Accuride Launches First Steel Wheel with Corrosion Warranty

Accuride Corp. has reached yet another huge milestone with the roll out of its patented EverSteel™ steel wheel technology at the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week ’16 in Las Vegas. The new technology is the first of its kind in the commercial vehicle industry and is offered with a five-year warranty against corrosion. It extends the company’s leadership in value-added steel wheel coating technology that started with its roll out of Steel Armor™ in 2013.

EverSteel offers unparalleled corrosion protection that outshines competing wheels. In independently-performed cyclic corrosion testing, the technology showed six times longer life than its North American and offshore competitors and double the operational life of Accuride’s Steel Armor™ steel wheels. The innovative corrosion-fighting properties as a result of EverSteel’s patented four-phase coating process offers unrivalled durability and wheel service life. This allows Accuride to provide the industry’s first warranty against steel-wheel corrosion with EverSteel.

According to Rick Dauch, President and CEO of Accuride, the proprietary new EverSteel technology shows their commitment to provide customers with advanced steel wheels that offer lasting value unrivalled in the industry. He noted that corrosion is a continuous and expensive issue for fleets working in extreme operating environments across North America. “Never before have steel wheels received warranted corrosion protection like that offered by our EverSteel technology. It sets a new standard of performance and durability, and will enable our fleet customers to achieve significant savings in wheel refinishing costs and the associated downtime.”

Exclusively designed for trailer applications and fleets that regularly operate in ice and snow, EverSteel wheels have outstanding resistance to corrosion. This is essential, as conventional steel wheels subject to corrosion from road salt and harsh chemicals should be refinished around every three years in order to maintain their appearance and performance. EverSteel delays the onset of corrosion for up to eight years, thus extending the wheel’s life before initial refinishing. This technology helps customers to save an estimated $105 in wheel refinishing and maintenance costs, as well as the downtime associated with taking the wheels out of service.

Accuride confirmed in a statement that it will start commercializing EverSteel after the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week which kicked off in on January 25 and will end on January 28. Currently, the technology is initially offered on two Accuride 22.5 x 8.25 steel wheels: 50408 (2 hand hole) and 50487 (5 hand hole). These wheels will be manufactured at Accuride’s Henderson steel wheel facility in Henderson, Kentucky, and will be available to order from February.