Accuride Announces Lighter-Weight Aluminum Wheel

Accuride announced weight improvements for its Accu-Lite family of lightweight aluminum wheels, as well as a new 38-pound, 10-handhole wheel.

Accuride said in a press release that its wheel design and manufacturing process, combined with the performance of Quantum 99 aluminum alloy, allows it to specifically control the grain structure in its new 38-pound wheel, making the wheel stronger and maintaining the wheel’s service life while also lightening the wheel to help improve fuel savings. The parts number designation for the new Accu-Lite wheel is 43644 22.5 x 8.25.

“This new wheel design has really proven itself during our two years of field testing on the Canadian highway system,” said Craig Kessler, senior vice president of engineering at Accuride.

Accuride said it used a new patent-pending aluminum alloy to reduce the weight of three of its wheels by 3-4 pounds each; a 5-7% improvement overall. The new alloy employs an improved grain structure that improves fatigue, so less material is needed:

• 42362 – 24.5 x 8.25" second generation wheel, now 50 lbs., a four-pound weight reduction.
• 43142 – 22.5 x 14.00" third generation Duplex wheel, reduced from 55 to 51 lbs.
• 43140 – 22.5 x 14.00" third generation Duplex wheel, reduced from 54 to 51 lbs.

Additionally, the company said it has improved and expanded on its customization of coating technologies with ProShield XGT, an extreme gloss technology that it said improves shine, cleanability, and corrosion resistance, along with ProShield Black, a custom matte-black finish. Look for both coatings to be released in the first quarter of 2020. Along with the ProShield coatings, all Accu-Lite wheels are available with Standard Polish (SP) and Extra Polish (XP).