Wheel capacity vs tire capacity

I had a rim fail. It was a gear alloy rim with 285/75-16 Nitto tires on it. The rim broke just outside the hub where the spokes went to the outer area. I was told the rims were rated for what the tires were (3750#). I had just gotten off the interstate running 65 mph and only doing 30 or so when the rim just let go. I had the other rear rim cracked also. replaced with rickson rims and 19.5's

Finally someone who gets it! Sabcounsulting.
Mfg rim weight ratings are difficult to access or find ,but it's a pretty good assumption that automobile mfgs are going to put a really healthy factor of safety on something like rims. They are designed as a part with indefinite lifespan as well as regularly abused by many with no control over their use by the mfg.
Also when a rim fails it's usually in a dynamic situation and a grand fashion with great risk to life, property .......... and corporate image.
That's why I insist on OE rims when doing something stupid like overloading the cr ap out of my pickup bed! They've already idiot proofed them for me!

If most wheels are only rated for 3500-3700 lbs, why are there tires rated for nearly 4100 lbs?

parkmanaa wrote:

Unless you feel present load range of your tires is insufficient, I personally would be very hesitant to mount a heavier LR, unless I was able to verify from the code on the wheel it would handle that heavier tire.

40 years in the tire industry; seen it all and done most of it.

Do you have any secrets for verifying and OEM wheel capacity ? Truck manufacturers seem very reluctant to give that information .

parkmanaa wrote:
In the event of an accident, or if you sell the vehicle and someone else has an accident, if you have exceeded carrying capacity of any component of the vehicle, you could be liable for cost of any damages.

Feel free to post links to some of the cases. From what I remember reading here, nobody has actually found a case of a lawsuit that led to any damages being paid.

I can tell you for safety as well as legal you do not want to mount a tire that exceeds the weight capacity of your wheel. In the event of an accident, or if you sell the vehicle and someone else has an accident, if you have exceeded carrying capacity of any component of the vehicle, you could be liable for cost of any damages.
Unless you feel present load range of your tires is insufficient, I personally would be very hesitant to mount a heavier LR, unless I was able to verify from the code on the wheel it would handle that heavier tire.

40 years in the tire industry; seen it all and done most of it.

sabconsulting wrote:
An after-market wheel manufacturer might be selling most of their wheels to people wanting to achieve a certain style on lightly loaded vehicles.

Or, they might be wanting to increase the load in the case of Rickson or Vision wheels.

If you really want to make a decision you need to weigh the actual RV and compare to the ratings.
Putting a different tire on the wheel does not change the weight the wheel is carrying.
And if you are over the wheel rating you had better check the axle and frame ratings.

This is interesting.

I've stuck with OEM Ford wheels. Though this is partly because I am too tight-fisted to pay for replacement wheels.

I often like to think about the motivations of a manufacturer and wonder how that affects their products.

A truck manufacturer has a lot at stake. Plenty of people will use trucks near their payload limits like we all do. If their trucks start having accidents due to failed components like wheels the damage to reputation would be very public and expensive.

An after-market wheel manufacturer might be selling most of their wheels to people wanting to achieve a certain style on lightly loaded vehicles.

Could the above affect the level of design and testing the respective manufacturers apply for handling heavy loads over the expected operational lifespan of the wheel?

Steve.

covered wagon wrote:

MORSNOW wrote:
Most factory aluminum wheels are forged also, but finding a load rating stamped on them is rare. The majority of aftermarket wheels are cast (Alcoa are forged as noted above) and are more prone to failure. I've split 3 of the 4 wheels on my past pickup that were aftermarket cast between the lug holes and wheel centers. The centers of most aftermarket wheels have huge center holes and are lug centric versus hub centric like most factory wheels.

Are you saying the Alcoas are more prone to failure also?

Alcoas website shows a video of a steel wheel in a hydralic press with an Alcoa wheel in an identicle hydralic press and the steel wheel fails at pressures that the Alcoa wheel will bounce back to it's original shape every time.

Alcoa wheels are the best in the world and can find them on concrete trucks and big rigs everywhere. They are expensive and would vote to disagree with the above statement that most factory alloy wheels are forged. Forging is a very expensive process and I removed my factory Dodge alloy wheels for Alcoas wheel. I would say Alcoa knows their business better than anyone.

I read the above as the Alcoa , although aftermarket , are forged and are the exception . So no , they are NOT more prone to failure .

Do you know for a fact that your Dodge alloy wheels are not forged ? That is not a challenge , it's very hard to find facts on OEM wheels , especially weight capacity . If you have reliable intel it would help all of us .