Where's A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

Where\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

I went in to get my old 1978 era 15"x8" aluminum mag wheels polished - 26 years worth of brake dust and road grime have taken their toll, as you can see from this picture.

I was going to take them to a place to get them polished. I was quoted the reasonable price of $25 a wheel. But, when it came time to actually get the wheels polished, the price shot up to $200 a wheel. Of course, I complained, and the price went down to $125 a wheel.

I'm hoping that for not too much more than that price, I can just purchase a new set of custom wheels. I'd prefer to get another set of dish mags like I have now, but they no longer make them, so I'm willing to settle for a different style.

If anyone has had good luck buying custom wheels from any place at a good price, I'd love to hear about it. If anyone has any tales to tell about the quality, or lack of quality, of wheel from a certain manufacturer, I'd love to hear about that, too. I had Superior Wheels, who I think are out of business now. One got bent after hitting a speed bump, another had a candy bar sized piece break off after I spun the car out and the wheel hit the curb. I replaced them with American Racing Wheels, which I've had no problem with so far.

Bruise

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

I recommend Tire Rack at www.tirerack.com. They stock pretty much everthing. They have a very informative website, but even better, they have extremely knowledgeable real live people you can call and talk with. I've bought from them several times and can endorse them highly.

Cheers,

Dave

PS - cool car!

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

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avusblue said:
I recommend Tire Rack at www.tirerack.com. They stock pretty much everthing.

[/ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately, they don't stock a single type of wheel for ANY type of Ford made in my year. I can't really say I blame them, not too many cars made over 30 years ago still rolling around. Probably just not financially worth it to stock a wheel you may sell one set of a year, when you can sell 500 sets of custom wheels for a 2002 Honda.

Bruise

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

I just tried cleaning my wheels with Flitz. The results were mediocre. The wheels did look a bit better after polishing with Flitz and a lot of elbow grease, but I would say the improvement was only 10%-15%. The paper towels I used to clean them with (as per instruction) did pick up a lot of dirt, and the the wheels felt smooth and polished. They still looked pretty bad, though.

I also tried to polish my chrome air cleaner, which is starting to get a bit of surface rust. I'd have to say here the results were pretty disappointing. I'd have to say the Flitz worked no better than a paper towel and some soapy water or glass cleaner. It removed none of the surface rust, and the chrome looked a bit worst after "cleaning" - a bit "hazy".

I paid $4.00 for a tube containing less than 1 oz. of Flitz!

Bruise

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

Flitz is good but it's way too fine for cleaning sonmething like this. It's more like a fine silver or brass polish, and I use it for cleaning rust off of guns without removing the blueing. You need something much more abrassive. Maybe regular auto paint rubbing compound?

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

Get them powdercoated.

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

Also check out American Racing Wheels

Re: What\'s A Good Place To Buy Custom Wheels?

Try Jegs.com or Summit Racing. Both should stock wheels similar to what you're looking for.

-Keith