[Tech pictures] Inside look at ForgeLine three piece wheels
12-29-2010, 12:40 PM
#1
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13
[Tech pictures] Inside look at ForgeLine three piece wheels
Hey guys,
I get a lot of questions about sizes, builds, weights, colors...ect when it comes to custom three piece wheels so I thought I would take this chance to give you the inside look at how these work.
For a company like ForgeLine doing a custom set of wheels is their job, and making them hold up to the stress of racing while giving you a great looking wheel is what they do best.
Let's look at their GA3R wheel and just how one of their three piece wheels goes together.
When you are ready, we go over your car, what brakes are on it and what colors and finishes you want as they are all going to start out as a blank sheet of paper and go from there. So each set of wheels is built for you, and your car. Once size, colors, and style are selected off we go...
The centers are cut from a forged piece of 6061-T6 aluminum, all designed and cut in-house at ForgeLine in Dayton, OH.
The wheel center is cut, shaped, and built to the correct sized as laid out by us and Forgeline to meet your needs. Diameter, lug pattern, wheel stud size, hub size is all done during these steps to make sure your wheel will be 100% round and true once it is complete.
Based on the wheel style, your brake fitment, and offset what the wheel pad is going to be. Those needing the most brake caliper clearance will have a thicker pad than others. This is what will affect total wheel weight more than style, or finish. The nice thing about Forgeline is that the weight is kept to the most centrally located spot to cut down on moment of inertia, so the wheel can spin up and down quicker. Here you can also see on this wheel, which uses 'hidden hardware' the threaded holes used to hold the wheel together along with the flange that centers the inner and outer hoops to make sure the wheel spins 100% true. This is a very precise and tight fit between all three pieces.
Once the center is done, now it is time to select the correct inner and outer wheel hoops based on the center build, and total width of the wheel and where the final offset needs to be. These are sized in 1/2" width selections.
With the R series and S series wheels the drop center is on the front of the inner hoop as shown here. P series wheels have a reverse lip, with drop on the rear, so the lip can be smooth without the 'step'. The inner and outer hoops are shown below of an R wheel.
It is at this point any custom finish, plating, painting, brushing, or polishing is done. The wheel shown here is straight from the CNC before any final finish work has been done. Once finishes have been applied and doubled checked by QC will they go to the assembly room.
Once all three pieces are finished the outer lip is placed on the inner and the center is dropped in from the top. Once together bolts are inserted and torqued to spec. All assembly is done by hand and checked after completion before packaging. You have your choice of standard stainless hardware, black oxide finish bolts, or Titanium hardware to take even more weight off.
Once assembly is done, and the wheels are checked again for finish and quality, a sealant is placed along the flange to keep the wheel 100% air tight.
I hope that this will give you and idea of what goes into, and how a three piece wheel is done. Let me know if anyone has any questions at all, I am more than happy to help.
I get a lot of questions about sizes, builds, weights, colors...ect when it comes to custom three piece wheels so I thought I would take this chance to give you the inside look at how these work.
For a company like ForgeLine doing a custom set of wheels is their job, and making them hold up to the stress of racing while giving you a great looking wheel is what they do best.
Let's look at their GA3R wheel and just how one of their three piece wheels goes together.
When you are ready, we go over your car, what brakes are on it and what colors and finishes you want as they are all going to start out as a blank sheet of paper and go from there. So each set of wheels is built for you, and your car. Once size, colors, and style are selected off we go...
The centers are cut from a forged piece of 6061-T6 aluminum, all designed and cut in-house at ForgeLine in Dayton, OH.
The wheel center is cut, shaped, and built to the correct sized as laid out by us and Forgeline to meet your needs. Diameter, lug pattern, wheel stud size, hub size is all done during these steps to make sure your wheel will be 100% round and true once it is complete.
Based on the wheel style, your brake fitment, and offset what the wheel pad is going to be. Those needing the most brake caliper clearance will have a thicker pad than others. This is what will affect total wheel weight more than style, or finish. The nice thing about Forgeline is that the weight is kept to the most centrally located spot to cut down on moment of inertia, so the wheel can spin up and down quicker. Here you can also see on this wheel, which uses 'hidden hardware' the threaded holes used to hold the wheel together along with the flange that centers the inner and outer hoops to make sure the wheel spins 100% true. This is a very precise and tight fit between all three pieces.
Once the center is done, now it is time to select the correct inner and outer wheel hoops based on the center build, and total width of the wheel and where the final offset needs to be. These are sized in 1/2" width selections.
With the R series and S series wheels the drop center is on the front of the inner hoop as shown here. P series wheels have a reverse lip, with drop on the rear, so the lip can be smooth without the 'step'. The inner and outer hoops are shown below of an R wheel.
It is at this point any custom finish, plating, painting, brushing, or polishing is done. The wheel shown here is straight from the CNC before any final finish work has been done. Once finishes have been applied and doubled checked by QC will they go to the assembly room.
Once all three pieces are finished the outer lip is placed on the inner and the center is dropped in from the top. Once together bolts are inserted and torqued to spec. All assembly is done by hand and checked after completion before packaging. You have your choice of standard stainless hardware, black oxide finish bolts, or Titanium hardware to take even more weight off.
Once assembly is done, and the wheels are checked again for finish and quality, a sealant is placed along the flange to keep the wheel 100% air tight.
I hope that this will give you and idea of what goes into, and how a three piece wheel is done. Let me know if anyone has any questions at all, I am more than happy to help.
12-29-2010, 03:30 PM
#3
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I have a very custom application - currently running CCW 18*11 up front with 9" backspacing (and track wheel is 18*12 with 8" bspace). Can forgeline build a wheel with this much backspacing ? Will it have more brake clearance than my current CCW classic ?
12-29-2010, 03:53 PM
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13
Shoot me some details over to my email: anthony@lgmotorsports.com, my PM box isn't working right now for some reason.
I don't think that bs would be a problem to do but I want to go over that with them, and I'll need some more info on the car build as well.
While it doesn't happen all the time, more times than not, they have the most brake clearance of any wheel on the market, depending on which style you go with.
12-29-2010, 07:32 PM
#5
Team Owner
I was in the Forgeline Office/Manufacturing location yesterday watching some wheel work being done.
Nothing short of a great set of wheels for sure
Nothing short of a great set of wheels for sure
01-03-2011, 01:00 PM
#10
Safety Car
Only Anthony and my wife know the agonies I went through deciding on the wheels. 
One of the problems with Forgeline (if "problem" is the right word) is that there are too many options!! Just like with Burger King, you can literally "have it your way" - especially when you consider all of the powdercoat color options. Yikes!!
What really continues to amaze me about my wheels is how little maintenance they require - especially for being 100% bare metal wheels. And a big plus of that fact is that if you curb scuff them you can polish them right back to perfection without any of that clear coat/paint nonsense! Just emory cloth followed by a buffing wheel on a Dremel. Don't even have to remove the tire!
Z//
One of the problems with Forgeline (if "problem" is the right word) is that there are too many options!! Just like with Burger King, you can literally "have it your way" - especially when you consider all of the powdercoat color options. Yikes!!
What really continues to amaze me about my wheels is how little maintenance they require - especially for being 100% bare metal wheels. And a big plus of that fact is that if you curb scuff them you can polish them right back to perfection without any of that clear coat/paint nonsense! Just emory cloth followed by a buffing wheel on a Dremel. Don't even have to remove the tire!
Z//
