Opinion needed on wheels

[SamPap]

I have found a set of these wheels for a good price. Problem is, my local vendor will sell them to me but will not warrant the wheels.



The manufacturer is American Eagle Alloys. The style of wheel is 114 and the size is 18X9. 5.



My vendor claims that the manufacturer does not firmly stand behind their product. The wheel looks great and is very cost effective... . around $150 a piece. It almost looks like a Weld knockoff! But doesnt cost $400.





My question is, should I be concerned about the build quality of these wheels? Are they prone to failure?



Check out this link to wheels with the technical info



http://www.aewheel.com/wheels_detail.cfm?id=253

 

[Punkineater]

I've owned American Eagle wheels and yes there is a reason they are so cheap. It doesn't surprise me that your vendor won't stand behind them and he is wise to take that stance.

 

[Matt400]

Nice looking wheel, nice looking price but... they will stick out 1. 5" more than stock and add more stress on the bearings. Since you usually get what you pay for I would be worried. I am sure they are not hub centric.



No warranty... geeze! So the finish goes to pot, or it's not that round and won't balance, or one develops a crack... worse yet breaks and causes enough damage you could buy 4 sets of really good ones.

 

[JRMora]

I had Eagle alloys on my '97. They held up fine and the finish was OK. I bought them through Discount Tire along with my TA's. They stood behind them fine. Never had a problem with them, but I didn't go wild with that truck or load it to the max, either.



One man's opinion.



Juan

 

[mjoppie]

i worked at discount tire for over a year and installed many sets of eagle wheels and also owned numerous sets for my private trucks and they have never had a flaw to my understanding to this day if you like the wheels id go with them but thats just a ex tire mans opinion

 

[KYLE4]

eagle wheels are fine I've never had a complaint its not that they are so cheap the price difference between weld and eagle is simple one is a forged alloy other is billet if you know the difference you would understand why weld's are pricey. My fabricator made his own wheels he made 20's for his twin turbo Dakota gasser man that thing rips I watch him spin one 24x12 inch chunk of metal on a wheel lathe he was sweating it the whole time can you imagine what that piece of aluminum cost he said he'll never do it again for the right $$$ he would

 

[TBrennan]

... and add more stress on the bearings.

Here we go again.



Not to derail the thread (these are nice looking wheels btw and the 3400 lb weight ratings seem adequate), but here is my take on that:



"The wheel with the lesser offset (positive or negative) will impart the least forces to the bearings, all other things being equal (wheel size, width, etc. )"



Using simple logic and basic physics (as I understand it) leads me to this conclusion. It seems I'm the only person who thinks that, so hey, I could be way wrong. WARNING : Heed at your own risk. :-laf



I'd love to get some input from a Chassis engineer of some fashion, not from someone who's seen one failure and jumps to a conclusion or something.

 

[Punkineater]

I've run 14. 50 and 15. 50 wide Swampers, both in a 35" configuration and my last set was a 4. 5" backspace on my vehicles and quite frankly I have never replaced the wheel bearings... ..... ever. Now I have prematurely worn ball joints at 60k, but big deal. That's the price you pay for an oversized combo. Frankly, people worry about that too much. I will run 35" oversize tires on my Ram with 12" wide wheels and 5" backspacing after my lift and I've been doing the wide thing for the past 15 years without a problem yet.

 

[Matt400]

I am sure there are plenty folks that get away with the big wheel/tire combo and allot has to do with the way you treat the truck with those big meats. My comment comes from repairing vehicles with other than OE stuff and its a regular occurrence for me.



Just today I worked on a 1500 chev with 36's and big offset. Wiped out upper ball joint that doesn't even carry the load.



Pop the tire out the fender and add more leverage, something is going to give. Both rear axle seals leaking with worn rear bearings spinning those big meats.

Now a 2500 Ram with solid front axle is more HD for sure to handle bigger rubber and offset wheels but the point is the bigger you go the more leverage you apply to the components. A big pry bar does more damage than a little one... big tires & wheels are like big pry bars.



In all fairness though I will admit its the big 3 half ton trucks I see that have most of the trouble.