Really cheap rims - what's the catch?

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by landrovered

Do the folks you talked to fulfill the lifetime warranty for 50 internet sites? I would find out who is carrying the liabilty insurance for the group before I bought and if they were made in the EU then they will have a TUV stamp. No stamp, no dice.

Don't be so quick to bash them.

Many of the cars in my house have had Momo & BBS wheels,they were nothing special...they bent in time just like every other wheel.

Currently at the moment both Porsches in my house have wheels from

http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/specials_packages_item.asp?id=20&part=ALY67304U#ALY67304U (not these exact ones but same manufacturer and web site bought from)

Many miles on both sets,no problem,still straight and true according to our alignment shop. Deal was impressed with them as well. Only reason they noticed was when they took the wheels off they saw the 'NOT ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER' stamp on the inside of them.

I'm slammed my last Boxster(which had replicas from same manufacturer) into a sidewall,dragged the wheel along a sidewall,had the car at a repair shop and they said the only thing that didn't need to be replaced wheel,it could use a touch up from really deep scratches,it wasn't even bent...

[landrovered]

Why be penny wise and pound foolish?

There are many good aftermarket brands of wheels that I would buy. They are manufactured by reputable companies and have a track record (literally with BBS) and are in good financial standing. They do R&D testing, they have product liability insurance.

This costs money and you pay more for good aftermarket wheels. Granted you pay less than OEM parts where the markup is not derived from normal competitive models because they are in effect a monopoly for a given period of time.

Then there are fly by night cheapo manufacturers that will make the cheapest imitation product possible that looks like a quality product. They are sold by the container load by trading companies in Hong Kong or Taiwan. They are short run products sold my trading companies to middle men in the US and then sold on the internet and ebay to take advantage of popular trends in the automotive world.

These wheels are not tested, their is no product liability insurance, there is no company to back up problems, there is no reputation and you cannot find anyone after the sale who will answer your phone call or replace a defective product. What they are efficient at is charging your credit card.

We have all dealt with them, we have all been tempted by the low prices for the things that we covet that in reality cost much much more.

But when it comes to my safety, my wife and my sons safety, my financial future and my concern for you the general public who trust me not to kill you with my car. it is not worth saving $200 or even $2000 on wheels. hey take lots of force and lots of stress. Why trust all of this to a fulfillment center for 50 nameless websites.

Is your vanity really worth that little?

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by landrovered

Why be penny wise and pound foolish?

There are many good aftermarket brands of wheels that I would buy. They are manufactured by reputable companies and have a track record (literally with BBS) and are in good financial standing. They do R&D testing, they have product liability insurance.

This costs money and you pay more for good aftermarket wheels. Granted you pay less than OEM parts where the markup is not derived from normal competitive models because they are in effect a monopoly for a given period of time.

Then there are fly by night cheapo manufacturers that will make the cheapest imitation product possible that looks like a quality product. They are sold by the container load by trading companies in Hong Kong or Taiwan. They are short run products sold my trading companies to middle men in the US and then sold on the internet and ebay to take advantage of popular trends in the automotive world.

These wheels are not tested, their is no product liability insurance, there is no company to back up problems, there is no reputation and you cannot find anyone after the sale who will answer your phone call or replace a defective product. What they are efficient at is charging your credit card.

We have all dealt with them, we have all been tempted by the low prices for the things that we covet that in reality cost much much more.

But when it comes to my safety, my wife and my sons safety, my financial future and my concern for you the general public who trust me not to kill you with my car. it is not worth saving $200 or even $2000 on wheels. hey take lots of force and lots of stress. Why trust all of this to a fulfillment center for 50 nameless websites.

Is your vanity really worth that little?

Some of these replicas are from Taiwan and China, some are from Italy.

I'm only speaking on the Italian made replicas(those are the only ones I have experience with),which I believe the OP was referring to.

[Lobo1186]

Originally Posted by landrovered

Why be penny wise and pound foolish?


But when it comes to my safety, my wife and my sons safety, my financial future and my concern for you the general public who trust me not to kill you with my car. it is not worth saving $200 or even $2000 on wheels. hey take lots of force and lots of stress. Why trust all of this to a fulfillment center for 50 nameless websites.

Is your vanity really worth that little?

this is a way too melodramatic. I have driven on a few bent rims in my lifetime. its not a life threatening situation. Ive driven on mustang wheels which were 700 dollars for rims and tires. and at faster speeds.

the worst thing likely to happen is that you bend a rim and replace it with another cheapo only to bend in short order.

you can also fear falling planes, north korea's nukes or meteors those too will threaten you and your family... but they are no reason to live in a bomb shelter.

[landrovered]

Originally Posted by Lobo1186

this is a way too melodramatic. I have driven on a few bent rims in my lifetime. its not a life threatening situation. Ive driven on mustang wheels which were 700 dollars for rims and tires. and at faster speeds.

the worst thing likely to happen is that you bend a rim and replace it with another cheapo only to bend in short order.

you can also fear falling planes, north korea's nukes or meteors those too will threaten you and your family... but they are no reason to live in a bomb shelter.

The rim to which I was refering originally was thin, cheaply made and cracked. Cracked rims do not hold air, they release air in a rapid fashion, rim blow outs in corners can cause rapid destabilization of a car especially if they occur on the front of the vehicle. This can cause you to swerve into oncoming traffic.

I would not drive on cheap ass rims any more than I would drive on bald maypop tires.

Do as you wish and i will do the same but IMO you folks are trying to save a little coin to stroke your egos.

If you wanted these wheels for racing then money would be no object if the more expensive wheels got you a half a second a lap, this arguement is all about looks.

[Lobo1186]

Originally Posted by reluctantmechanic

No offense, Lobo, but this is very bad and dangerous advice - not only is it life threatening, it's also very bad for your bearings and other parts of your suspension.

A bent rim causes vibration...and vibration causes you a lack of control over your car. Driving a car that you don't have control over could cause you, or worse, someone around you, there life.

If you have a bent rim, replace it ASAP

its not advice... its a fact. i dont remember saying everyone should do it. ive driven many a POS before i got my porsche.

as for life threatening... i must have been on the verge of death every moment for two and a half years driving my saturn SL2 with a bent rim. call me evel knievel
because I was looking death in the face everyday. the only difference I never crashed. he must just be an amateur.

landrovered, again with the melo drama, not everyone here buys cheapo rims then goes and hits the nordschleife. not only that the streets are flooded with cheap rims at least they were in Orlando, boston and I have a feeling every major city is the same. and in all the catostrophic accidents i have ever heard of and seen knowing my fair share of firefighters and first responders and working with them. not one was due to a faulty china rim. its always drunk driver, crazy lunatic, texting etc.

of course the rebuttal will be that I cant know how many crashes happen due to rims or they just dont report those types or whatever else ad naseum.

will I buy these rims? no... id rather get some used OEM.

is everyone who buys these cheapos destined to end up in a fiery car crash... nope

and alot of it is about looks... otherwise you would drive your car around dirty or wouldnt mind someone keying your car. hey its only the looks that are damaged right?

if looks mean nothing to you which im sure it does... then go paint ur boxster or landrover pink purple and yellow with baby blue polka dots... its just looks who cares what the haters think.

[Lobo1186]

Originally Posted by reluctantmechanic

So, because you drove on a bent rim, it's a fact that it's not life threatening? That's like saying because one drinks and drives, and doesn't get caught or in an accident that it's safe. Lobo, it's not very sound thinking.

It's not safe for you, or the people you share the road with, and just because something didn't happen to you, doesn't make it any less dangerous. Just means you got lucky.

the fact is that I have driven on a bent rim. never once gave advice. this isnt about critical thinking its about reading comprehension.

what makes it not life threatening is the fact that it has a very low probability of causing an accident. does it elevate it sure. does it make it dangerous no.

and i wish it was just luck because that would be one long luck streak.

[Lobo1186]

Originally Posted by reluctantmechanic

it elevates the risk of accident, but doesn't make it dangerous? Wow....

It sure does eleveate the risk of accident, and yes, accidents can cause death - you drive 60mph on a bent rim and have a blow out (which happens on bent rims) you're more than likely to hurt someone.

The fact is, a bent rim could kill some - Lobo, it's common sense.

not ever changing brake fluid elevates chance of accident. having new tires elevates risk of accident. playing music too loud elevates risk. driving at night elevates risk. driving while tired, driving with underinflated tires, driving a car that has an oil leak increases risk. stepping out of your house elevates risk of an accident... see where Im going with this...


an asteroid could kill someone. along with falling coconuts.

moral of the story... wear helmets in hawaii and hope your local bomb shelter is meteor proof.

[blinkwatt]

I'd be willing to bet that many users on this board who actually drive their cars daily have bent rims to a degree,but it's not a big enough deal for them to even notice.

And as for mentioning BBS is track proven...yeah their EXTREME high end stuff is. Most of the available one and two piece wheels aren't professional raced. Like I said,we've actually had two sets of BBS wheels get bent in my house,just regular driving around town,and MOMO.

No one here is saying that the replicas are the bees knees,but last I checked,out of the many people on this board not one has come back to say, 'OMFG my Italian replicas from Wheels Dynamics,Wheels and Caps or eBay snapped in half'.

[landrovered]

Perhaps this boils down to different life attitudes for folks of different ages.

When I was a younger man I didn't really give a **************** about safety, insurance, warranties, liability any of those big boy terms that old farts talked about after dinner.

Get in drive fast, get out and do something more fun than balance your checkbook and pay bills. Life is short and there are hotties to be chased and beers to be drunk.

Then life happens and you experience enough accidents, flukes, hard times, anomolies and plain wierd **************** that you come to the realization that the actuaries are basically correct and that life and your survival of it is largely a game of percentages and you are not in the drivers seat when it comes to what does or does not happen to you and your kin in the big scheme of things.

And oddly enough you begin to become attached to the things that you have in your life and you decide that keeping them might be a good thing.

So you plan a strategy of eliminating as many of the risk factors that you can while not taking all of the fun out of life. You insure stuff, you check things, you fill jars with nails and label them in your garage. You buy things that make you happy, you dont buy the cheapest thing available, you enjoy owning "the best" and you are capable of affording it.

You seek out the well made and the obscure, you covet craftsmanship and exclusivity. These are qualities that you can appreciate, merely knowing that these things are yours makes you happy.

You see folks"hell bent for leather" to hit their heads against the wall of experience and you know that it is going to hurt. You try to warn them but you are accused of being melodramatic and they say things like, bent wheels don't automatically mean a firey death and they are right in a limited perspective and you know they are wrong at the same time.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by reluctantmechanic

hmmm, I hit a pothole with my replicas, and two of them bent.

Where were yours from?