I'm thinking about some less expense wheels (ruff, mrr etc.) for some light track duty, autocross & some drag racing. Has anyone had a catastrophic failure with these wheels? I know the chinese are not known for their quality metal & was just wondering if these wheels will hold up.
Just make sure they don't have lead paint on them in case children chew on them.
Sorry...couldn't resist it!
I have trouble with the idea of Chinese made products. I know we can't escape it, but to the maximum degree possible, I'd avoid them...particularly on such critical parts. Many Chinese made items are high quality and many are not. Fit and finish issues may be easy to spot, but how to tell the difference in metallurgy, etc., would trouble me.
I am also thinking about wheels for my C5 and I have spoke with Bob at House of Wheels about C6 wheels for my car and he seems pretty knowledgeable on wheels. He said alot of the wheels are coming from China. I have a friend with a 07 ZO6 and his stock factory wheels do not look any better than Bob's wheels. Here is an attachement with some of those style wheels. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ight=c6+wheels
If the Chinese didn't work so cheap and we didn't want the best bang for our buck we would not be getting all this stuff from China!
The Chinese can produce some really high quality wheels. They also produce a lot of real crap. The problem is there's no standard that they have to adhere to as in Germany.
Most of the Chinese wheels are gravity cast. That's not a real good thing. The best wheels, like BBS, are forged. As a general rule I would only put forged wheels on my Corvette. If you're more of a show car person then you might be able to get by with a gravity cast wheel.
An intermediate wheel would be one that's pressure cast. That process eliminates all of the voids that happen when a wheel is simply gravity cast.
I've recently developed a rough rule of thumb for sorting out the really bad wheels. If the bolts are fake on a wheels that's trying to impersonate a 3-piece wheel then you're looking at a real piece of crap. When a company doesn't care enough to make a true 3-piece wheel, but casts fake bolt heads into the thing I have a problem with it.
Racing puts a lot of stress and HEAT to wheels. The Chinese have a lot of titanium and can reproduce anything...and do. I don't know their wheels but if you know what its made of and how its made you have part of the equation. The rest is quality and engineering. Just imagine having a catastrophic failure going into a high speed turn then imagine the right wheel to avoid that. I'd love to know what your research turns up. My guess is there are quality wheels from Asia out there....but that's just a scientific wild ass guess.
Last edited by corvettesforfun; 01-10-2008 at 12:20 AM.
Factory Reproduction's, for one, are used by many owners and they seem to be very good quality. Of course, that's for normal use.
I've run them for years on the track with no problems. In fact, the only wheel failures I've seen were on oem wagon wheels, where the spokes cracked on the outer edge.
Factory Reproductions claims that the wheels they import are made to their specs, their design. If they maintain tight quality control, all is well. The problem of course is that the Chinese manufacturers are always trying to cut corners if they can get away with it. Lots of out-of-spec stuff comes out of those shipping containers.
Remember folks...you get what you pay for. I've tried some of the Ruff's which look good but they are heavier and don't have the stock off-set...stick out of the fenders!
Just so you know there are several companies that no longer get wheel parts from China due to wheel failure. Unfortunately, almost all wheel companies get some wheel parts from China regardless of where they are made and that includes Germany. HRE had lip problems another company had problems with lips denting after hitting small pot holes and another had problems with the rivits on three piece wheels. To get competitive prices most companies shop out some work to China. Just a fact of life but remember this is usually a real problem only with one piece wheels although some three piece wheels are not free of china parts or problems.
Most aftermarket wheels now come from China. Even the Auto Manufacturers are getting their wheels made in China. So don't think your new Corvette wheels could not be from anywhere buy the USA
Most of the Chinese wheels are gravity cast. That's not a real good thing. The best wheels, like BBS, are forged. As a general rule I would only put forged wheels on my Corvette.
Arent' Corvette OEM wheels cast aluminum alloy? Forged wheels would most likely signifigantly raise the cost of the car.
Many factory alloy wheels are cast and made in other countries. Kelsey-Hayes makes a lot of GM wheels at their plant in Mexico.
I would think that the type of aluminum or alloy would play a part in the strength of a wheel as would the casting process. As long as the specificed material is used and the process to make the wheel is as specified, it may not make a lot of difference where a wheel is made.
US car makers would certainly have a quality control process in place to make sure that there were no shortcuts or cheap materials used in the making of OEM wheels.
Just make sure they don't have lead paint on them in case children chew on them.
Sorry...couldn't resist it!
I have trouble with the idea of Chinese made products. I know we can't escape it, but to the maximum degree possible, I'd avoid them...particularly on such critical parts. Many Chinese made items are high quality and many are not. Fit and finish issues may be easy to spot, but how to tell the difference in metallurgy, etc., would trouble me.
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Are chinese wheels safe?
