ETI Aluminum Wheels

[cpaharley2008]

Dave,
Is that a new tow vehicle in your pictures or the Highlander??

 

[Iowa Dave]

Highlander

Dave,
Is that a new tow vehicle in your pictures or the Highlander??

Nope Jim it’s the 2018 Highlander now with 105,000 miles. Love the 8 speed transmission and the shiftable feature. I tow in 6 and the easier I take it the better my milage. Staying off the Interstates when we can.
Hauling windfall and rotten apples up to the little timber above us. Deer are having an apple smorgasbord.
Iowa Dave

 

[marsman]

We also have the aluminum wheels on our 2019 5.0; After 3 years they still look pretty good but the lugs are all rusting and pitted. Living in Ontario, the trailer does see some salty roads on its way south and back north, I do try to rinse them once we get where we're going.

 

[rsweden]

We have the same lug nut corrosion. They really don't like coastal northern California. The wheels are still looking pretty good. (2019 19'). Not sure, is there a dissimilar metal corrosion issue with AL wheels and steel nuts?

 

[C57D]

I live in the Seattle area but miles from any salt water.
Picked up rig in Dec 21, all 20 lug nuts were rusted within months; and all the plastic painted axle covers were shedding their silver paint.
My 1994 F150 has the same lug nuts since it was new and they have no rust.
Things just aren't built as well as they used to be....

 

[rbryan4]

Things just aren't built as well as they used to be....

Or apparently as high a quality as Escape used to supply. My aluminum wheels are almost 8 years old and both the wheels and lugs still look like new.

 

[cpaharley2008]

I ran into one of the people who bought one of my early Escapes, it still looked new also....

 

[MyronL]

My powder coated 2013 white steel wheels still look beautiful to me.

 

[Meandering Minstrel]

Ditto @CharlesinGA. I installed Sendel aluminum wheels on our 15A 3+ years ago and they are still in perfect condition. Got them from etrailer.com...https://www.etrailer.com/Boat-Trailer-Wheels/Sendel/AM22653.html

Having said that, if you live in a community that drops salt on the roads and it repeatedly contacts wheels...

Those are nice-looking wheels. I'll consider them when I have to replace my tires.

 

[CharlesinGA]

Those are nice-looking wheels. I'll consider them when I have to replace my tires.

RecStuff is a good source for the wheels, cheaper than Etrailer most likely (Etrailer tends to be high on virtually everything including the shipping costs) and RecStuff has a good selection of wheels. I prefer the Sendel but they have HiSpec and others also.

Be sure and get lugnuts that are chrome plated vs the ones with a stainless sleeve crimped over them.

https://recstuff.com/trailer-wheels/15-inch

https://recstuff.com/accessories/wheel-accessories

If you get new wheels, have the tire shop install all metal stems, this way you can install tire pressure sensors later on. Most tire shops will use stems like those designed to mount inside mounted sensors, but simply without the sensor on them.

You need a stem with an extended nut such as this...................

or this..................

As there is no way to tighten the nut if you use a stem with a short nut on it, due to being recessed in the aluminum so far.

Charles

 

[Rossue]

....If you get new wheels, have the tire shop install all metal stems, this way you can install tire pressure sensors later on.

They also have stiffer rubber ones that work well with my TST external TPMS sensors.

I did have the all metal ones a few years ago, and don't really have a preference, I just know that with the standard rubber valve stems the rubber is too soft and the pressure sensors will get knocked around and mar the surface of the rim.