Alcoa’s new surface-treated Dura-Bright EVO wheel maintains all the benefits of its predecessor, the Dura-Bright wheel with XBR technology, but is 10 times more resistant to corrosion primarily caused by road salts and weather elements, the company says.
In addition, Alcoa claims the wheel is up to three times more resistant to chemicals, including hydrofluoric acid, found in the toughest truck wash cleaning agents.
“The Dura-Bright EVO wheel is Alcoa’s easiest-to-maintain wheel yet, meaning it can stand up against the harshest weather, road salts, grime and cleaning agents that can corrode and dull standard commercial truck wheels,” says Tim Myers, President, Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products.
The Dura-Bright EVO wheel is now commercially available in Europe, where the company says it has already seen significant adoption of its Dura-Bright wheels. Alcoa has begun producing the wheel at its manufacturing plant in Hungary. The wheel is expected to be available in all other markets next year.
Unlike competitive surface coatings that can crack, peel, corrode and dull quickly, the Dura-Bright wheel allows brilliant shine to last even after years of use, without the need for polishing, Alcoa says. Dura-Bright is not a coating. It is a surface treatment that penetrates the aluminum and becomes part of the wheel. Regular cleaning with commonly used truck cleaning products or with just soap and water will keep the wheels shiny, even after hundreds of washes and thousands of kilometers, reducing maintenance costs, the company says.
Alcoa’s surface treatment experts at the Alcoa Technical Center developed the Dura-Bright wheel technology in collaboration with the Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products business, and launched the first Dura-Bright product in 2003. Three years later, Alcoa’s experts improved the brightness and corrosion performance of the Dura-Bright treatment and introduced Dura-Bright wheels with XBR technology. Alcoa’s scientists have now enhanced the patented Dura-Bright technology with the development of Dura-Bright EVO wheels.
