Which wheels for offroading?

After my Volvo C70 hit a pothole and wrecked 2 wheels in 1 fatal swoop I got thinking.. for offroading which wheels are prefered?

Am I right in thinking it's better to put steelies on as they'll be more up to the punishment of offroading and less likely to get flat spots etc?

Which wheels would you recommend for the Jimny, size too?

Steel wheels are no less likely to take damage than alloy ones but it is possible to beat a steel kinda back into shape with a big hammer out in the Bush which you simply can't do to an alloy wheel. But you need to have the provision of potentially unmounting a tyre and having a big enough hammer with you. In reality your best bet is a high profile tyre that way the actual wheel is as far away from damage as it reasonably can be, that and pick a line on the track that is more likely to keep you from smacked rims.

Alloy V Steel

Most off roading is done a slow speeds so impact pressure is low
Any rocky sections can and will cause damage
Alloys don't rust when paint is damaged steel does

I use 16" grand vitara steels


This is damage from one day on the lanes in the lake District

Lambert wrote: Steel wheels are no less likely to take damage than alloy ones but it is possible to beat a steel kinda back into shape with a big hammer out in the Bush which you simply can't do to an alloy wheel. But you need to have the provision of potentially unmounting a tyre and having a big enough hammer with you. In reality your best bet is a high profile tyre that way the actual wheel is as far away from damage as it reasonably can be, that and pick a line on the track that is more likely to keep you from smacked rims.

But alloy is more susceptable to cracking right? It takes less force to damage / mishape / crack an alloy than a steelie, doesn't it?

jackonlyjack wrote: Most off roading is done a slow speeds so impact pressure is low
Any rocky sections can and will cause damage
Alloys don't rust when paint is damaged steel does

I use 16" grand vitara steels

This is damage from one day on the lanes in the lake District

I like the look of those steelies. Appreciate that steel will rust, but alloys still corode and are suspcetible to acid attack, isn't this more then more likely when the outer coating is stripped off, as it would have on your same outing when paint was scraped on your steelies?

The property of each,although different, is not really going to make a big difference for the off road trips we tend to do in the UK. I suspect if you trash an alloy you would also have a bent steel wheel as well, which you are probably going to replace rather than hammer it straight. So it boils down to your need to fix a wheel "in the bush" rather than fitting the spare and driving to Quickfit.
That said new steels are a lot cheaper than new alloys, so if you do make a habit of bending them they are the cheaper option. They can also look cool with bigger off road tyres.
But you have no need to put steels on just to hit the off-road tracks, they are perfectly acceptable for this.
Just my opinion, may differ from others etc.
Mike