Fancy tires require a lot of knowledge, maintenance
By Kathy Van Mullekom, Newport News (Va.) Daily Press
10/17/2003
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Car owners who swap standard rims for fancy chrome wheels usually choose to go up a size in tires.
The "Fast and Furious" movie crowd driving Maximas, Hondas, Acuras, Nissans and Hondas typically trade their 15-inch wheels for 17-inch ones, says Henry Bly, manager at Car Tunes on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News, Va.
"They’ll spend $1,700 to $2,000," he says.
People driving SUVs such as the Cadillac Escalade prefer 20-inch rims, but you can get wheels as big as 26 inches. A set of those extra large tires with fancy chrome rims can set you back as much as $12,000, according to Billy Archer at Joe’s Tires and Rims in Norfolk, Va.
"Believe it or not, it’s the 21- to 50-year-old crowd doing all this," says Bly.
Beware, when you opt to go up a tire size, you sacrifice some of the ride, says "Dickey" Dacosta at Kramer Tires in Yorktown, Va.
"When you go to a larger after-market tire, the front end is not designed for it," he says.
"It wears the front end out quickly. Alignment goes out the door, because you just can’t align those wheels to the car’s specifications."
Oversized tires are called low-profile tires, meaning more of your car rides on the rim. There’s less rubber between you and the road. The ride is stiffer, and you get fewer miles out of your tread.
There are after-market springs and shocks that compensate for the larger tires and make the ride smoother, says Dacosta. A set of those cost about $2,000.
When you shop for fancy wheels, make sure you know what you’re buying. Cast aluminum wheels crack easily, says Frank Jordan, who repairs rims at Craft Repair in Hampton, Va. Spun aluminum wheels are the strongest.
Chrome finishes also vary from thick to thin, he says. You know you are getting good spun chrome on a wheel when you look inside the rim and see small lines running around the wheel. The process that spins the chrome leaves those lines.
Super shiny chrome is most often a cheaper cast finish, he says.
Jordan repairs 20 to 25 rims a week, taking out dents and fixing cracks. A chrome wheel’s worst enemy is salt from the beach or road. Salt damages the mirror-like finish.
Potholes are every tire’s nightmare, but cracks and dents from that kind of damage are also fixable.
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Here are some tips for cleaning rims:
• Jay Thomas of Oyster Point Mobile Detailing in Newport News, Va., cleans Cherokee Edwards’ Lexus weekly. He uses only Simoniz concentrated car soap and water to clean the rims.
• Other tire and car professionals recommend using Mothers (www.mothers.com) or Meguiars (www.meguiars.com) tire products. These brands are widely available at stores nationwide especially car-specialty shops.
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Here are some tidbits about rims and wheels:
• "Rims" is another name for wheels. There are two basic parts to a wheel. There’s the "spider" or the center section that bolts to the car’s brake drum or rotor. There’s also the rim, or outer lip that contacts and contains the tire beads, according to Edmunds, a company that evaluates and prices new and used cars. For more information on how wheels and tires operate, visit Edmunds online at www.edmunds.com/ownership/techcenter/articles
• Alloy wheels are a blend of aluminum and other elements, according to the Muscle Car Club online at www.musclecarclub.com. They usually come in a satin finish, and are pretty much standard wheels on today’s cars.
• Chrome is a shiny finish applied over alloy wheels.
• Most cars come with 15- and 16-inch wheels. Trucks typically come with larger ones such as 17- and 18-inch wheels. The 20-inch rim is now the trendy size.
• Hubcaps are removable decorative covers for wheels.
• "Mag wheels" is 1960s slang for magnesium wheels, which are durable but very expensive.
• Spinners on wheels keep spinning when the tire stops.
• "Dubs" is a name for 20-inch wheels and "part of the name of numerous online sites about wheels. Visit www.dubsplus.com. Dub magazine is all about cars and the lifestyles that go with them; visit www.dubmagazine.com
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Many tire stores nationwide sell specialty rims. Some online rim-shopping sites:
