Off road and in the dirt

I finally took the plunge and traded the family wagon on a 4WD. The reasons were plenty, or so I convinced myself. The family have grown up, we bought a rural block with a sketchy drive way, we have a huge trailer to pull, and 'one day' we will go bush again for a holiday. With the practicality of a farm weekender to consider, a dual cab was a no brainer! We need to carry fuel, rubbish, a dirt bike or two, and various pieces of equipment. After hunting around for months I settled on a good trade with a low km ex fleet 2013 Ranger. 4WD's have come along way in their ride and handling in the last few years, and the switch across to the 'Truck' as it is now known wasn't as difficult as I thought.

Sitting out the front of the house it looked great. A silver XL model, with tinted windows and blacked out trim, it looked the goods. But those standard steels wheels look crap. Yes, they are totally functional, have excellent tyres and more than capable for all the situations we would be in, but the verdict from my wife was; 

'Get my personalised number plates back, and buy some decent wheels for that truck!'

Fantastic! A ministerial directive to get new wheels. I thought it was Xmas!

It should be an easy decision, let's go shopping on the net. But then the questions started. What about steel? How about alloy? How big? What offset? Now the confusion had set in.

We have a personal horror story of a friend who bought a demo model 4WD from a dealer in Sydney. A great deal and fitted with nice looking 20" inch alloys. The salesman obviously didn't here the bit about them living out bush. It was clear these wheels were not for off-road, however after a couple months, it was clearer they weren't built for the bush bitumen either. One day taking the kids to sport in Mudgee, both front alloys exploded into shards of metal, destroying the tyres, and varios parts if the under carriage & luckily everyone was safe! Not a happy mum, and a less happy dealer after months of to and fro to get it sorted. This made me a little gun shy. I took the usual path, and started talking to friends. At every corner, I got a different answer.

Then a close friend, JT, mentioned he had a mate who worked for King wheels, and suggested I talk to him. Back onto Google and onto their web site. I had a quick wade through the range of slick, fat and pimped wheels for road cars, then I found the 4wd wheels. There was a good range of steelies, including the good ol 'Sunraysia style', and a lot of alloys. To me the alloy ones looked the best. This was making the alloy versus steel debate harder as I was a bit nervous about alloys on the Truck.

I rang Micheal at Kings and asked if I could come in and see what they do, and to find out how an alloy wheel is designed to suit off road conditions. More importantly, I also wanted some myth busting to put to rest my struggle with steel versus alloy in the world of 4WDs'. My thinking was clear, I can always beat straight a steel rim out the back of beyond with a big hammer, but fixing the bead on an alloy is a lot harder. Are they tough enough?

I dropped into their HQ in Glendenning in Western Sydney. All their wheels are sourced and manufactured under their strict quality conditions from long term quality suppliers. Micheal showed me around the showroom and the latest range of steel 4WD wheels, and then I asked the question - Steel or Alloy?

Without going into a 2 day engineering discussion Micheal explained it pretty simply,

"Steel wheels are the most popular with 4WD drivers as an after market option, especially those that need radical offsets and want to run larger tyres, with custom suspension. They are cost effective, tough and come in some new great looking styles like the D-Locker. Alloy wheels are much more flexible in design and are just as practical for day to day off road applications as long as they are good quality. Depending on where they are manufactured alloy wheels can have up to 20% recycled metal."

It was great to know that Kings alloys are made from the best quality commercial materials available and more than tough enough for what I will be doing. They have 10 new lines coming in this year, but I really couldn't wait. So we dipped into the stock pile of current wheels for the Ranger on the shelf. I really wanted to go the simple route as my current tyres were near new, so started looking at the options for 16" rims. It didn't take long to decide on the piped Rebel wheels in Satin black. Subtle in black, but with a hint of CNC machining to bring out the lines. 

The final result is up to you to decide, I have a stronger and safer ride than a lot of other alloys in the market. If you are still debating which way to go speak to a local expert, or give Micheal a call. He knows his stuff, and can recommend the right set up for you. Make sure you let him know I sent you. If you need he can recommend a dealer close to you as they are stocked National across a broad range of locaitons.

For me, not only do I have a new wheels on the Truck, I have a very happy wife! Now if I could only get the keys off her so I can get to drive it.