Multi piece wheels

[81z28355]

I am in the market for wheels and see Cast, forged, two and three piece wheels. What is better, lighter and stronger. Is a forged wheel lighter than a forged two or three piece wheel?

[Nine Ball]

I'll gladly explain, as it does get confusing sometimes. My goal is to educate wheel shoppers, and give them the knowledge to make better purchases. From me, of course

Cast wheels are melted aluminum poured into a mold that is shaped like a wheel. Very cheap process. Usually on the heavy side, usually lacking the precision detail work of a billet wheel.

Billet and Forged mean 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.

Tony

[urr2slo]

Originally Posted by 81z28355

I am in the market for wheels and see Cast, forged, two and three piece wheels. What is better, lighter and stronger. Is a forged wheel lighter than a forged two or three piece wheel?

forged wheels are lighter than cast, much stonger and are built to a higher standard, most the time. you need to do your research when you decide on a manufacturer, there are some lower quality forged wheels out there and if your spending the money for forged wheels you dont want to buy crap.
as far a weight goes it comes down to the size and style wheel you want, not all 20x9 are going to weigh the same. the type of driving also has something to do with it, if your racing the car a 1 piece forged is your safest bet. i show and race mine and i went with a 3 piece forged with a race package for additional strength. the race package is basically the type of hardware used to assemble the wheel for additional safety under heavy loading, not all manufacters offer this.
i have the axiom 601's, the blue abm on another thread here, and when i was ordering i informed them of my intended uses, and what i got was a beautifully finished wheel that is also strong enough to handle a track day without fear of failure. axiom makes one of the lightest, highest quality wheels currently on the market thats built here in the usa by car enthusists.
think long and hard before you spend your mony, do your research and get the right wheel the first time.
remember, good wheels are never cheap, cheap wheels are never good. you get what you pay for.