[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Foster

alloys have always been better than steel hubs esteem. All that guy you meet meant was when getting and alloy to replace the ugly steel hubs make sure the alloys dont weigh greater than the old steel hubs you used to have and if it does weigh greater then the following things he mentioned comes to play

Foster, I am a much more enlightened soul today thanks to team-bhp's tyre gurus, iraghava & kpzen among others.

Originally Posted by madhokritesh

Guys have a month old Getz Prim 1.1 which came with tube tyres, i replaced them to Tubeless ones at the dealer itself, now i find the air pressure going down frm one of the tyres, do i need to get Alloy wheels for tubeless or Steel Rimms are fine? Plz enlighten , me confused.

Ritesh

check your rims

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by madhokritesh

Guys have a month old Getz Prim 1.1 which came with tube tyres, i replaced them to Tubeless ones at the dealer itself, now i find the air pressure going down frm one of the tyres, do i need to get Alloy wheels for tubeless or Steel Rimms are fine? Plz enlighten , me confused.

Ritesh

Ritesh, steel rims are OK IF in good, undamaged condition.
There are only three places from where air can leak, assuming there are no punctures:
1) The bead area.
2) The valve fitting.
3) The welded seam between the two halves that steel rims are made up of.

[trrk]

Hi,

> Guys have a month old Getz Prim 1.1 which came with tube tyres, i replaced > them to Tubeless ones at the dealer itself, now i find the air pressure going
> down frm one of the tyres,

Check the problem tyre and wheel.

- Could be a puncture
- Could be a leaking valve
- Rim bend

New steel wheels should be fine with tubeless tyres. Steel wheels are more prone to rim bends and to leaking air from a tubeless tyre.

[esteem_lover]

I ran my tubeless tyres on steel wheels for more than 5k kms before i changed to alloys.

[giri1.8]

Sorry to bump into a old thread,I am planning to change my optra's tyres and Came to know that there are lot of affordable Chinese alloy wheels in the market.Will it be a sensible option to upgrade to Chinese alloys from my stock steel rims?

P.S:I can't extend my budget to afford more expensive branded alloys

[sgiitk]

I have used tubeless on steel rims for well in excess of five years. I will avoid the cheaper Chinese since QC is a prime consideration for me.

[naren_L]

@giri1.8, Hope this is useful for you! I have a Yamaha gladiator with company fitted alloys and I always suspected about it's quality due to two reasons

1. The cross section of the webs of the wheel is simple elliptical compared to more stronger C and Z cross sections of other bikes.

2. It weighs less - feels very light and thin when checked once (while the puncture repair was being done).

My doubt confirmed one day while checking the air pressure the boy told me that the rear rim has a crack . I was really shocked to see that it has a 3 to 4 inch long crack. When asked at showrooms they told me that it can't be repaired only solution is to replace the wheel/rim.

So the point here is you need to check for the quality of the wheels you want to opt for and if nothing assures about the quality better be with the steel rims.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by naren_L

@giri1.8, Hope this is useful for you! I have a Yamaha gladiator with company fitted alloys and I always suspected about it's quality due to two reasons

1. The cross section of the webs of the wheel is simple elliptical compared to more stronger C and Z cross sections of other bikes.

2. It weighs less - feels very light and thin when checked once (while the puncture repair was being done).

My doubt confirmed one day while checking the air pressure the boy told me that the rear rim has a crack . I was really shocked to see that it has a 3 to 4 inch long crack. When asked at showrooms they told me that it can't be repaired only solution is to replace the wheel/rim.

So the point here is you need to check for the quality of the wheels you want to opt for and if nothing assures about the quality better be with the steel rims.

I understand that quality is important but when surfing for branded alloy wheels I found that even some of the high end alloy wheels are manufactured in developing countries like china! To be frank I am totally confused

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by naren_L

@giri1.8, Hope this is useful for you! I have a Yamaha gladiator with company fitted alloys and I always suspected about it's quality due to two reasons

1. The cross section of the webs of the wheel is simple elliptical compared to more stronger C and Z cross sections of other bikes.

2. It weighs less - feels very light and thin when checked once (while the puncture repair was being done).

My doubt confirmed one day while checking the air pressure the boy told me that the rear rim has a crack . I was really shocked to see that it has a 3 to 4 inch long crack. When asked at showrooms they told me that it can't be repaired only solution is to replace the wheel/rim.

So the point here is you need to check for the quality of the wheels you want to opt for and if nothing assures about the quality better be with the steel rims.

Naren,

1. Could you please elaborate ?

2. All that is light is not weak. Can't pass a judgement on the basis of its weight.

Manufacturers, always test the wheels extensively. It is the only contact point of vehicle with the road. They would never risk it.
Sometimes, simulations do go wrong which results in failure at customer end.

Mostly, OEM wheels are tougher than all aftermarket alloys except for a few like enkei, rays etc and they are mighty expensive.

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Sorry to bump into a old thread,I am planning to change my optra's tyres and Came to know that there are lot of affordable Chinese alloy wheels in the market.Will it be a sensible option to upgrade to Chinese alloys from my stock steel rims?

P.S:I can't extend my budget to afford more expensive branded alloys

Alloy wheels are always better for a car, assuming they weigh less than the steel rims, because it helps you have better life of the suspension and drive train parts. However, the catch here is that the quality of the alloys must equal or surpass that of the steel rim. This is where a lot of the cheaper Chinese alloys are suspect.

In an ideal world you would get the lightest and yet strongest alloys at an affordable price.

i personally say stick to the steel rims unless you are sure of the quality of alloys because tyres are such an integral part of safety.

[aerohit]

I have a weighing scale and I weighed both steel and alloy, to be accurate.

The alloy that I had was negligibly heavier. (not saying all alloys are heavier)

After using both Steel and Alloys for many years I can say that apart from looks it serves no other purpose - specially in Indian conditions. (Unless you buy very expensive forged magnesium alloy which is lighter but delicate than commonly and cheaply sold heavier cast alloy rims)

Infact, steel rims are better for Indian conditions because they have slight flexing ability- good when going over potholes and stones.

Rule is simple- If the alloy is indeed lighter, go for it. If not, do not destroy your suspension, mileage, for the sake of looks on a car that is usually driven on a 3rd world infrastructure, where people just want to show-off that they can now afford cars/alloys.

[zwift1819]

Originally Posted by aerohit

I have a weighing scale and I weighed both steel and alloy, to be accurate.

The alloy was negligibly heavier.

After using both Steel and Alloys for many years I can say that apart from looks it serves no other purpose - specially in Indian conditions. (Unless you buy very expensive forged magnesium alloy which is lighter that commonly and cheaply sold Cast alloy)

Rule is simple- If the alloy is indeed lighter, go for it. If not, do not destroy your suspension, mileage, for the sake of looks on a car that is usually driven on a 3rd world infrastructure.

What you have said is very true. These days there are different types of alloys in the market for different budgets. It's best to go in for a branded alloy than buying cheap jack alloys or still better I feel is oe alloys given by the company.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

I understand that quality is important but when surfing for branded alloy wheels I found that even some of the high end alloy wheels are manufactured in developing countries like china! To be frank I am totally confused

The branded alloys, though manufactured in China, are subjected to high QC norms. The rejected ones are generally sold off in the market at much cheaper rates than the branded ones. The question here is really not the "Country of Origin" but the quality of the products. The cheaper quality alloy can develop a crack when it falls in the craters/potholes, so common in the Indian roads. That is when it becomes very risky in a fast moving vehicle like a car.

So it is advisable to go for quality alloys in your car even at extra cost or use the tubeless tyres on your existing steel rims. Please remember you don't need to have alloys to shift to tubeless tyres, if that is your intention.

Hope this clarifies your point.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by Sommos

The branded alloys, though manufactured in China, are subjected to high QC norms. The rejected ones are generally sold off in the market at much cheaper rates than the branded ones. The question here is really not the "Country of Origin" but the quality of the products. The cheaper quality alloy can develop a crack when it falls in the craters/potholes, so common in the Indian roads. That is when it becomes very risky in a fast moving vehicle like a car.

So it is advisable to go for quality alloys in your car even at extra cost or use the tubeless tyres on your existing steel rims. Please remember you don't need to have alloys to shift to tubeless tyres, if that is your intention.

Hope this clarifies your point.

Thanks for the clarification! I am aware that QC plays and important role but the main reason for my confusion was that some of the chinese brands have some QC like x-ray testing and some type of inspections but I am not sure if they are really certified(Like ISO).I will stick with stock rims for now and swap my tyres! but will do further research on these brands and QC carried out by them.Thanks for the help everyone

[swarnava.m]

With all the discussion going on here, it would be a good thing if someone could list prominent brands of alloys that are safe to go for.

Upfront, I am asking about my own first. I am using alloys from a brand called Neo. Here is their website. Can someone please tell me if this is alright?