Hey guys. I'm looking at some wheels and I was wondering what are some "good" brands to look out for? There are dozens of brands of wheels on the market and the last thing I need is to purchase a set of very nice wheels only to find them made out of monkey metal.

thanks.

 

most of the wheels you will find at www.tirerack.com are of high
quality, even the lowend ones are much better quality in terms of
durability (structure, paint) than what you might find else where.

i use mostly SSR and BBS. i would like to get some Rays (Volks) next.

 

I agree with kenchan, you cant go wrong with BBS, OZ, Volks/Rays, and Enkei. My only advice to you is be very careful if you pick a lightweight cast wheel (they tend to bend/warp very easily). I say this because i live in New England that has notoriously horrible streets and potholes. i have already gone through 2 wheels due to potholes =P. I still never learn my lesson though =P (i keep buying light wheels)

 

A couple of guys from tirerack and I helped pit a guy at Gingerman a couple of years back. One mentioned that ASA drills the lug holes after the chrome plate process and that doing so allows the plating to flake extremely easily.

 

good brands are good, but even some more economical brands aren't all that bad

i've had no good brand wheels on my car... first it was motegi, and they never failed me, then rota, light, AND never missed a beat, and my track wheels, even cheaper BSA, and they still stood up well

bottom line, good brands not always better, i remember someone sayin they bent 2 SSR comps, but even with my careless driving, i still never bent any wheels

 

this is actually a very interesting point. A considerable amount of people across many, many forums love SSR's, BUT I hear a bunch stories of people bending em too. On top of that SSR filed for bankruptcy a while ago (i can't remember exact date) Just didnt seem like they were quality wheels (or they had quality control issues). I dont know, I never tried them so i can't really say anything about their wheels.

some examples
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90782
http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ul...502;p=1#000000

there are more out there but i cant remember where

 

And I was impressed because they come with steel inserts around the lugs to keep the nuts from digging into the wheels.....

Also, check out Edge Racing. They have one of the Filk wheels that looks like a BBS at about $100 each....

But really, the things to watch are 1) do you like them? 2) how are your roads? 3) What do you want out of your wheel? 4)How are they made? and 5) what do they weigh? 6) what do they cost?

All these answers go into the mix, and out comes a wheel manufacturer and style!

Good luck and have fun.

Matt

ps, I haven't really heard of any wheel failures that weren't caused by extreem hits. Manufacturing is just so much better now.

 

Shamless plug, but I'm still trying to make a deal on these:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ht=liquidmetal

 

lol!! love the plug... and i think i temporarily lost vision from all that bling! damn!

 

Center Line makes a good wheel. They have some good prices on 17" wheels at their website.

www.centerlinewheels.com