alloys. If I had a pocket of spare cash I might be tempted to make van look nice, but would diffinatly have a spare, squirt in puncture compound won't mend a smashed alloy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I like 'em and so does the OH - and it 's so unusual for us tioagree on anything that I have to think there may be something subliminal to recommend alloys. I also like If I disagree with anything advised on this forum - however convincing the argument used might be - I've got absolutely no problem disregarding it. ciao B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 twooks - 2007-07-25 11:52 PM I also like If I disagree with anything advised on this forum - however convincing the argument used might be - I've got absolutely no problem disregarding it. ciao B-) Yes nice final touch that ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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