Q: Are your forged truck wheels lighter?
A: No. Our Reign 6061 forged truck wheels are primarily overengineered for durability and strength. Our base line wheel load capacity is set at 3600lbs compared to 2200lbs for many wheels with a 6 lug capacity.
Q: Are your Rally wheels lighter?
A: Our Reign rally wheels are comparable to O.E weights. Our design parameters goes somewhat against the grain with lighter is better philosophy since we believe that a heavier intact wheel is better than a lightweight but unusable wheel. Especially when considering passenger applications where load, road conditions and vehicular weight changes are much more dynamic than race environments, wheels with higher strength and resilience against deformation works to a more optimal advantage than a lighter weight wheel. The weight savings and benefits of a lighter wheel often are not enough to offset replacement cost nor be able to offer substantial advantages on road vehicles.
Q: What is the difference between a356-t6 aluminum from cast or flow formed wheels vs a6061-t6 aluminum wheels?
A: The simple answer is that A6061-T6 is the superior metal in comparison which allows the resulting wheel to be vastly superior to traditional cast and flow formed wheels. A6061-T6 aluminum has an ultimate tensile strength of 45000psi vs A356-T6 which has 33000psi. A6061-T6 has a max yield strength of 40000 psi vs 24000 psi for A356-T6 aluminum. A6061-T6 has a brinell hardness of 95 vs 70 for A356-T6 aluminum. A6061-T6 has a fatigue strength of 13923PSI vs 10877PSI for A356-T6 aluminum. Lastly, A6061-T6 has a shearing strength of 30000psi vs 26000psi for A356-T6 aluminum. In Short, in every category, A6061-T6 aluminum posesses properties superior to traditional A356-T6 casted aluminum. Adding the 10,000 forging process also ensures further the strength of wheels against traditional cast aluminum wheels.
Q: What is the difference between flow formed and 6061-t6 forged?
A: What we are seeing on the market place is the loose term of forging which often times confuse consumers. That is why we clearly indicate the material used in our wheels as A6061-T6. Flow form or any other names with forged coined to describe using A356-t6 aluminum wheels where the barrel is heated and elongated to form the finalize barrel shape may be better than traditional cast wheels. But, the material inherently is around 30% weaker than 6061-t6 grade aluminum. This coupled with the fact that the disk or spoke sections often are traditional casted means that strengths gains often are only in the barrel sections that are pressure compressed. When selecting wheels, consider the materials used and not just the process since the type of material often will dictate and have greater influence on the final strength of the wheel itself.
