The alloy wheels on my 3 yr old car are looking a bit battered, been quoted £300 for a full “wheels off” refurbishment, but I am not sure either to have this done or get some aftermarket, but tasteful, replacement wheels. Now, are aftermarket alloy wheels as good as original manufacturer own, or not, Any suggestions??

Get your wheels refurbed.
New wheels for £300 aren’t going to be much cop plus officially (ie, if you inform them) it’ll increase your insurance premium most likely as you’ll have modified your car.

Just make sure you get them powdercoated and not just the faces repainted. Powdercoating is a much more cost effective (full wheel vs just the faces) and harder wearing option.

Do you need a full refurbishment?
Is the lacquer coming off & the wheel corroding or is it just a case of kerb damage?

You can get mobile re-furbishers who don’t even take the tyre off the rim, just push it back, fix any kerb damage & put it all back together.
I think it’s about £50/wheel, perhaps less.

If you go for aftermarket wheels, you need to tell your insurer and this will perhaps increase your premium, which is worth considering.
I wouldn’t have thought that cheap aftermarket wheels would be much better than OE ones and some can be considerably heavier.

I looked at having my wheels completely re-furbed a while back. It was going to cost me £300 and my car was going to be off the road for a week while it was done. But, the bloke showed me a set that had just been done and they looked amazing. Loads better than the original finish.
In the end though, I never got round to it.

Did you buy the car new? A bloke I worked with had an MR2 from new and the wheels corroded really badly. It was a known issue with them and they replaced the wheels under warranty. Perhaps something to consider?

monkeysfeet – Member

Now, are aftermarket alloy wheels as good as original manufacturer own, or not?

Considering your OEM wheels only lasted three years, I’d suggest that they may even be better. 😆

My wheels need a refurb and have had the quick repairs and blow over done by a guy turning up at the car sales place and they look terrible. If you dont kerb wheels, it it best to get them properly dipped and repaired.

Don’t use the mobile guys, do it properly with a full chemical strip, sandblast and powdercoat. Then give the wheels a seal before putting them on, will help when it comes to cleaning them.

I paid £200 for a full powder (no refurb needed) and they were brilliant.

Depending on where you are, google The Wheel Specialist and/or Lepsons. Both places are a bit more expensive than just taking a bare set of wheels to a powdercoaters but offer a tyres off, wheel powdercoat, tyres on and balancing etc service and its usually a day in and out…

Going to get mine done by TWS in Leeds at some point.

If you’re in Sheffield or Rotherham get yourself to the powdercoaters in Dinnington as they do a shot blast and powder coat for £30 a wheel. You’ll have to get the tyres pulled off and put back on but that should be a £50 cash in hander I reckon, perhaps less. So thats a refurb for £170 or less all in.

Why are alloy wheels called alloy wheels? Surely all wheels are made from sort sort of alloy?

Alloys = alloy wheels
Not alloys = steelies.

But steel is an alloy – of Iron.

Ah, I was expecting the pedants response… STW never fails to deliver.

lol from now on my ol banger has alloy wheels. Check me out!

I think because no-one can be bothered saying “Aluminium Alloy” so it got shortened to Alloy.

I got some aftermarket aluminium alloy wheels when one of my original aluminium alloy wheels buckled slightly, can’t say i noticed any difference in quality, though i’m not sure how you tell? They never corroded or buckled or anything (unlike the originals).

Hardly a pendant responce – his question was why is steel alloy not called alloy.

My question is there much difference in steel and aluminium wheels on cars? Surely aerodynamics have more influence on the vehicle, especially at the speed cars travel, than weight?

I’d get them refurbished. But I wouldn’t want to be spending the equivalent of 100quid every year on car wheels anyway!

See, my dear old Da, who’s a mechanic, calls them ally’s and steelies, which makes sense. So I can only assume that numpties have corrupted the words, a lot like ‘rediculous’ and ‘stantion’

Hardly a pendant responce – his question was why is steel alloy not called alloy.

Because, since the dawn of time itself, steel wheels have been (orignally!) called steels. Wheels made from aluminium (and some, magnesium etc) have been called alloys. In the same way you would call an aluminium frame an alloy frame and a steel frame, a steel frame.

Don’t use the mobile guys, do it properly with a full chemical strip, sandblast and powdercoat.

If you value your life, don’t have wheels aftermarket powerdercoated. The high temps used in powdercoating can affect the heat treatment of aluminium alloy (all metals wheel are ‘alloy’) wheels.

Because, since the dawn of time itself, steel wheels have been (orignally!) called steels. Wheels made from aluminium (and some, magnesium etc) have been called alloys

.

Nonsense.

Steels were called ‘steels’.

Magnesium alloy wheels were called ‘mags’

Aluminium alloy wheels were called ‘allys’

Somewhere along the line some uneducated **** has changed that to alloys, and the general market has responded.

http://www.performancealloys.com/

I think some of the manufacturers of wheels on there aren’t any different from the OEM ones.

It’s a bit like duct ape (tape for joining and sealing ducts). Some people were calling it duck tape (I’ve no idea why they thought people taped ducks together) and a smart manufacturer came out with Duck Tape for the illiterate.

Now, there are myna similar tapes, duct tape, gaffer tape, racers tape, etc. so which kind of tape Duck Tape is could be anyone’s guess.

Check out ” german alloy wheel paint ” made by wurth. I got Superb results when used with the correct wurth primer and lacquer . It’s about £11 a can but superior to the stuff sold at Halfrauds.

http://www.performancemotorcare.com/acatalog/Wurth_German_Alloy_Silver_Wheel_Lacquer___400ml__1149.html

If you value your life, don’t have wheels aftermarket powerdercoated. The high temps used in powdercoating can affect the heat treatment of aluminium alloy (all metals wheel are ‘alloy’) wheels.

“If you value your life”

Really ?

180-200 degrees C for 10 minutes isn’t going to damage any alloy wheel.

Lots of wheels come powder coated from the factory, as its more durable than paint.
I guess the manufacturers know what they are doing.

Oh and For the OP (and anyone else)

There is place called CAS Coatings in Bradford that does powder coating for £1/inch/wheel.

So a set of 4 x 15″ wheels cost £60 (sand blasted and powder coated)

And they do brilliant work too.

We had a wheels and tyres off refurb done on one of ours. Sub 300squid and all done in a day. Really scabby wheels too.

Amazes me the state a set of aluminium alloy wheels can get in on relatively new cars. My 17″ alloys have a total of two scuffs and the beginnings of some mild corrosion that is only now visible with a good stare. Car is nearly 10 years old.

Yep, CAS Coatings get good reviews and if I could find a spare set of 5×112 wheels to run for a week whilst mine were off there getting done I would. Might ask on a few forums.

Yep, CAS Coatings get good reviews

I’ve had a few sets done there and they are superb.
The finish is spotless and they are fast too.

Lots of wheels come powder coated from the factory, as its more durable than paint.
I guess the manufacturers know what they are doing.

Did you actually bother to read my post in its entirety and digest it?

I warned against AFTERMARKET (I highlighted the important bit just for you) powdercoating. Of course the wheel manufacturers powdercoating is fine (so you guessed right), why would they negate their own heat treatments by overheating the wheels?

Is an aftermarket operation as conscientious? Who knows? Certainly some aren’t because ally wheel failures have been attributed to aftermarket powder coating.

First Google result: http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/670115-aluminum-wheel-failure-after-powder-coating/

I’ll just add to this that in at least one case a wheel manufacturer’s warranty is void if the wheels are powder coated post sale, but re-painting is fine. To quote nealglover ‘I guess the manufacturers know what they are doing.’

I warned against AFTERMARKET (I highlighted the important bit just for you) powdercoating. Of course the wheel manufacturers powdercoating is fine (so you guessed right),

Nice patronising tone. Thanks for that.

Have a read of this.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/archive/index.php/t-10612.html

It’s a bit like duct ape (tape for joining and sealing ducts). Some people were calling it duck tape (I’ve no idea why they thought people taped ducks together) and a smart manufacturer came out with Duck Tape for the illiterate.

Now, there are myna similar tapes, duct tape, gaffer tape, racers tape, etc. so which kind of tape Duck Tape is could be anyone’s guess.

A Duct Ape is a smaller, hairier version of a chimney sweep who works for peanuts.

What car, wheel size, fitment, lightweight or heavy duty alloy wheels?.

If you have a bog standard family saloon car then stick with the original alloy wheels and get them refurbed at a reputable place that uses the correct grade sandblasting compound, whether the final finish involves powder coating or spray painted followed by the newer hi impact resistance lacquer developed for alloy wheels is up to you to decide after you have been shown samples of their work.

If you have a sporty or suchlike car then it’s up to you if you wish to spend the extra money for upmarket alloy wheels, don’t buy cheap wheels as they will usually be heavier than the wheels you remove or may not have the same exacting standards of fit and finish in their quality control. Oz Racing is a good upgrade over standard factory fit alloy wheels, i’ve used them on all my cars over the years and trust them over cheaper brands.

300 quid for a decent tyres off four wheel refurb is a good price and they’ll come back looking like new. I prefer the finish of powder coating. Nothing bad about powder coating wheels.

Nothing bad about powder coating wheels.

This ^. Some wheels are known to be soft/be prone to failure out the factory (Octavia Mk2 vRS LE wheels are known to be ‘soft’ and the old Mondeo ST wheels were prone to failure). Its like powdercoating a frame – how many frame failures have been caused by the powdercoating process itself (and not just general fatigue) vs how many frames are powdercoated in total?

+ 1 for CAS coatings…renowned for decent quality and cheap too. Been doing them for years and years

got my FS frame done there too – candy coated for £36 + VAT

off to get a hack bike done next – 24 + vat for flat colour

A proper refurb won’t just be a dip-strip-coat job.

It should also include proper repairs to any rim damage (stop sniggering at the back) and checking for round/true.

£300 for a full set of four is £75 per wheel which sounds pretty good to me but just make sure about what you’re getting for your money. Ask the provider if he can show you examples of his work.

As far as decent aftermarket wheels go, depending upon the size of wheel you go for your probably looking at the thick end of £1200 for a full set plus tyres, if not a lot more. Team Dynamics, O-Z, Kahns, Borbets and the like do not come cheap.

If you are just looking to get the car tarted-up to look good to sell then the man-in-a-van touchup is acceptable.

But if you are keeping the car and you do not want to be looking at shabby looking wheels this time next year then go to a company with a good reputation. eg Lepsons, who have already been mentioned.

Sometimes, definately not always, you can get secondhand wheels in fairly good condition with OK tyres on them for less than £300. Local scrap / breakers yard or Ebay.
BUT the problem is that a car that has been written off will usually have at least one duff wheel. Unfortunately Ebay is where a lot of these duff / buckled wheels end up.