After reading a lot of information in regard to weights and towing on this forum I was crawling around my F350 srw looking at weight ratings for the various components on my truck. I have 3750 per tire, and 3640 per rim (both aftermarket). My heaviest scale ticket shows 6120 on my drive axle, which is under the 7280 weight rating of my rims: when you think about the pounding that happens driving down the road, how often does the weight exceed the rating of the rims?I have broken several rear rims and 1 front rim over my lifetime, but I have chalked them up to when I de-bead tires, or rock strikes doing stupid stuff driving to places probably above the trucks paygrade.Now wondering if highway travel and heavy trailers could be part of the problem. How frequently do rims fail?

I cracked 2 rims as well. Both were Alcoa dually wheels, but I was regularly overloading them by about 500 pounds each. No doubt the overweight condition was a factor, but I also travel on a lot of rough terrain.I wouldn't worry about dynamic loading. That's already factored into the engineered ratings. But I never realized the rating on my Alcoas could be an issue, because the weight rating was inside the rim on the tire side, so I never saw it until I cracked one and had the tire off.

Other than some serious off-road/rock climbing I have never broken a rim, truck or trailerHave bent one rock crawling when I slip down but didn't break the tire bead But then I don't run aluminum rims.....steel only

The rating is based on dynamic loading...so they already have you hitting normal bumps.Now if you hit a curb or rock...or you have a blow out and the rim hits the pavement hard all bets are off but a higher rated rim is unlikely to help.Just running down the road nothing unusual, I've never heard of a rim failing (not that you should overload them).

Agree...Dick Cepek taught that with my first purchase from him. Wanted alloy wheels for the dune buggy and called him (he used to advertise in the back of one of the off readers magazinesThen for the 1973 K5 Blazer, ordered the delete back to min stock tires and wheels...drove down there as a breaking and new tires/wheels. He remembered me and we talked about alloys again. Decided on steel after all of his cautionary points described me.Alloys crack when they struck boulders at slow, crawling speeds. Steel will bend and hammer it back with a ball peen hammer.Old-Biscuit wrote:Other than some serious off-road/rock climbing I have never broken a rim, truck or trailerHave bent one rock crawling when I slip down but didn't break the tire bead But then I don't run aluminum rims.....steel only

I have been driving about 65 years and have cracked 1 aluminum wheel and it was on my Mercedes years ago. Trailers, DP, Cs, Bs, all kinds of cars and trucks rode hard and put away wet----1 wheel hit a deep pot hole!!!

Are truck/trailer rims a weak link? | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

Grit_dog
Navigator II
Sep 18, 2020
twodownzero wrote:
There's plenty of stuff I spend time worrying about. This isn't it. The wheels are much stronger than the tires around them.

Good to see ya back!
And an unexpected response from the chief of the weight police!
Have you been enlightened?
twodownzero
Explorer
Sep 18, 2020
There's plenty of stuff I spend time worrying about. This isn't it. The wheels are much stronger than the tires around them.
ferndaleflyer
Explorer III
Sep 17, 2020
I have been driving about 65 years and have cracked 1 aluminum wheel and it was on my Mercedes years ago. Trailers, DP, Cs, Bs, all kinds of cars and trucks rode hard and put away wet----1 wheel hit a deep pot hole!!!
BenK
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
Agree...Dick Cepek taught that with my first purchase from him. Wanted alloy wheels for the dune buggy and called him (he used to advertise in the back of one of the off readers magazines

Then for the 1973 K5 Blazer, ordered the delete back to min stock tires and wheels...drove down there as a breaking and new tires/wheels. He remembered me and we talked about alloys again. Decided on steel after all of his cautionary points described me.

Alloys crack when they struck boulders at slow, crawling speeds. Steel will bend and hammer it back with a ball peen hammer.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Other than some serious off-road/rock climbing I have never broken a rim, truck or trailer

Have bent one rock crawling when I slip down but didn't break the tire bead

But then I don't run aluminum rims.....steel only
valhalla360
Navigator
Sep 17, 2020
The rating is based on dynamic loading...so they already have you hitting normal bumps.

Now if you hit a curb or rock...or you have a blow out and the rim hits the pavement hard all bets are off but a higher rated rim is unlikely to help.

Just running down the road nothing unusual, I've never heard of a rim failing (not that you should overload them).
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 17, 2020
Other than some serious off-road/rock climbing I have never broken a rim, truck or trailer

Have bent one rock crawling when I slip down but didn't break the tire bead

But then I don't run aluminum rims.....steel only
carringb
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
I cracked 2 rims as well. Both were Alcoa dually wheels, but I was regularly overloading them by about 500 pounds each. No doubt the overweight condition was a factor, but I also travel on a lot of rough terrain.

I wouldn't worry about dynamic loading. That's already factored into the engineered ratings. But I never realized the rating on my Alcoas could be an issue, because the weight rating was inside the rim on the tire side, so I never saw it until I cracked one and had the tire off.

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Are truck/trailer rims a weak link?

17 Replies

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