ATLANTA — Arconic Wheel & Transportation Products has redesigned its Alcoa Ultra One heavy-duty truck wheel to make it lighter and reduce the hub-to-wheel contact, changes that should help increase the wheel's life and reduce operating costs.
Arconic — which goes to market under the Alcoa Wheels name — unveiled the new design at the 2020 Technology & Maintenance Council annual meeting, running through Feb. 26, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Alcoa claims the latest generation Ultra One, at 39 pounds, is the lightest heavy-duty truck wheel on the market. It launches in one size, 22.5x 8.25, the most prevalent size in the heavy-truck sector.
The new design is one pound, or 2.5%, lighter than the existing version, which has been in production since 2014.
The new wheel, which retains a "classic" look with 34% larger handholes versus competitors' products, will be a direct replacement or substitution for the previous Ultra One wheel. OEMs will begin a full transition to the new wheel within the next two to three months, Alcoa said.
The latest Ultra One design also incorporates the company's patent-pending "Hub Bore Technology," which reduces the hub-to-wheel contact area by up to 64% versus other aluminum wheels on the market, Alcoa said, leaving less surface area for corrosion to form.
Less corrosion means faster, easier and safer wheel removal, Alcoa said, encouraging time savings and enhanced technician work environments. It also can lead to increased productivity and lowered cost of ownership.
Competitive wheels without Hub Bore Technology have almost 100% hub-to-wheel contact, Alcoa said, which over time, increases corrosion and creates more time-consuming and difficult wheel removal.
Alcoa did not disclose information on pricing.
When it launched the Ultra One line in 2014, Alcoa credited the development of an aluminum alloy that it claimed is on average 17% stronger than the standard 6061 alloy in similar applications.