What will it be chrome forged or high polished wheels?

[72 Cheyenne402]

Which wheel holds up better over time and looks the best chrome forged or high polished billet wheels?

[70rs/ss]

Polished forged wheels are strong and look great.

[Ram-Man]

I have had 2 sets of billet on my daily driver and now I have chrome. The polished were alot of work to keep clean but my chrome ones are 1 1/2 years old and some of the chrome is chipping. My 2 cents worth.

[BarryB]

Originally Posted by Ram-Man

The polished were alot of work to keep clean .

but there is a product out, that is a protectate for polished wheels. I belive it made by zoops. It is supposed to keep the new look for 2- 3 years depending on driving habits. Then you just coat them again and good to go again. Seen Stacey David advertise it a while back ago. When EVER I get my truck ready for wheels I am going to use it on my wheels.

[Ram-Man]

I did see an ad for Zoops. It was over $100 a bottle. Would like to know if anyone has used it.

[ostncoln]

i used the zoops seal on the billet whels on my old truck. it did make them easier to clean and keep clean for a while especialy if you used their cleaner that comes with it. i dont think it really lasted as lang as they claimed though, but since it was so expensive i dont think i will be using it again.

[dogfishguzzler]

My two cents from a machinist point of view; billet only means they make it from a solid piece so you must deal with oxidation and scratches ect, chrome forged means the wheels themselves may be forged but the thickness of the chrome plating is largely unknown. If you buy wheels with .01 chrome plating versus .03 or so (big price diff) then ofcourse the .01 plating will chip soon. I know nothing of wheels but I know manufacturing and you should consider each word very carefully as advertisers tend to skew their words. You work hard for your money dont let some asswipe rook you. Im sure the dealer wont know how thick the plating is but if the manufacturer doesnt either then move on your being played. My take for what its worth and that may not be much lol.

[Ram-Man]

Originally Posted by dogfishguzzler

My two cents from a machinist point of view; billet only means they make it from a solid piece so you must deal with oxidation and scratches ect, chrome forged means the wheels themselves may be forged but the thickness of the chrome plating is largely unknown. If you buy wheels with .01 chrome plating versus .03 or so (big price diff) then ofcourse the .01 plating will chip soon. I know nothing of wheels but I know manufacturing and you should consider each word very carefully as advertisers tend to skew their words. You work hard for your money dont let some asswipe rook you. Im sure the dealer wont know how thick the plating is but if the manufacturer doesnt either then move on your being played. My take for what its worth and that may not be much lol.

Very well put. All I know is the chrome American Racing wheels I put on my new truck must be about as thin as it comes. I saw some minor pealing after 1 year. I am in Minnesota and leave them on all year long but I thought the chrome would last longer than that. The bumper on my 70 must have had 1/8" of chrome on it cause it still looks good.
On another topic how do they chrome plastic anyway?

[71SWBChevy]

I would watch any american racing wheels, i had some of their aluminum wheels that were polished and then cleared, the wheels were washed every week when I washed my car and the clear was coming off within a month, never used anything other than the same car wash soap I used on the paint on them and AR wouldn't do anything for me, they said I had abused the wheels causing the coating to come off.

[7T2]

Chrome is easier to keep clean, but if you get a ding or chip in one of them it's there for life. Non clear-coated aluminum takes more maintenance to keep looking good, and is a real chore to polish up to the shine of chrome, but if you get dings or scratches in them you can get them out by systematically filing, sanding and polishing. Or if you're slightly ham-fisted like me you can get a professional to do it for a lot cheaper than rechroming a wheel.

[dogfishguzzler]

Ram-Man, apparently they dip the plastic into an electroless nickel plating solution; once they have a thin nickel coat it will conduct electricity for the chrome plating.

[see ten]

If you walk around cruise ins and shows looking at wheels you can see that people generally get what they pay for. Also a good polish will go a long way to making your wheels shine. I use Blue Magic which leaves a clearcoat on the wheels. This pic was taken of my truck two weeks ago by Stingray72 and the wheels hadn't been polished in over two years. But the wheels are forged and not cheap.



It seems like the generic cast alloy wheels are the ones that haze up the quickest. My C10 has Wheel Vintiques Billet Cruzers ( It seems like they are advertised as being rotary forged or something like that). They have also held a shine tremendously well. I polished them when I put em on the truck about a year ago and haven't touched em since.

[IvelDesigns]

ok, so i'm looking at ordering a set of these: http://www.centerlinewheels.com/whee...lt&data=5-5.0#

they come in a high polish, or chrome. $100 more per wheel for chrome. obviously with this wheel, i want to be able to keep them as scratch free as possible. and i don't mind spending some extra time on them if they get a small ding.

also, i thought i read somewhere on the centerline site that they will clear coat the wheels for $40 more per wheel. Is that something i should consider? how does the look compare to chrome?

**edit**
here's a link with more specs: http://www.centerlinewheels.com/whee...id=1&sw_id=358
they give a longer warranty on the high polish vs the chrome... does that seem right?

[Mudder]

I bet I spend less time with my aluminum Welds and California Customs Purple than you guys do with the chrome.

BTW........... The truck was choosen by Weld Wheels as the Best Ride on Welds at the Off Road 4Wheel drive Jamboree in Indianapolis about 3 years ago. There were nearly 5,000 trucks there and I'm telling you this because they do shine and I spend very little time with them.

[7T2]

Originally Posted by IvelDesigns

ok, so i'm looking at ordering a set of these: http://www.centerlinewheels.com/whee...lt&data=5-5.0#

they come in a high polish, or chrome. $100 more per wheel for chrome. obviously with this wheel, i want to be able to keep them as scratch free as possible. and i don't mind spending some extra time on them if they get a small ding.

also, i thought i read somewhere on the centerline site that they will clear coat the wheels for $40 more per wheel. Is that something i should consider? how does the look compare to chrome?

**edit**
here's a link with more specs: http://www.centerlinewheels.com/whee...id=1&sw_id=358
they give a longer warranty on the high polish vs the chrome... does that seem right?

Man, if they leave the prices like this everybody is gonna have 'em!

I think they offer a longer finish warranty on the high polish wheels because they are easier to repair. They can be buffed back to a shine and have small dings removed fairly easily, which you can't do with chrome.

[72 Cheyenne402]

I like the look of both high polished and chrome but I also like the better price tag. My truck is not a daily driverjust a weekend driver and all that is about to change with a restoration starting in the fall.

[70rs/ss]

I plan to have my forged polished wheels anodized black then I don't need to polish ever. Chome is nice if you want it, I like the understated look, hence black anodizing.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by Mudder

I bet I spend less time with my aluminum Welds and California Customs Purple than you guys do with the chrome.

BTW........... The truck was choosen by Weld Wheels as the Best Ride on Welds at the Off Road 4Wheel drive Jamboree in Indianapolis about 3 years ago. There were nearly 5,000 trucks there and I'm telling you this because they do shine and I spend very little time with them.

Again, Forged wheels seem to hold their shine better than cast wheels. Welds are great wheels!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Mudder

I bet I spend less time with my aluminum Welds and California Customs Purple than you guys do with the chrome..

I'm sorry but I'll have to challenge this statement.

Even though your wheels are forged and hold a shine better than a cast or billet wheel, I doubt they require less maintenance than chrome.

I'm pretty sure we both take the same amount of time to wash them, then while you are using "California Customs Purple" I am wiping the water off and I am done....

I have owned many sets of aluminum wheels that were cast (bad), forged (better), billet (still better), and chrome (we have a winner). Without a doubt the least amount of time is spent maintaining chrome wheels. The concern with chrome wheels rusting or flaking primarily applies to steel wheels. I have "never" had a set of chrome aluminium wheels rust, flake, or bubble.

Cast wheels are cheap, but the trade off is they are porous and will dull quickly.

Forged wheels are strong, light weight, and have a very durable finish. From the factory they have the best shine of all aluminium wheels. The only problem is they will stain if Rover marks his territory while they are hot. Getting any liquid stains off of a forged wheel is a lot of work.

Billet wheels hold a nice shine because the quality of aluminium used in billet is very high. They polish easy because they are soft, but they will loose their shine quickly too.

Chrome plated aluminium wheels require the least amount of maintenance of any aluminium wheel exlcuding painted or clear coated examples. You wash them, dry them and you are done. It's just that simple....

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by 70rs/ss

I plan to have my forged polished wheels anodized black then I don't need to polish ever. Chome is nice if you want it, I like the understated look, hence black anodizing.

Unless you have them "hard anodized" it won't last long. I went through this process back in the 80's with a set of Boyd Coddington 3 piece wheels. After shipping them back to Boyd twice, we decided to polish them and forget anodizing.

[FarmTruk]

Personally, I prefer the "look" of polished alumimum to chrome. The polished aluminum has a more silver tone, whereas the chrome is like a mirror. Just my $0.02