Putting the pieces together...

[Razkul99]

It finally came together... DRC Race System installed, Toyo M/Ts installed, Eagle Alloy wheels installed and some minor trimming for tire clearance and...

 

[AlexWV]

Looks great!

 

[JCStewart]

Man that truck does look GREAT! Just one question... . whats the deal with the "Cat" plate? :-laf

 

[Razkul99]

Oh, that CAT plate... well, you see, umm... I got family and friends that either work for them or with them and the Catepillar company is tops in my book so it is part of the beast.



I still love that mighty, mighty Cummins though...

 

[CLAYTON]

Sure is good lookin

 

[roverhybrids]

can you post a better picture showing how much the wheels stick out on the sides?

What is the back spacing on the Eagle wheels?

 

[rbattelle]

Very nice! What do you mean "minor trimming"?



-Ryan

 

[Razkul99]

Only my sidewalls extend out beyond the fender flare (See photo1).



As for trimming, the only place where there was any rubbing was in the rear wheel liner and it was nothing an airsaw couldn't fix (see photo2).



The backspacing on the Eagle Alloy 114s 17x10 are 4. 65. They also make the same model in a 18x9. 5 with 6 bsm. Going with the 18x9. 5s I would venture to say none of the trimming would have been necessary. Either way they look sweet... (see photo3).

 

[Tim]

It's a shame you spent all that money for suspension and bought Eagle Alloy wheels. Everything looks good but over time the look of those wheels will surely fade, and taking off steel or forged aluminum to put cast aluminum wheels on a heavy duty truck was a step backwards in my opinion. Did you check the load rating on the wheels?

 

[Spooled-up]

Many people on this board put down cast aluminum wheels. The stock wheels are cast aluminum. Kent Kroeker ran the Baja 1000 with the stock cast wheels.

The load rating on the Eagle 114's is 3400 lbs per wheel. I think that is plenty for our trucks since they exceed the load rating of the stock tires.



I agonized over the 114's and the Kore/Weld wheels because of the price. In the end, I went with the Weld's because I knew they would fit. I'm still paying for them, but they don't rub. I didn't have any issues with their strength, I was worried about how they fit. I didn't want to do any trimming on my truck because it looked like they would rub the metal part of the fender when the suspension was compressed and Kent said they would rub as he had tried them (18x9. 5's) himself.

 

[Razkul99]

I also considered the Welds but I don't mind trimming a little away to fit the 114s, which IMO look better. I also got them for significantly less that the other wheels I considered and the load rating on them is over 3400 lbs which was not exceeded by any of the tires I considered until I found the Toyo M/Ts. The Kore Welds are bad mammer-jammers but the cost didn't work for me given the other options. Keep in mind, the 114s are made in a 18x9. 5 with 6 in backspacing so I could have done that too.



In more curious news, tonight my dodge seems to have started "learning" and it appears the the mileage and speed has been adjusted. I am not sure how this may have happened but it seems to be reading correctly. Any ideas?

 

[Kirwin]

Pictures

Only my sidewalls extend out beyond the fender flare (See photo1).



As for trimming, the only place where there was any rubbing was in the rear wheel liner and it was nothing an airsaw couldn't fix (see photo2).



The backspacing on the Eagle Alloy 114s 17x10 are 4. 65. They also make the same model in a 18x9. 5 with 6 bsm. Going with the 18x9. 5s I would venture to say none of the trimming would have been necessary. Either way they look sweet... (see photo3).

Picture #2 is of the front wheel well. At least the control arms in the picture are on the front of my truck. Can you post a picture of where you had to trim the rear fender liner? Thanks Ken Irwin

 

[AlexWV]

Well I'm glad this all came up. I have the Weld Cheyenne 8s coming in 17x8. 5 w/ 4. 5" backspace. I used 4. 5" backspace on my Hemi and wasn't thinking when I ordered those wheels. I don't like the idea of almost 2 inch less backspace than stock but that's just me.



Going to change that to the Kore-Weld Cheyenne 8 in 18x8. 5 now and go with those Toyos. And there goes an extra grand or more. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm sure the 4x4 shop won't be happy either.



Your truck looks good too, Spooled-up.

 

[Razkul99]

Picture #2 is of the front wheel well. At least the control arms in the picture are on the front of my truck. Can you post a picture of where you had to trim the rear fender liner? Thanks Ken Irwin

Ken, the second picture shows the only trimming that was done. I am taking it as a compliment if you missed the minor trimming in the photo but I think it is more likely that I may have confused you with my wording.



Picture 2 shows the passenger side front wheel liner which was trimmed on the back/rear side (behind the front tire). The same trimming was done on the driver side front wheel liner.

 

[supersonic]

Stock wheels are forged. But cast weels are pretty strong. I run eagle's classic style 16x 9. 5 with 33 M/T Baja claws on the pulling truck and haven't had any probs.

By the way, sharp truck.

 

[Kirwin]

Thanks for clearing that up

I looks like I missed that part. "Rear wheel liner" I was thinking that something about the rear spring or something stuck out too far. You did such a good job I didn't think you had trimmed anything up front. Must admit though, now that I think about it, I have never heard of a rub problem on the rear end! Your truck looks great! Ken Irwin

 

[Tim]

Many people on this board put down cast aluminum wheels. The stock wheels are cast aluminum.

The stock wheels are forged aluminum like your Welds. There is no way an OEM would use a cast aluminum wheel on a heavy duty pickup... . way too much liability.



I wouldn't either... and if I did, after my past experience with Eagle, I wouldn't use an Eagle.

 

[AlexWV]

Yep. Stock are forged according to the dodge site.



On the other hand, Rickson has a cast aluminum wheel rated at 4500lbs,

same as the forged and same as the steel.

 

[AlexWV]

I forgot to mention... having read all this, what I would do is keep the OEM aluminum wheels and put on BFGs but for some reason, whoever ordered this truck (which has sport package that is supposed to include the aluminum wheels), decided to delete the aluminum wheels for a whopping 100$ credit and chrome clad steel wheels.



I just don't get that but it was not going to be a show stopper as far as me buying the truck.

 

[Razkul99]

The stock wheels are forged aluminum like your Welds. There is no way an OEM would use a cast aluminum wheel on a heavy duty pickup... . way too much liability.

Tim, with regard to your reference to vehicle manufacturers and cast aluminum wheels, Eagle cast aluminum wheels meet US DOT standards just like the forged. The OEM load rating of the basic steel wheels Dodge puts on their 3/4 and 1 ton trucks is 2600lbs.



Specifically, for my truck the gross axle weight rating or GAWR works out 5200/6150 lbs (front/rear). To get the load rating I felt was necessary for a new wheel for my axles I took the larger of those two numbers, in this case 6150, and divide by 2... 3075 lbs. BTW - Dodge actually takes the lower of those two.



It is my understanding that Weld uses semi-solid forging when producing their wheels and Eagle uses high counter pressure cast molding to manufacture theirs.



The measured load ratings on the Cheyenne Welds is 4,000 lbs. The Eagle Alloy 114s have a measured load rating of 3,420 lbs. Thus, in this case the major difference in forging vs casting production method works out to 580lbs a wheel. There is no question the Welds are stronger, but I didn't see a need for the additional load strength given the max load of the axles and the tires.



Next I looked at price... and it basically worked out to I could buy ONE Weld for the price I paid for all FOUR Eagles.

I wouldn't either... and if I did, after my past experience with Eagle, I wouldn't use an Eagle.

Not sure what your experience with Eagle is/was but I preferred the look of the Eagle 114s to the Weld Cheyennes. I also appreciated the fact that Eagle is made in the USA something which was not specified anywhere on Weld's website.