TMC, NASHVILLE -- Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products says its new 14-inch wide base and 9-inch wheels are again the lightest in the industry. Using Alcoa's proprietary LvL One wheel manufacturing process of light weighting coupled with 6061 alloy, Alcoa’s 22.5-inch by 14-inch wide base wheels are now 54 pounds per wheel, and 22.5-inch by 9-inch wheels are now 51 or 59 pounds (dependent on fitment).

Alcoa unveiled the new wheels at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition in Nashville. As before, Alcoa’s 14-inch wide base wheels replace dual wheels and reduce overall vehicle weight for improved productivity or increased fuel economy. Alcoa’s new 14-inch wide-base wheels drop another 4 pounds from their previous 58 pounds, further improving freight efficiency. In fact, simply switching from dual steel 22.5-inch by 8.25-inch wheels and tires to Alcoa 14-inch wide-base wheels and tires reduces the weight of an 18-wheeler by more than 1,400 pounds, cutting annual fuel costs or increasing payload.

Alcoa’s new 9-inch wheels are now 3 pounds lighter than their previous version and again the lightest in their class, according to the company Switching from a comparable steel wheel to Alcoa aluminum 9-inch wheels saves more than 50 pounds per wheel to improve productivity or fuel efficiency without sacrificing load rating. With a load rating of 10,000 pounds., these heavy load wheels are ideal for refuse collection, logging, mining and other heavy haul applications.

Each wheel is offered in popular Alcoa surface options including clean buff, mirror polish, Dura-Bright and Dura-Flange.