Hi all,

I've been hunting wheels for my X and have learned some interesting things that I thought I'd share.

I'm not a wheel expert nor am I inside the industry, so some of this information may be incorrect, but it's the best I can supply for now.

I initially just started searching to find something I liked the look of. I had decided on 17 inch wheels to match up with 35 inch tires. I didn't want to do just another black wheel, so I was leaning toward something like a grey/gunmetal/machined look, maybe with black accents.

It seems like the trend in wheels has been from all chrome/polished, to all black, to now emerging styles with combinations of black and machined/polished (black centers with polished rims/fakelock rings, polished centers with black rims/fakelocks, black with machined accents througout). Many of the newer styles are not available in 17 inch sizes and some are only available in 20 or larger.

I found a very interesting post on Power Stroke Army cataloging horror stories about wheels. Turns out that many cast rims and even some forged have issues with cracking spokes, structural flaws leading to leaks, etc.

The majority of complaints are about Chinese cast product, which it seems are almost all currently available wheels. There are some complaints about American made wheels, specifically Centerline and Weld, but these seem to be older complaints about wheels made prior to those companies current product lines (Weld has gone through a restructuring, not sure about Centerline).

So I decided to narrow my search to American made product. There are a few manufacturers of true beadlock rims that claim to have all American made product. I am considering some of these, but lean away from them because of the extra weight and complexity. I'll likely never air down enough to need a beadlock. Looking at beadlock stuff though peaked my interest in the look. It seems a good way to take an otherwise boring wheel and spice it up. There is a company named OMF that will add a fakelock to pretty much anything.

Back onto the American manufactured wheels thing, outside the true beadlocks, I thought I had narrowed it down to four companies: Weld, Centerline, Mickey Thompson, and American Eagle.

Today I found out that all Mickey Thompson wheels are made offshore, so they're out (MT tires are made in the US). Upon looking in more detail, MOST American Eagle wheels are made in America, but you have to look at the technical sheets on the wheels (available on their website). If there are no little American flags next to the SKU's, they are not American made. The only American Eagle wheel I have looked into that does not have the little American flag is their Series 012, but I haven't looked at their entire catalog.

I can find few complaints about American Eagle wheels. One forum post I found indicated that they are running a standard AE wheel on their offroad race truck. I did find one complaint from around 2007 about their black coated wheels fading, but only the one.

My complaint about American Eagle wheels is that several of their options do not include center caps for our large bolt patterns. I have dispatched an email to them asking about what to do for center caps for these situations, but no response as of yet.

So basically if you're dead set on American made wheels, you're limited to American Eagle (carefully evaluate the specifics AND you may be getting wheels with no caps), Weld, or Centerline, unless you add true beadlocks to your search, but even then I think you need to be careful. Out of all of those choices, the only inexpensive option is American Eagle, I'm assuming because they're cast vs forged.

I'm still undecided. There is a AE style that I would probably get right now, but it's only made in 17x8, which won't properly fit a 12.5" tire. Their styles that mimic the Mickey Thompson Classic (185 black and 186 polished) do not include center caps.

Anyone have advice on center caps?

Chris

 

If the AE wheels that you like accept a standard push through style center cap, you might be able to find a stainless set of caps from JcWhitney or a similar parts distributor.

Guessing from your post that like most of us youre on a budget but although pricey the Walker Evans series of wheels are really nice, I like the grey ones, not sure if they are made in USA though, never came across that info.

 

Why not just find a nice newer set of OEM wheels?

 

Factory wheels are too narrow to mount a 12.5 inch wide tire on. 06 and later wheels have more backspace than 05 and earlier and require spacers to work.

At least that's what I've gathered. I did look into Alcoa options, but only found a 16 x 7.

Chris

 

I think you can mount 12.5" tires on 8" wide wheels. Off roaders have been mounting 33x12.50s on 15x8s for a long time. I know the rule of thumb is no difference more than 4" but....

What about the American Racing ATX series wheels? Have you looked into them? I would be curious as to where and how they are made. I like the black Mojaves in 16x8, but they make several wheels in 17x9s.

ATX Wheels

 

Here is the American Eagle rims I have on my 2003 superduty. I have the 17" x 9" size on mine. I have had them 3 years and have had no problems. They also come with the center caps which is helpfull..http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eagle-140-Wheels-Rims-16-x-8-FORD-SUPER-DUTY-F250-HD-/400252777009?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d30ecb231&vxp=mtr

 

I do work inside the wheel industry for an overseas wheel manufacturer to the OEM and luckily we've never really had a quality issue with any of our wheels. Yeah, we have paint/clearcoat that gets damaged at times, but we've never had a problem with the integrity of the wheels.

I will say this though- the preproduction part approval process that all parts have to go through is quite vigorous in order for any part to go on a production vehicle. We are not allowed to ship any wheels to the customer that could be mounted on a vehicle until it passes this approval process. The problem with aftermarket companies is they aren't required to pass any of these quality tests, so you're relying on the aftermarket manufacturer to do their own testing which they won't want to spend to do.

For example, the '08 20" polished SD wheel that's so highly regarded here is a testament to high quality workmanship and thorough testing.

I'd be hesitant to run any aftermarket wheel on an Excursion due to weight.

 

Working in the OEM as well, I agree 100% with the above. Aftermarket manufacturers have disclaimers to protect them, OEM's have quality and reliability. We test way past 100% durability, aftermarkets do little or no testing at all. Most will not honor any warranty either. They always find some way to wiggle out of it in the fine print.

 

I just picked up some Mickey Thompson Classic III wheels 16"x12"
I doubt I'll break the wheels but I'll probably need to replace wheel bearings more often now.

 

I was strongly considering MT wheels but then found that they are made offshore. I'm actually still looking into MT classics though. They seem to be about the only offshore made wheel with a solid reputation.

Chris

 

They seem pretty well built to me, I also like that you can remove the center caps without removing the wheels.