Lighter weight wheel

LOUISVILLE. Combining new materials, a new design and manufacturing process, Alcoa Commercial Vehicle Wheels rolled out its new “LvL One” product – tagged to eventually replace its existing line of 22.5 by 8.25 truck wheels, without a price increase.

“Our intent from the beginning was to bring this new product offering into the core part of the wheel market we serve – not bring it in as a premium product,” said Tim Myers, vp & gm of Alcoa Commercial Vehicle Wheels, here at the Mid-America Trucking Show. “We plan on offering this as our ‘base family’ or truck wheels.”

The new “LvL One” aluminum wheel is 2 lbs. lighter than Alcoa’s current product offering, translating into a 36 lb. savings for an entire tractor-trailer, which grows to 650 lbs. when compared to steel wheels. Myers noted that Alcoa is currently field testing its new LvL One wheel with three high-mileage, high-payload fleets – accumulating 150,000 mi. of on-road testing to date.

“Two pounds less per wheel may not seem like much, but [they] can add up to millions for a fleet and translate into more payload, fuel savings, less stress on engines and drivetrains, and lower emissions, too,” Myers said.