Are forged wheels worth the money? Are cast wheels not strong? Are there other options?

In this weeks episode, we go over the pros and cons of forged wheels and cast wheels and introduce something that is new to the truck market, rotary forged wheels. Will these live up to the hype? We hope so. If you've ever asked yourself "What wheels should I buy?" we hope this will help!

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Rotary forged is new? That's how Centerline was making wheels forever. As many know they finally bit the dust last April after decades in business, and now "Centerline" is a company offering a bunch of cast stuff.

Richard

 

Correct. But now more and more companies are hitting the rotary forge, and or fully forged line ups. Which is beyond rad!

 

OK, gotcha. Just surprised me to see it called new. Their old website (which has now been replaced with the "new" company's stuff) actually had a nice write-up on the whole process, which is of course gone now.

Richard

 

Damm shame Centerline went **** up, I have a set on my truck for daily and a set on my Camaro for racing. Best wheels ever made IMO.

Chad

 

I've got them on both SS's and had a new set ordered just a few months before they went under. I had to fight like a bastard to get my money back. I hear some people didn't get their money, or wheels.

Richard

 

Good video im sure a lot of guys will benefit from this. Glad to see someone informing their customers

My unsolicited, some what educated 2 cents on the topic as a manufacturing engineer with experience in casting and cnc machining as manufacturing processes and some experience with an aftermarket wheel manufacturer:

1- If you scratch a cast wheel you can technically "mask" that like you could a forged wheel. Don't know why that is mentioned as a pro for the forged wheels. If anything there is more material on a cast wheel to play with. Anytime you remove any significant material from what the wheel was originally engineered with you compromise the structure.

2- Would have liked to see the video cover billet wheels vs forged wheels as I know there has always been confusion on the terminology.

3- I would love to see a good scientific study comparing a cast wheel that is properly cast and engineered to its full potential, taking advantage of modern casting techniques, vs a forged wheel. I think most people would be surprised at how close you could get in weights on a lot of popular designs. Cast wheels got a bad rap when porosity was common in the castings but now a days porosity in castings can be almost zero when the pour is computer simulated, the mold is well engineered, and of course the foundry doing the casting is key as well. I don't have any experience with cast wheel companies so Im not sure how good the processes of the big name brands are.

4- Im pretty sure Centerline was making forgings right here in the USA, no boats with them. I think they sold to 3rd parties as well

 

I think you can see a great example of this with BBS. Their forged vs. cast offerings are literally within a few pounds of each other when comparing similar wheel styles and sizes. If anybody has got the quality casting game down, it's those guys. I don't think I would presume castings from any Chinese source to be anywhere near the same quality, not even in the ballpark.

Richard