Ram Salta HD Wheel Bent

[EdgeAvl]

Curious about the longer term durability of Salta wheels.

I have had a set on my 2018 Ram 2500 for a month with the Power Wagon 285/70-17 sized Yoko Geolander tire. Found a bend in the drivers rear after only highway driving and some relatively smooth gravel roads. Quite a shock for expedition/off road capable wheel. I do recall one pothole on a dark rainy drive back from Savannah but I would expect this wheel and tire combo to shake it off without incident. I have managed to keep OZ HLT wheels with 40 series tires straight for years on my car and do not drive the truck with inattention as though I can get away with it.

Just send it and forget it?

Warranty is buy another wheel.

[Wapitihunter]

Did you call them or post on the forum to have a pity party first?

what does “warranty is buy another wheel” mean? Seems appropriate if you hit a pot hole really hard.

no issues here, plenty of hard hits, and aev has always taken care of me but I’ve never posted on the forum rather than just call them

[EdgeAvl]

No pity party, just asking how others have fared with Salta wheels. AEV is the manufacturer, so logically I contacted them first. They said to contact sales to buy a replacement, no coverage. They make the call on the warranty, consumers decide if they continue to buy the product.

I have flow formed heat treated OZ HLT wheels with 40 series tires that I have run for over a decade with no bends. Granted this is a cast wheel, so maybe expectations have to be lower, just seeing if the expedition marketing holds up, and all the load and strength stats. That is a valid consideration in buying a purpose built wheel particularly if marketed for hardcore off-road use. Maybe that is only the domain of bead lock wheels. Maybe lower psi off-road protects the rim, short of a rim shot vs the spec 60-80psi rear pressure on the road. On the front, if the inside gets bent it will be quite close to the caliper as the tolerances are already tight.

You have experience reasonable long term durability it seems, thanks for the feedback.

[Wapitihunter]

Any chance it happened on install? Odd there is no marks.

110,000 miles on mine. Truck is not babied. But steel will pretty much always be better off-road.

[jeffd]

are you 100% sure it was not that way to begin with? unlikely a pot hole would do that with out flatting or damaging your tire.

[EdgeAvl]

Any chance it happened on install? Odd there is no marks.

110,000 miles on mine. Truck is not babied. But steel will pretty much always be better off-road.

I am not a big tire expert, but I am a motorhead and endurance racer, so more used to 40 and 50 series, but they were perfect out of the shop. They are the go-to shop locally for off road/AT tires, my buddies that work at the Land Rover school at the Biltmore referred me to them. They balanced with very little weight. I will go back after the holiday to see if they still balance okay. I will have them check the left tires too.

I found a smaller bend on the front left, both are just the lip and not the barrel, I assume the higher spec pressures on the back and maybe the suspension geometry made the rear hit harder.

Agree on steel, my buddy that runs his jeep off road uses steel only.

I think it was just an unlucky hit in the dark, as I am very conscious about watching the road for imperfections.

[EdgeAvl]

are you 100% sure it was not that way to begin with? unlikely a pot hole would do that with out flatting or damaging your tire.

per my other reply, they were new in the box and balanced easily with little weight and no damage on the boxes when they arrived. I am going to have the shop check the balance and the left side tires.

[.com]

Ive had the same wheels on my truck for years. Roughly 100k on them. Its a 3500 that I use as a work truck, so lots of towing and hauling, I also take it off road, quite a bit of rock rash on the rims. But wheels are still true. It kind of looks like it was dropped before the tire was installed. But who knows... I don't know how a tire with that much sidewall would bend a rim.

[Wapitihunter]

Looks like there is a rash on the rim. Got a close up?

[jeffd]

somebody on Ramforum has two brand new salta wheels that look the same and they were that in the box.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/power-wagons-post-em-up.52047/page-67

[EdgeAvl]

Looks like there is a rash on the rim. Got a close up?

No rash, just a bent lip.

[EdgeAvl]

somebody on Ramforum has two brand new salta wheels that look the same and they were that in the box.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/pow....52047/page-67

Jeff, you mean they arrived that way? I could not find that specific mention, but I will try to find it. AEV Customer Service offered me them at $200 a wheel to replace after a followup call.

[EdgeAvl]

somebody on Ramforum has two brand new salta wheels that look the same and they were that in the box.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/pow....52047/page-67

Found it, thanks for the heads up!