WELD racing wheels

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bayyum said:
It would be going on a 1991 dodge d 50
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I dont know if you looked at that link i posted, but with in that thread there was a link to another thread where it happened TWICE on a street truck...i wouldnt chance it, dont care what weld says...but thats me...some guys are fine with them, others arent
 
cudaspaz said:
I like these ones better.

http://www.billetspecialties.com/item.asp?cid=16&scid=295&pid=1090&rdir=1
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hey spaz i just took these pics today....not a fan really of any other billet specialty wheels, they look too boyd coddington for me, and i cant stand em...i was even iffy about getting these because i thought they would look too modern, but i think they suit it perfectly

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mshred said:
the design has those ridges in the stars which makes it a pain to get in there, not to mention that no matter how much rim cleaner i use and how much i clean them before water stains dry and such, they look like they have water marks...they only look perfect once they are polished, but as soon as water hits, watch out lol
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Have you considered getting them clear anodized so they won't oxidize or waterstain? If they are actually forged and not cast you can get that done. Kev
 
actually what im going to do (didnt even think of this before like an idiot) is clean the wheels with polish, give em a couple good coats of wax, and then whenever i clean em just use the spray detailer....that should do the trick, and for alot cheaper too!
 
mshred said:
actually what im going to do (didnt even think of this before like an idiot) is clean the wheels with polish, give em a couple good coats of wax, and then whenever i clean em just use the spray detailer....that should do the trick, and for alot cheaper too!
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Unfortunately nothing short of clearcoat (paint) or anodizing will keep aluminum from oxidizing. Sorry mshred, but there's nothing wrong with polishing your pride and joy on a Sunday morning (or thurs night before cruise night). Just the extra work. Kev
 
bayyum said:
You sure modified those wheels geez!!!
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I'm going to have a lot of black accent on my Duster so I thought it would look cool. Everybody and their dog has polished alum wheels on their drag car, time for some different looks. Kev
 
kanders said:
Unfortunately nothing short of clearcoat (paint) or anodizing will keep aluminum from oxidizing. Sorry mshred, but there's nothing wrong with polishing your pride and joy on a Sunday morning (or thurs night before cruise night). Just the extra work. Kev
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the wheels are not bare aluminum, so im not worried about oxidizing...there is a coating on them as far as i know...and i never said there was anything wrong with polisishing wheels, but when the car is your daily driver, meaning it sees rain, and gets driven to every show every day of the week, you dont always have time to come home from a full day of work and polish wheels...im confident that the wax and detailing spray will work, it has worked for many others, so im not too concerned8)
 
mshred said:
the wheels are not bare aluminum, so im not worried about oxidizing...there is a coating on them as far as i know...and i never said there was anything wrong with polisishing wheels, but when the car is your daily driver, meaning it sees rain, and gets driven to every show every day of the week, you dont always have time to come home from a full day of work and polish wheels...im confident that the wax and detailing spray will work, it has worked for many others, so im not too concerned8)
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Mshred, I'm on your side just trying to help out. I wasn't knocking you for polishing your wheels, I used to enjoy the pride I felt after my wheels were freshly polished and your right, it's not always easy to find the time. I'm only trying to give you some advice here. Probably 95% of polished aluminum aftermarket wheels are bare aluminum, if they had a coating you would be able to clean them but you couldn't polish them. I work with billet aluminum all day long with my machine shop and also own an aluminum anodizing company, if wax and detailer worked to protect the aluminum then people wouldn't be bringing so much stuff to be clear anodized. I'm not trying to make you feel bad here, just trying to give you the benefit of my experience, sorry if it came off the wrong way. Kev
 
kanders said:
Mshred, I'm on your side just trying to help out. I wasn't knocking you for polishing your wheels, I used to enjoy the pride I felt after my wheels were freshly polished and your right, it's not always easy to find the time. I'm only trying to give you some advice here. Probably 95% of polished aluminum aftermarket wheels are bare aluminum, if they had a coating you would be able to clean them but you couldn't polish them. I work with billet aluminum all day long with my machine shop and also own an aluminum anodizing company, if wax and detailer worked to protect the aluminum then people wouldn't be bringing so much stuff to be clear anodized. I'm not trying to make you feel bad here, just trying to give you the benefit of my experience, sorry if it came off the wrong way. Kev
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hey kev it didnt man! sorry if my response sounded harsh? i guess typing you cant tell the persons emotions on the other side right thats why i put the smiley lol...your probably right then about the anadizing, i wasnt 100% sure but i thought they were...mind you, i made a thread about the street lites and their pain in the *** cleanability on another site and got quite a few responses condoning the polish, wax then quick detail/glass cleaner whenever necsessary method...i just dont have the money to have them clear anodized...theres all sorts of other products out there too like rejex and zoops, mind you im not willing to fork over that cash either..when you say oxidizing what exactly do you mean? like pitting and rusting, or hazy looking?
 
mshred said:
hey kev it didnt man! sorry if my response sounded harsh? i guess typing you cant tell the persons emotions on the other side right thats why i put the smiley lol...your probably right then about the anadizing, i wasnt 100% sure but i thought they were...mind you, i made a thread about the street lites and their pain in the *** cleanability on another site and got quite a few responses condoning the polish, wax then quick detail/glass cleaner whenever necsessary method...i just dont have the money to have them clear anodized...theres all sorts of other products out there too like rejex and zoops, mind you im not willing to fork over that cash either..when you say oxidizing what exactly do you mean? like pitting and rusting, or hazy looking?
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I know what you mean about typing responses, you can't tell the tone and the intent. I have to be more careful in that respect because as I'm typing I know how I want it to sound and then I read it and realize it can be taken many different ways. About the alternate aluminum treatments, I've seen them advertised but don't know how well they work. Oxidizing is the process of the aluminum "rusting" in its own way. Bare aluminum will become dull and become harder to clean. When you rub your thumb on bare alum and it your thumb turns black, that's the oxide forming. Anodizing is an electrochemical process that actually accelerates the oxidization process but under controlled conditions to form an extremely hard but thin aluminum oxide coating on the surface which increases the dielectric strength and protects it. The only drawback to anodizing is that it can only be done on fairly pure (high quality) aluminum alloys like billet, forged or extruded products. Cast aluminum products will not anodize well. Your wheels look great, wish I had done more research before buying mine but oh well, I'll just hope they dont crack. Kev
 
bayyum said:
The oxidizing process Like it rusts the aluminium? Isn't rust bad???
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Actually in some cases rust on steel can protect the base metal it's built on, if other factors aren't involved like salt and excessive moisture etc. With anodizing, the aluminum oxide that is built off the base alum is very consistant and stable , it's also the second hardest natural compound to diamonds which is how it protects so well even though it's only .005" thick. ain't chemistry wonderful? Kev
 
the bare aluminum rims oxidize,you just need to clean and polish them,,use some thing like mothers,,,i have recently found that FLITZ makes mothers look like water,,,,also in very humid weather your rims will oxidize much quicker needing more polishing keeping them clean is the KEY,,
i have been running weld prostars on the steret for 12 years, i have never read they were not street legal,,ill have to look and see what my rim says,, i thought it said legal,,,,15 x15 rears 15x 4 front

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That's good to hear fstfish66, I was really beginning to get worried about my selection, I think bayyum is probably a little unsure about this topic with all the conflicting info. I wonder what percentage of prostars have had cracking issues. BTW, that huge rubber stuffed under your car looks great. Kev
 
hey kev thanks for the info, i know mine are billet aluminum so i guess they could be candidates for the anadizing...as far as the pro stars go, they used to be street legal stmaped, then when they were owned by american racing for that little while that stamping was gone as far as i know, and now that they are back under old management i think its back again, but only for certain sizes (i think anything smaller in width than 15x5 and bigger than 15x12 is not street legal if i remember looking at their catalogues correctly)...im sure that for a car thats only going to see weekend cruising and very careful driving and such the pro stars will be fine- just every once in a while i would look behind it to make sure the hub hasnt started giving way...for me, i plan on driving the car almost everywhere, and even though i plan to drive careful, you never know what you will encounter (especially with these horrible ontario roads) so i figured its better to be safe than sorry for me personally, especially with 15x4's up front...have lots of friends driving pro stars on the street without problems, but like i said they are weekend only type guys
 
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