I'll not go into the "outback" with alloy wheels.  I've been there, done
that and had a couple of close calls as well as some "Boy, am I glad I
learned my lesson and we have steel wheels THIS trip" episodes.

  Waay off the main road (which is not very Main anyway) on the Baja
penninsula we fractured (no longer functional at all)  a cast aluminum Ford
Factory alloy rim on my pickup...70-some miles back to the highway and from
there another 400 miles to an auto parts supplier.  We had two spares,
luckily.  Flatted again with another nicked rim that would not take air
after we mounted a booted repaired tire onto it. Fixed that using surfboard
epoxy and then side tracked (without a spare now) to the nears Llanterra
(tire shop) with a working compressor capable of putting 65lbs into that
tire...but we still had just one questionable spare left...and 70 miles of
washboard and rocks to go to get to 'iffy' pavement...All because I ordered
the 'cool looking wheels' for my new truck...
  I vowed never again and the very next winter that proved a good decision
as I badly bent one of my now factory steel wheels but was able to bash it
back into shape enough to hold the bead...used a smooth boulder off the
beach..That time, we didn't have to cut short our trip and we continued on
down the remote back "roads" of Baja...
  No, you can keep your purty alloy rims for the forest service campsites or
the KOAs adjacent to the interstates..but I'd rather have steel rims when
I'm going out in the rough stuff..

  Don Hanson

On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 8:16 PM, Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the links (though I will say, I was already familiar with
> these concepts, it is nice to see other voice echoing my statements).
> I've overloaded (other) vehicles before. I'm just as happy to squander
> a few 2 dollar bills on quality shoes for my forest hotel, to make
> sure it stays upright, as well as forthright.
>
> Metallurgy is a fascinating (and still evolving) field.
> On Sep 14, 2009, at 3:36 PM, Al Knoll wrote:
>
> Lots of opinion here:
>> http://www.hrewheels.com/blog/tech-talk/cast-wheels-vs-forged-wheels/
>> and here:
>>
>> http://www.hrewheels.com/blog/tech-talk/rotational-inertias-effect-on-performance/
>>
>> For those wheel nuts among us who dabble in strength of materials and
>> metallurgy and occasionally step into the mire of machine design,
>> the above
>> references give a peek into pandoras box.
>>
>> Many of us run our escape pods on the edge or beyond the edge of the
>> design
>> limits.  Doing so with some knowledge of the possible outcomes
>> allows us to
>> get away with such flagant excursions most of the time.
>>
>