It's here again, the newest edition of the wheel and tire buyer's guide. Last year we learned quite a few things about putting a guide of this magnitude together, so this year we decided to combine what we learned with your suggestions, and this is what we came up with.
Listed beneath each group of wheels and tires is information pertinent to that product. This information includes the name, the price range, the weight for the specific wheel we received, and contact information. We opted not to include such information as offsets, bolt patterns, sizes, and finishes.
For a change, we decided to include wheel weights. We tried to limit the wheels we received to 18-inch diameters only, but for some wheels that simply couldn't happen. Because of this, we decided to list the wheel diameter after every wheel weight. Although wheel weight may seem to tell you a lot about a wheel, don't let that completely rule your shopping. Some wheels we weighed were significantly wider than others, thus they weighed more. Other wheels weighed massively less than other wheels, but the pricing was usually higher, too. Many companies have ongoing sales, but we opted to list the regular price. The price listed can get you into your price range and then you can call the manufacturer to see what they can offer.
Flip through the guide, enjoy, and tell us what you think-this way, next year's guide will be even better than this one.
Casting Process UnveiledAs many know, there are several methods of producing wheels. One of the most common ways is through a process called casting. Cast wheels, like billet wheels or forged wheels, are usually made from a block of aluminum, but instead of using high amounts of pressure to make the wheel, or chiseling away at a solid block of metal, cast wheels are produced using little to no additional pressure.
One of the most common methods of wheel casting is called gravity casting. During gravity casting, a block of aluminum is heated up until it forms a liquid. The liquid is then poured into a mold and cooled until it forms a solid, at which point the wheel is removed from the mold and polished into a sellable wheel.
There are several other forms of casting, such as low pressure and squeeze casting; both of which employ somewhat similar methods to produce a wheel. Low pressure die casting applies a slight amount of pressure to the metal after it is turned into its liquid form, thus allowing the melted aluminum to enter the mold faster, while at the same time reducing imperfections which may be present in a gravity cast wheel. This process allows for thinner walled wheels that are also lighter than gravity cast wheels, but the process is slightly more expensive.
Squeeze casting requires melting the aluminum to a near liquid state and then forcing the nearly melted aluminum into a mold. Although not quite as costly as forging, squeeze casting is one of the most expensive forms of casting. The advantage to squeeze casting is that not only are the wheels lighter than the other forms of casting due to a thinner wall width, but they are usually just as strong.
The advantages of gravity casting are numerous. The most obvious advantage is that the process is extremely inexpensive, thus the cost to the consumer is minimized. Another reason gravity casting is an often-used wheel manufacturing technique is that it allows small quantity designs to be produced at very little cost. Unlike the other forms of wheel production, gravity casting allows a manufacturer to produce a wheel design for a very limited production run, while keeping the costs well below mass-produced forged or squeeze cast wheels.
There are two unfortunate side effects to casting. The first is that when the aluminum block is melted, it loses essential minerals that are vital for the aluminum to maintain its strength. This problem is easily solved through the use of additives. Once the aluminum block is heated into a liquid, additives are used to ensure the product's strength.