Here’s Your Annual Reminder That GM’s Full-Size SUVs Look Amazing on Steelies

Chrome 24-inch wheels on an SUV used to be something you’d only see in music videos. Now, they’re standard equipment on mom-spec family taxis. Maybe that’s part of the reason these trucks look cooler to me on basic steel wheels lately. We don’t see that too often anymore—it can be hard to even find steelies that fit over modern brakes. But occasionally we catch a glimpse of a brand-new 4×4 on steel wheels used for shipping, and it always looks awesome.

Our Editor-In-Chief (and classic Blazer owner, and square-truck appreciator) Kyle Cheromcha just sent me some screenshots of new high-trim GMC Yukons at dealerships rocking steelies to remind me of how good they look. I felt it was my duty to pass this observation along, to do my part in pushing pro-steel wheel propaganda.

A couple of Yukon Denalis, one for sale in Illinois and another up in Ontario, were photographed for their ad listings before being fitted with regular aluminum wheels. Check it:

You might see a GMC Yukon, Chevy Suburban, Tahoe, or Cadillac Escalade with these steel wheels that look like they belong on a locomotive at a dealership, but you’ll never see one like that on the road. The steelies in these pictures are transportation wheels—bolted on after the car’s built but before it receives the big bling wheels it’ll ultimately be sold to customers with.

Sadly, these steelies are not viable for road use. They exist solely so the vehicle can be moved from the assembly line to a freight transporter and then onto a dealership lot. They’re not engineered or certified the same way OEM wheels are. Though they physically fit on GM full-size SUV hubs and clear the brakes to roll, they’re not strong enough for real-world driving and could potentially cause brake problems by trapping heat created by the huge rotors on these modern vehicles.

These transportation wheels are not available to buy at a Chevy parts counter, but they do pop up on eBay once in a while. Alas, concerns about braking, durability, and the fact that functional steel wheels this size would be colossally heavy, are some very good reasons not to run these on the road.

Still… they do look great. Does anybody know if the aftermarket has a lightweight steelie lookalike solution for full-size SUVs yet?

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