Bombsquad68
Full Access Member
Unsprung mass is especially important for offroad vehicles no matter how much they weigh, arguably much more so than street cars. It's about dealing with uneven surfaces, especially while turning.I find it amusing that owners of a 5600 lb truck are looking for light wheels.
Your suspension can keep your tires in contact with the ground better as the mass it is controlling decreases, especially in the front where you don't also have the mass of the live axle. Removing 10 lbs per corner percentage-wise, is pretty significant in the front. Doubtful you'd ever notice it on the street unless there's hella rough roads where you drive, but you could feel increased bite and improved handling offrroad, especially at high speed and as the surface gets worse.
An example of this is the rear end of these trucks stepping out over bumps. The new lighter aluminum bed is over a heavy ass solid rear axle with heavy ass leafs. If we could switch to linkage style IRS and remove that solid axle, or even just drop the leaf spring and use linkage and coils, rear end bite and overall stability would drastically improve. But even 20lbs total with both wheels is significant, paired with lighter brakes it starts to add up.