Alloy Wheels Overview

nothing can add such stunning looks to your car or than a set of alloy wheels, when you see the difference the alloy wheels make compared to the standard cars wheels you will be amazed, more alloy wheel and less tyre bulging out your arches is enough to boost the looks of any car.

Not only can you car start turning everyone’s heads but it will also improve your cars ride, alloy wheels or chrome rims improve the smoothness of your cars ride and also tend to produce a much higher grip when cornering as alloy wheels are generally more wider that most manufacturers car wheels and therefore have a wider tyre which results in more grip.

Chrome Rims, Alloy wheels, Spinner wheels or spinners as they are better known are all the rage at the moment for one simple reason, they look awesome. So how a browse round the links on the right of the page and were pretty sure your going to find the perfect set of alloy wheels for modifying your car. Think of your friends faces as you roll up on a brand new shiny set of chrome or alloy rims.

Chrome Alloy Wheels

Modifying your car with chrome rims or chrome wheels can be a very good thing but also a bit of a bad thing if it is not done right. Chrome rims would appear to be an acquired taste, where everybody will agree a set of new alloy wheels will look good on any car, chrome rims well you either love them or hate them, and if you do love them you might not think they look good on every car, reason being……….they don’t !

Chrome rims in our opinion need to be big, very well kept and placed on the right ride. Chrome wheels tend to be more suited to people who are looking to pimp their ride rather than get the street racing look, there definitely more for cruzing around slowly in, gangster style.

Think of it this way, as before any alloy wheel will help a car look good, but can you image a ford fiesta with no mods rolling on a set of little 15” chrome rims, this is going to look the pits.

On another note think of a big black 4x4 with huge chrome rim son it or even huge spinning rims, now I am sure your goanna agree that this is going to look the business.

TIP !
Take a photo of your car on your digital camera, scan in the photo of your wheel or take it off the web, using a design or paint application put the 2 together to see what the effects of you new alloy rims are going to look like.

Spinner Alloy Wheels

Well spinning rims, spinner rims, spinning wheels or whatever you want to call them, Spinners ! are one of the latest car modifying trends that has taken the US by storm and slowly but surely spinning their way around the world, although these are quite a expensive choice of alloy wheel they certainly do look the part, especially in a chrome rim style finish.

Spinners are like any other alloy wheel but with a extra trick, they are blessed with a cut out disc which is precisely balanced on the alloy wheels so that when the car has been moving and comes to a stop, the disc on the alloy wheels keeps spinning around, this gives the illusion of the wheel still turning, or your car floating, or maybe just doing a huge wheels spin !

Spinning Rims come in all sizes and there is a huge range of different designs available from you to choose from, but remember, there a new thing so they isn’t going to be cheap !

Alloy Wheel Care

As anybody who's stepped into a motor factors in the last 10 years will tell you, there's a huge variety of specialist alloy wheel and chrome rim cleaners on the market, all designed to help make the job of cleaning your new rims that little bit easier, unfortunately the real key to a great finish is hard work.

Before you fit your alloy wheels, give them several coats of good quality car polish back and front. This will help prevent the road salt, brake dust and dirt 'keying' to the surface on first use. Be sure to treat the surface of your alloys as well, if not better, than you would your paintwork. Remember, you've spent a small fortune of your alloy wheels or chrome rims and they're going to be subject to the harshest conditions of just about any part of the car!

Frequent washing with mildly soapy warm water [having hosed all the loose abrasive grit off first] is the best way to keep wheels clean. Never use abrasive cleansers, electric buffers or wire wool pads on your alloy wheels. Where possible let your wheels cool thoroughly before cleaning them and avoid car-wash wheel-cleaners at all times.

We are huge fans of deep-dish wheels with diamond-turned rims. If you've opted for diamond rims, there's a good possibility these will NOT have a lacquer coat on the rims and this is going to mean lots of polish and elbow-grease to keep the finish of the alloy wheels looking good.

Go the extra mile

Now your alloy wheels are clean and gleaming, let’s make sure them tyres are looking the part too. We believe that jet black shiny tyres will just set off the finish of the chrome rims or alloy wheels just nicely.

Get yourself some tyre sheen, clean the wheels with a scrubbing pad and some washing up liquid, this is great for removing oil and grease from your tyres, rinse thoroughly and allow them to dry off, or you could wipe them dry yourself, now give them tyres a good 2-3 coats of tyre sheen.

How are alloy wheels made

One-piece alloy wheels are mainly produced by low -pressure die casting with subsequent machining. Because of the relatively porous grain structure a given minimum wall thickness must be maintained in order to guarantee adequate mechanical strength.

For this reason, cast alloy wheels carry hardly any weight benefit over conventional steel wheels. Whereas in the past styling was a major factor in favour of alloy wheels, weight considerations are today becoming increasingly important. In recent years, the use of Leico flow forming technology has successfully met both requirements.

The latest developments with the goal of still further weight reduction include, for example, a full-face wheel with formed undercut yielding up to 25% reduction against a conventional cast wheel.

In the case of a two-piece wheel, the centre serves as a carrier for the styling effects in the form of either a casting or forging. The tyre-bearing rim is flow formed and an internal web for attaching the centre is integral with the cast blank.

An alternative is a flow formed rim made from rolled aluminium strip. The spider is attached by welding and comprises of a pressing which has been spun and flow formed in the region of the horn.

Wheel and Tyre Fitting Check List

Before fitting tyres on aftermarket wheels check:

2. that the wheel fits freely onto the hub without interference and that there are no screws, rivets or retaining clips which may interfere with a firm, flat location of the hub against the wheel mounting face.

3. that the wheel rotates freely and truly on both front and ear hubs

4. when fastened to the hub, that no part of the wheel can make contact with the brake drums or callipers or any other part of the steering or suspension Check nuts and bolts. Correct fitting is vital. Be sure 1. that the thread form is correct (fit nuts without wheels).2. that the nut/bolt seating is correct.3. that the stud length is adequate for minimum thread penetration of approximately 1 x stud diameter and not too long as to permit "bottoming" of the stud in the nut.4. that the threads are rust free and not over-lubricated5. when sleeve nuts are used, that the shank diameter is correct and that the bearing washers are always used. When fitting the tyre

5. make sure that the rim size is compatible with tyre size.

6. be wary of scratching the protective lacquer coating (on aluminium wheels and some chrome wheels). Aluminium corrodes very easily once exposed to atmosphere, water or chemicals.

7. where possible always use the adhesive type of balance weight, as these help to avoid scratching of the wheel finish.

Finally Check
8. that the wheel and tyre assembly does not contact any part of the suspension or body work by carrying out full 'bump' and lock to lock tests before driving the vehicle away from the fitting bay. Do not take risks. Wheel security is vital. Check with experts if you have any doubt.