Factory 17 inch forged aluminum Alcoa wheels

[Ranger Joe]

Hey TDR Members, I’ve been lurking the site for quite some time now and figured I finally have something worth posting! I just got a set of factory 17 inch forged aluminum Alcoa wheels for the truck!! I’m sure most of you already know that Alcoa made these wheels for Dodge but for those of you that don’t know or are skeptical of the OEM of these wheels I have the proof. The engraving inside the wheels reads USA after the Chrysler symbol followed by AWFP (Acoa Wheel and Forged Products). I was in the market for new wheels as my truck came with stock steel chrome clad 17’s which makes for a heavy combination when paired with the larger tires I purchased. I figured a lighter wheel and heavier than stock tire would put me in the ballpark of the unsprung weight I’m currently rolling on. All of the aftermarket wheels in my price range were cast aluminum with offsets that I wasn’t interested in made in China as well. The Aftermarket offerings were all lug centric which also turned me off due to the posts I’ve read here and other sites speaking to the issue of sheared wheel studs and also vibration issues. Like most of you I’m OCD when it comes to noises and feelings of a mechanical mishap in the making! So to spare myself future anguish I decided to stick with factory OEM hub centric wheels. After I get them powder coated, mounted and Hunter road force balanced I’ll be into the project for right around what a set of aforementioned ****ty Chinese wheels IMO would have cost! I’ll have to figure out how to upload pics when I get the wheels done, until then, happy truckin! Sorry for the long read but now you know a little bit about me and hope you can appreciate the decisions I’ve made based on tons of research done right here in this forum!

 

[Michaelsloft]

Hey TDR Members, I’ve been lurking the site for quite some time now and figured I finally have something worth posting! I just got a set of factory 17 inch forged aluminum Alcoa wheels for the truck!! I’m sure most of you already know that Alcoa made these wheels for Dodge but for those of you that don’t know or are skeptical of the OEM of these wheels I have the proof. The engraving inside the wheels reads USA after the Chrysler symbol followed by AWFP (Acoa Wheel and Forged Products). I was in the market for new wheels as my truck came with stock steel chrome clad 17’s which makes for a heavy combination when paired with the larger tires I purchased. I figured a lighter wheel and heavier than stock tire would put me in the ballpark of the unsprung weight I’m currently rolling on. All of the aftermarket wheels in my price range were cast aluminum with offsets that I wasn’t interested in made in China as well. The Aftermarket offerings were all lug centric which also turned me off due to the posts I’ve read here and other sites speaking to the issue of sheared wheel studs and also vibration issues. Like most of you I’m OCD when it comes to noises and feelings of a mechanical mishap in the making! So to spare myself future anguish I decided to stick with factory OEM hub centric wheels. After I get them powder coated, mounted and Hunter road force balanced I’ll be into the project for right around what a set of aforementioned ****ty Chinese wheels IMO would have cost! I’ll have to figure out how to upload pics when I get the wheels done, until then, happy truckin! Sorry for the long read but now you know a little bit about me and hope you can appreciate the decisions I’ve made based on tons of research done right here in this forum!

Looking forward to seeing how these wheels work out for your truck.
Good luck with the project!

Michael

 

[GrantP]

The last time I bought tires for my truck the salesman was trying to upsell me on new wheels. I have the OEM 17" aluminum wheels. I just told him "No, those are the perfect wheels for my truck". I don't think he understood why and I didn't care to educate him. Good choice on the wheels.

 

[Ranger Joe]

The last time I bought tires for my truck the salesman was trying to upsell me on new wheels. I have the OEM 17" aluminum wheels. I just told him "No, those are the perfect wheels for my truck". I don't think he understood why and I didn't care to educate him. Good choice on the wheels.

 

[Ranger Joe]

I was extremely fortunate that I was double checking my research just before pulling the trigger on some aftermarket wheels when I stumbled upon the issue of hub centric vs lug centric wheels on our heavy duty trucks. I found it hard to believe that my hours of prior research showed no mention of this?... I guess some folks don’t know before buying their wheels or they just don’t really care if they lose a wheel on the highway? Anyway, I do what I always do and read until I have become a self proclaimed subject matter expert on a topic! Nothing like American forged aluminum wheels that were designed by highly paid engineers for our trucks! Dropping them off at the wheel shop tomorrow then bringing them the new 285/75 Toyo open country at2 extreme tires that are sitting in my garage on Saturday! Hope to have it buttoned up early next week! I found it pretty ironic that I got a flat on my way into work this morning... If life was easy it wouldn’t be mine!

 

[brods]

Nice find! Do you have a link to the Alcoa wheels or a part number for them? Are they a brand new product or are they custom? When searching for stock spec wheels a few months back I didn't see anything from Alcoa.

It is definitely difficult to find wheels that have the exact same specs as the oem wheels. I cheaped out and went with the Dorman OE replacement wheel 939-682. It has the proper specs (width, offset, hubcentric, etc), looks the same as OEM and were only $150 ea. from Summit Racing. My original wheels need refinishing badly and I didn't want the truck down for the time it would take to do them. Time will tell if the Dorman wheels hold up or are cheap junk.

Like you I also got the Toyo AT2 tires in the 285/75R17 size and can't be more impressed by them so far. They are a bit more noisy than the original ATs, but its not a big deal. On road in rain and snow they are better in every way than both the original Toyo ATs and the Nitto Dura Grapplers these AT2s replaced. I even put a set of AT2 LTs on the wife's Escape and that thing is unstoppable now. The Let us know how you like them.

 

[Ranger Joe]

Nice find! Do you have a link to the Alcoa wheels or a part number for them? Are they a brand new product or are they custom? When searching for stock spec wheels a few months back I didn't see anything from Alcoa.

It is definitely difficult to find wheels that have the exact same specs as the oem wheels. I cheaped out and went with the Dorman OE replacement wheel 939-682. It has the proper specs (width, offset, hubcentric, etc), looks the same as OEM and were only $150 ea. from Summit Racing. My original wheels need refinishing badly and I didn't want the truck down for the time it would take to do them. Time will tell if the Dorman wheels hold up or are cheap junk.

Like you I also got the Toyo AT2 tires in the 285/75R17 size and can't be more impressed by them so far. They are a bit more noisy than the original ATs, but its not a big deal. On road in rain and snow they are better in every way than both the original Toyo ATs and the Nitto Dura Grapplers these AT2s replaced. I even put a set of AT2 LTs on the wife's Escape and that thing is unstoppable now. The Let us know how you like them.

 

[Ranger Joe]

View attachment 111591 View attachment 111592 View attachment 111593 View attachment 111594

Here are some pics of the stamping inside the rims containing all of the information. I found these on eBay used! They came from California so no oxidation!! I cleaned them up a little just to make sure they were all marked USA and had the AWFP stamp, which I was happy to see they all did! Also searched for cracks and unrepairable damage before dropping them off at the wheel shop for matte black powder coat. The shop is painting the center caps to match as well! Thanks for posting about the tires! I’m coming out of set of BFG TAKO 2’s that were in serious need of replacement. They came on the truck when I got it and the previous owner never rotated them... I don’t have a leveling kit so my concern was the fitment of the bigger tires but, everything I’ve seen points to them fitting with no rubbing? I guess I’ll find out shortly one way or the other for sure! It seems that toyo and nitto serve well on our trucks and have the best reviews on all the forums so I’m like a kid at Christmas right now waiting for the project to be complete!

 

[Shiner]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, wonder if they are the same available in 18's?

 

[Ranger Joe]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, wonder if they are the same available in 18's?

I’m pretty sure Alcoa stopped making the forged wheels for Chrysler in 2008 or 2009 in this country anyway... Since then the wheels have been either forged or cast in China. Not quite sure when 18’s became a factory option but I believe it was after the change to overseas production?

 

[Ranger Joe]

These wheels were an option on our trucks from 2005-‘08/‘09. They were standard issue on Power Wagon and from what I understand came from the factory on many CTD equipped trucks. Not mine, unfortunately!

 

[seafish]

How bout some nicer pics of those bad boys?

 

[Ranger Joe]

How bout some nicer pics of those bad boys?

I’ll be posting the pics as soon as they are on the truck. They are at the shop getting the new color on them. I only took the pics of the stampings so I could actually read them to ensure their authenticity! This is the first step in the de-chrome initiative. Next step when I recover from this financial set back will be the banks exhaust tip change from chrome to black.

 

[Ozymandias]

These are the Powerwagon's wheels, they had them from factory.
Friend of mine has one and is pretty excited about hes wheels to.

 

[Ranger Joe]

Here is the completed project! It took longer than I wanted because the wheel shop had some problems with their equipment. The end result isn’t perfection on the powder coat end but the minor imperfections in the finish knocked $200.00 off the bill! All in all I think they look fantastic on the white truck and the tires fill out the wheel wells much nicer than the stock size. So far, no rubbing at all... I turned lock to lock in both forward and reverse on level ground so time will tell the true story and I will report back here! Powder coated factory 17 inch forged aluminum wheels with 285/75 toyo at2 extreme tires. I also have the center caps painted to match but I have to do some work on them to get them tightened up so there not flapping all over the place and falling off!

 

[Michaelsloft]

Here is the completed project! It took longer than I wanted because the wheel shop had some problems with their equipment. The end result isn’t perfection on the powder coat end but the minor imperfections in the finish knocked $200.00 off the bill! All in all I think they look fantastic on the white truck and the tires fill out the wheel wells much nicer than the stock size. So far, no rubbing at all... I turned lock to lock in both forward and reverse on level ground so time will tell the true story and I will report back here! Powder coated factory 17 inch forged aluminum wheels with 285/75 toyo at2 extreme tires. I also have the center caps painted to match but I have to do some work on them to get them tightened up so there not flapping all over the place and falling off!

Looks FANTASTIC! And well worth the time, effort and expense! Enjoy and thanks for taking the time to follow-up with pictures and details!

 

[Regcabguy]

These wheels were an option on our trucks from 2005-‘08/‘09. They were standard issue on Power Wagon and from what I understand came from the factory on many CTD equipped trucks. Not mine, unfortunately!

I special ordered mine in late '06. The forged wheels were maybe $340 for all four. Quite the bargain.

 

[Shiner]

Turned out great! Good job!

 

[Ranger Joe]

Thanks for the positive feedback! Tiresdirect.net is the cheapest that I found for the tires.. (they have a sale right now 17% off Toyo) for anyone interested. I got 5 (matching spare) for less than Costco wanted for 4 Michelin LTX AT2. And that was after the $70 rebate. They didn’t offer this size in the Michelin which in hind sight was a blessing because these Toyos make the truck look like “TRUCK!” No more shakey shake between 60 and 70mph that I was getting from the worn out BFG’s. Stock tire size was pulling 70 mph @ 1,950rpm new size is 70 @ 1,875ish. Recalibrated the speedometer with Smarty. I’ll have to cruise around some more before I decide if turning up the Smarty is necessary? The drive home this morning didn’t yield any noticeable sluggishness on acceleration. Stock tire measured from level surface to top @ 30.75 in. The new tires measured 32.75 in. I’m running 45 psi front and 40 in the rear, I’ll fine tune psi once I get on the scales and get accurate numbers for load/inflation equations. I’ll keep ya’s posted!

 

[Ranger Joe]

Hi guys, well after a week of having the new set of wheels and tires I couldn’t be more pleased with the look and the performance set up I chose to go with! Today I finally had a little time to take the center caps apart that I had painted to match the powder coat on the wheels. They were very sloppy where the plastic ring snapped into the center cap. I tried a few things to tighten up the fitment and after some trial and error I ended up with putting some foam weatherstripping between the clips to give them more outward pressure on the holes they snap into. This worked perfectly and now the rings are secured to the center cap nice and tight! I put them on the wheels and discovered a new dilemma... I don’t know which center caps I like best? I think the chrome and the black look equally good! Any input would be appreciated! Here are the latest pics from this afternoon. And the truck is squeaky clean now in hopes that we’re done with the snow this year! The amount of salt and chemicals they put on the roads in Massachusetts is a little overboard to say the least, really makes a white truck look like a P.O.S. In short order!