Billet VS Cast VS Forged

[Jeanius]

Hey guys I'm trying to learn everything I can about wheels before making a purchase.

I know

Billet are cut from one chunk of metal.
Cast are poured into a mold
Forged are heated and shaped and usually are 2 or 3 piece

but what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

[Danny Thomas]

Price

Cast is the cheapest wheel. they will work on many applications but not great for cars that are put thru the ringer.
Billet is the mid line wheel. Better than cast and will hold up better.
Forged is the high class custom wheel that gives you many options. These are also a great wheel doing oversized brakes or need a custom fit.

[The_Blur]

Forged quality can't be matched.

[Sherwood SS]

If you can afford it go with forged. My last car I was impatient and bought cast wheels, and regretted it ever since. Save up and do it right the first time!

[Nine Ball]

Cast wheels are melted aluminum poured into a mold.

Billet and Forged are the same thing, in the wheel industry.

"Billet" just means that the wheels are milled out of a chunk of solid material. That material is an aluminum forging, hence the "forged" description. However, there are three different types of forged wheels.

1-piece construction. This means the entire wheel (center, hoops) was one huge chunk of forged aluminum. The entire wheel was machined out of that one chunk. These are usually the lightest in weight, but also tend to have less options in terms of width/offset.

2-piece construction. This means the wheel is assembled from two separate sections, the center and the hoop. The hoop is 1-piece itself, and is the width of the entire wheel. The center is a milled out forged piece, and is welded to the hoop on the backside of the center face. 2-piece wheels have limited widths available, since there are only so many size hoops manufactured. Most wheel makers use hoops from the same few suppliers. Typical max width for a 2-piece wheel is 10" wide. 2-piece wheels can be built with hardware showing, but it is purely for cosmetics since those bolts don't hold anything together.

3-piece construction. These wheels are made with 3 separate sections. Center, outer hoop, and inner hoop. All three sections are bolted together in the middle, to the face. 3-piece wheels offer the most available width increments and offsets, due to their more customizable construction method. Also the most expensive, due to additional labor required to hand-assemble the wheel.

My personal suggestion is to go with 2-piece wheels if you can live with the limited widths (typically 8.5" fronts, 10" rears for the Camaro). They look identical to 3-piece wheels, weigh the same, and cost less. But, if you wish to go wider, then the 3-piece is required. If you want chrome lips or custom painted lips, the 3-piece is required.