RTR Evo6 Off Road Durability?

[tisser07]

All,

Does anyone have off road experience with the RTR Evo6 wheels on the Ranger Raptor? I'm in Arizona and do both high speed desert running but often do more trail driving. Out trails are very rocky and quite sharp. My truck is stock except the ProCal tune. I have the bead lock capable wheels and the idea of dropping 14lbs per wheel is enticing. I really like the looks of the RTRs as well.

I'm confident in the strength in the stock wheels, but have not come across much about the Evo6s in off road environments. If anyone has feedback, I would greatly appreciate it.

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[Lion77]

Personally, I would suggest going with Method over RTR for off-road use. Ford Performance uses their MR207 Forged wheels on the race truck and sells the 703's on their site for the Bronco's (also fits the Ranger). Method's standard wheels have proven to be very druable in off-roading. They are VERY popular with off-roading in general because of the bead grip for both high speed uses and for crawling / trail work.

I ran down to 12 psi in the sand dunes just a few weeks ago, pro cal tuned and used all 455 HP regularly! I even slipped a rear tire on the wheel just a bit (had to get re-balanced) due the low air pressure and tons of full throttle pulls on the drag strip (may run 15 psi next time), but it never lost air and I never de-beaded.

I do think the RTR's look better in some ways, but the Method's, while simple in design, are very easy to clean off, and tend to not hold as much dirt as some of the more complex spoke designs and a very well built for abuse. They are performance wheels first with meaty spokes and rim lips, plus you get the large inner safety hump and bead grip ridges that hold the tire bead at low pressures far better than the RTR will.

The 705's are pretty lightweight, 25.2lbs per wheel, the 703's are more popular and still reasonable weight at 28 lbs per wheel. Here's my take, when going with lightweight wheels, in off-roading you do NOT want to sacrifice strength for a few lbs.

Your not going to notice the difference between 23 to 25 or 28 lb wheels. Sure, you can tell between a 36 lb OE bead-lock that is like a boat anchor, but if you had started with factory alloys at 28~29lbs, it's less dramatic.

The RR race truck runs MR207 Forged wheels that are 30lbs a wheel, about the same weight as OE alloys and due to class rules, that truck cannot run a tune, it's on factory cal at 405 hp. That's the compromise, not ultra lightweight like a car wheel for smooth track, but not a boat anchor either.

The 705's give you a really good balance of weight vs strength, it's the same alloy and size / off-set as the 703, just slightly different spoke design and only two-color options (matt black and titanium).

Go method, if you off-road frequently, you will thank me down the road, especially when aired down!

 

[Lion77]

BTW, I have nothing against RTR, I ran their Tech 7's on my 2016 Mustang GT in a square setup, great wheels, but I think their wheels are more geared toward on-road use than off-road use.

 

[tisser07]

Personally, I would suggest going with Method over RTR for off-road use. Ford Performance uses their MR207 Forged wheels on the race truck and sells the 703's on their site for the Bronco's (also fits the Ranger). Method's standard wheels have proven to be very druable in off-roading. They are VERY popular with off-roading in general because of the bead grip for both high speed uses and for crawling / trail work.

I ran down to 12 psi in the sand dunes just a few weeks ago, pro cal tuned and used all 455 HP regularly! I even slipped a rear tire on the wheel just a bit (had to get re-balanced) due the low air pressure and tons of full throttle pulls on the drag strip (may run 15 psi next time), but it never lost air and I never de-beaded.

I do think the RTR's look better in some ways, but the Method's, while simple in design, are very easy to clean off, and tend to not hold as much dirt as some of the more complex spoke designs and a very well built for abuse. They are performance wheels first with meaty spokes and rim lips, plus you get the large inner safety hump and bead grip ridges that hold the tire bead at low pressures far better than the RTR will.

The 705's are pretty lightweight, 25.2lbs per wheel, the 703's are more popular and still reasonable weight at 28 lbs per wheel. Here's my take, when going with lightweight wheels, in off-roading you do NOT want to sacrifice strength for a few lbs.

Your not going to notice the difference between 23 to 25 or 28 lb wheels. Sure, you can tell between a 36 lb OE bead-lock that is like a boat anchor, but if you had started with factory alloys at 28~29lbs, it's less dramatic.

The RR race truck runs MR207 Forged wheels that are 30lbs a wheel, about the same weight as OE alloys and due to class rules, that truck cannot run a tune, it's on factory cal at 405 hp. That's the compromise, not ultra lightweight like a car wheel for smooth track, but not a boat anchor either.

The 705's give you a really good balance of weight vs strength, it's the same alloy and size / off-set as the 703, just slightly different spoke design and only two-color options (matt black and titanium).

Go method, if you off-road frequently, you will thank me down the road, especially when aired down!

 

[tisser07]

Thanks for your insight. I do prefer the 703s if going the Method route. Did your wheels come with proper hub centric rings? Some people have mentioned it in their posts.

 

[Lion77]

If you buy the Ford Performance versions of the 703's for the Bronco's directly from Ford Performance then you don't need hub centric rings as they are custom made to be hub centric for Ford's hub size (93mm).

I got Method's directly from Method with the universal 106mm hub bore since I wanted the 705's for the weight and preferred the spoke pattern over the 703's, but I did not need hub centric rings and have no balance issues. In fact, they balance better than the OE bead locks which required copious amounts of weights.

Hub centric rings are only for ease of installation in case your tech is careless and doesn't properly torque the lugs in a start pattern when initially tightening (possibly causing the tapered lug to not fully seat centered), so they help with centering, but are not required with proper installation techniques. Hub centric wheels were really an engineering control for lazy techs lol.

Many people think the hub bore fit is required for strength, but it has nothing to do with load bearing of the wheel, that happens entirely via the lugs and lug taper. But it is a nice feature to have if you can get it in a particular wheel of interest.

 

[tisser07]

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on the Method 709HD with impact rings. It would be the first step toward running 34s or 35s.

 

[dsmclark]

I was under the impression that method makes the RTR wheels. So wouldn't the quality be the same?

 

[Lion77]

Not that im aware of RTR focuses more on the street car scene with lightweight Flow Formed wheels and offers a few forged options too.

Method is focused on offroad use, be it tucks, SUVs and S x S. Most of their wheels are solid castings made with the high strength aluminum alloy A356 with heat treatment + artificial aging for optamizing strength that is what is commonly known as T6 treatment of alloys.

For reference A356 is a structural alloy used in Aerospace and Automotive for engine block and transmission casings and rear axle housings. Its a very strong alloy. Method also has their MR207 Forged series for race applications with even greater strength.

 

[Lion77]

BTW here's some general info on Methods site:

At the very least, they are very rugged and durable wheels that I think are better suited to offroad use than RTR.

RTR makes great wheels, again I wanted to reiterate I have owned and used them in the past on my 2016 Mustang GT, but that was a 3700lb street car, not a 5,400lb offroad truck going over big rocks and bumps and whoops at 40 to 60 mph and jumping 2 - 3 ft in the air.

Its a very different application. Also you dont need beadgrip on on-road uses since you dont run low air pressure in performance road cars but in offroad thats normal.

So I think Methods are much better suited to offroad and RTRs are much better suited for on road and thats honestly how they mostly market their stuff anyway.

Sure, RTR is branching out a bit, but their wheels are more suited to a road going truck that doesnt see hard offroad use. If thats all your gonna do with your RR, on-road or maybe at most some Dirt / Gravel roads, RTRs should work well.

But I bought my Raptor for both, road trips, trails and off road. I did Silver Lake this year and drove up and over 400 foot dunes, popping over the tops of the steeper side like a like a cork and the front end would come down from several feet in the air and I only ran 14 psi front and 12 psi rear. No issues at all!

Also I can say the Methods are by far the easiest to clean off after offroading. I actually appreciate their somewhat simple spoke designs, they dont hold dirt and are easy to clean off!!!

When you get your truck dirty regularly...that starts to matter as dumb as it sounds. Overall, RTR for onroad, Methods for offroad is the way to go. At the end of the day, any of the method beadgrips will work well for offroading, but the 703s and 705s are the lightest weight offerings in beadgrip if you want to balance weight and durability.

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