Scored a set of 1 off Forged wheels for $1320....For real
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 801
From: Indiana
Scored a set of 1 off Forged wheels for $1320....For real
It all started when I ran offroad at the NCM motorsports track and ruined the finish on the drivers side wheels. Decided it was a great time to replace them with something other than stock, so I started searching. Vendors here were very helpful but just out of my price range. I searched the big tire shops and found some I thought were OK but not great. I didn't have $5k+ to spend. Then ads started showing up on my feed.
I ended up on a website anyone here would recognize but I won't name them here as they do not sponsor CF and I don't want to break any rules. PM me and I'll tell you. I began searching and found a design I absolutely loved because the corner of the spokes look exactly like the bottom of the C7/C8 Corvette flag. Same curve. But there was a design cut out along the outside of the rim I wasn't fond of, made the wheel look too busy. Well, on this website you can put out what you need and ask for bids, which I did. Like flies on honey they came out of the woodwork. I must've had 15 'quotes' in as many minutes. Some were aggressive and bad mouthed anyone else, the one I went with was very professional. Some said it could not be done, realizing later it's because the C7 Z51 wheel needs a bigger block of aluminum to start with and I don't think some may have stocked this size block?? I asked my chosen contact if that design feature could be left uncut as I didn't like it. Two days later they confirmed they could do what I asked. We went back and forth over the smallest detail to include the 60* angle the lug nut shoulder would get cut to in the wheel. They made certain everything would be as I wanted. I was hesitant to do business with a company from China. Yes......China. I thought I'll pay by credit card and if anything goes south, at least I'll have some recourse.
I paid for my wheels February 7. They arrived today April 29. I was given a FedEx tracking number once they arrived CONUS. I was advised there was a weeklong Chinese holiday that would delay production by at least a week. My wheels arrived by boat in California about 10 days ago. I was told 10-12 weeks. Even with the time difference, my questions and inquiries were always promptly addressed. Probably the biggest hassle was other vendors trying for my money even after I paid for my order.
So what do they look like?! Before you get to the pics (if you haven't already scrolled down), I want to add I asked for them to be left in raw machined state. I am having them custom powder coated locally and didn't want to give my painter the hassle of stripping them. I asked they be removed from the machining process and boxed up. That is EXACTLY what they did! There are machine marks on the wheels, which I assumed there would be, but nothing I've caught my fingernail on. Smooth enough these could be polished out easily to a mirror shine, but that's not what I'm doing. A machinist could give better insight into what we are looking at, but for my purposes, it is just fine. These marks are the only thing that says to me "Made in China"
I am happy to post screen shots of my order, communication logs even invoice. I'll also add the company that did my wheels claims to make OE wheels for the big 3 in Japan. DOT certified, etc., etc., etc. Didn't find anything negative about the company online, nor anything shady in the entire transaction. Could this be faked? Yes. Would I put these wheels in heavy track use, no. Do I feel comfortable on the street? Absolutely. I will put them on scales later and give proper weights and answer any questions put forth. In all I paid $950 for the wheels, $400 shipped from China, and received a $30 discount for I don't know what. I've no doubt made in America wheels are surely better. Would I compare these to a set costing 10x as much? No, but I'd put them above anything costing 2-3x as much. Again, happy to answer specific company, website, even the person I worked with in PM. Otherwise, enjoy!
On the car
The rest of the set
Machining marks
The design element I did not like, Ignore the logo on the stand holding the wheel, No idea who that is and they had nothing to do with my purchase. Guessing they just used it to prop the wheels up for photos.
I ended up on a website anyone here would recognize but I won't name them here as they do not sponsor CF and I don't want to break any rules. PM me and I'll tell you. I began searching and found a design I absolutely loved because the corner of the spokes look exactly like the bottom of the C7/C8 Corvette flag. Same curve. But there was a design cut out along the outside of the rim I wasn't fond of, made the wheel look too busy. Well, on this website you can put out what you need and ask for bids, which I did. Like flies on honey they came out of the woodwork. I must've had 15 'quotes' in as many minutes. Some were aggressive and bad mouthed anyone else, the one I went with was very professional. Some said it could not be done, realizing later it's because the C7 Z51 wheel needs a bigger block of aluminum to start with and I don't think some may have stocked this size block?? I asked my chosen contact if that design feature could be left uncut as I didn't like it. Two days later they confirmed they could do what I asked. We went back and forth over the smallest detail to include the 60* angle the lug nut shoulder would get cut to in the wheel. They made certain everything would be as I wanted. I was hesitant to do business with a company from China. Yes......China. I thought I'll pay by credit card and if anything goes south, at least I'll have some recourse.
I paid for my wheels February 7. They arrived today April 29. I was given a FedEx tracking number once they arrived CONUS. I was advised there was a weeklong Chinese holiday that would delay production by at least a week. My wheels arrived by boat in California about 10 days ago. I was told 10-12 weeks. Even with the time difference, my questions and inquiries were always promptly addressed. Probably the biggest hassle was other vendors trying for my money even after I paid for my order.
So what do they look like?! Before you get to the pics (if you haven't already scrolled down), I want to add I asked for them to be left in raw machined state. I am having them custom powder coated locally and didn't want to give my painter the hassle of stripping them. I asked they be removed from the machining process and boxed up. That is EXACTLY what they did! There are machine marks on the wheels, which I assumed there would be, but nothing I've caught my fingernail on. Smooth enough these could be polished out easily to a mirror shine, but that's not what I'm doing. A machinist could give better insight into what we are looking at, but for my purposes, it is just fine. These marks are the only thing that says to me "Made in China"
I am happy to post screen shots of my order, communication logs even invoice. I'll also add the company that did my wheels claims to make OE wheels for the big 3 in Japan. DOT certified, etc., etc., etc. Didn't find anything negative about the company online, nor anything shady in the entire transaction. Could this be faked? Yes. Would I put these wheels in heavy track use, no. Do I feel comfortable on the street? Absolutely. I will put them on scales later and give proper weights and answer any questions put forth. In all I paid $950 for the wheels, $400 shipped from China, and received a $30 discount for I don't know what. I've no doubt made in America wheels are surely better. Would I compare these to a set costing 10x as much? No, but I'd put them above anything costing 2-3x as much. Again, happy to answer specific company, website, even the person I worked with in PM. Otherwise, enjoy!
On the car
The rest of the set
Machining marks
The design element I did not like, Ignore the logo on the stand holding the wheel, No idea who that is and they had nothing to do with my purchase. Guessing they just used it to prop the wheels up for photos.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 801
From: Indiana
First snag. Mounted the wheels to the car to test fit. The front wheels just baaaaaaarely touch the calipers. Enough that is isn't acceptable to me. Enough to mar the finish if I left it alone leaving a thin line where contact is made during rotation. My solution is to get 1mm-2mm spacers. Just enough to bring the wheel out. Dropped them off to the powder coaters today.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 801
From: Indiana
Looks like I'll be putting spacers behind the front wheels to fix the problem. Just picked them up from the powder coaters today and dropped off to get the tires swapped, should have them back tomorrow with full pix.
The color is even better than I hoped for. Wheels were still hanging when I picked them up, I had to look twice as they looked completely black. Not until you get up close or the light hits it just right does the burnt bronze begin to pop.
The color is even better than I hoped for. Wheels were still hanging when I picked them up, I had to look twice as they looked completely black. Not until you get up close or the light hits it just right does the burnt bronze begin to pop.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 1,396
Likes: 801
From: Indiana
Powder coated $450, Wheel Spacers $160, Mounted and balancer $170, Wheels $1320, center caps $25, I supplied the powder $65 = all in and shipped $2190 for one off forged aluminum wheels. I had to wait 10 weeks. Powder coated my lug nuts to match and ceramic coated lug nuts and wheels myself.
Cons, needed to buy wheel spacers. Second, while I gave them the factory specified center cap dimensions, the factory center caps don't fit. Off by about .050" being too large. Measures in at 56mm. This is not a big deal anyway as I planned on not using my original center caps. They did send a set with the wheels but they got lost between the powder coater and tire mounting. I found a blank set of caps online for $25. I will get a spray can of matched paint and spray those and put some sort of Vette style decal in the middle.
The final verdict - hands down a win. I told them to removed the wheels from machining and box them up. Strictly to save my coater the time (and me the money) from stripping anything from them. A few wheels still had aluminum chips on them. A prime reason I got the wheels coated as cheaply as I did.
$2k for 1 off DOT forged aluminum wheels?!?! I'd do this again in a heartbeat.
I wanted this wheel originally because the bottom of the V had the recess similar to our Corvette flag. Stopped looking when I found this wheel
Crappy picture but the sun was going down
Cons, needed to buy wheel spacers. Second, while I gave them the factory specified center cap dimensions, the factory center caps don't fit. Off by about .050" being too large. Measures in at 56mm. This is not a big deal anyway as I planned on not using my original center caps. They did send a set with the wheels but they got lost between the powder coater and tire mounting. I found a blank set of caps online for $25. I will get a spray can of matched paint and spray those and put some sort of Vette style decal in the middle.
The final verdict - hands down a win. I told them to removed the wheels from machining and box them up. Strictly to save my coater the time (and me the money) from stripping anything from them. A few wheels still had aluminum chips on them. A prime reason I got the wheels coated as cheaply as I did.
$2k for 1 off DOT forged aluminum wheels?!?! I'd do this again in a heartbeat.
I wanted this wheel originally because the bottom of the V had the recess similar to our Corvette flag. Stopped looking when I found this wheel
Crappy picture but the sun was going down
Thanks for sharing.
