I am still working on 2000 Silverado 1500 that had the worst rust problems I've ever seen, but on an otherwise like new truck with under 80K miles. The spare tire was rusted in so badly that I had to cut it out. The steel spare rim was pretty much gone and had to be trashed. I now have a new spare tire carrier ready to install. I have several extra aluminum rims and I would like to use one of them for my spare tire. But, I'm curious if they are strong enough to support themselves from the original style spare tire carrier? Did GM use a steel rim for the spare tire originally because it was cheaper, or because the aluminum rims were not strong enough to hang from the original style spare carrier? THANKS

 

Cause they were cheaper. If they wouldn't hold up to hanging in a carrier, how the heck would they survive a hard right at 40 MPH?