Who makes the best rims?

[SBSYNCRO]

A lot More info needed to know what “best” means.

If I had a trailer Jeep for rock crawling I’d probably think some sort of beadlock was “best”. For an overlander running a mild lift and slightly bigger tires I’d probably run a steel wheel in a dimension that suited my wheel/tire combo. For a daily driver with a mild lift that sees weekends in the back country but gets regularly washed and waxed, I’m a fan of AEV or Quadratec wheels with 5” ish backspace to save weight and preserve factory dynamics (and factory appearance).

So far I love the “Hardrock” wheels on my Jeep. They look just like the OEM wheels they replaced but allow me to run 315 tire with a 3” lift and Synergy steering. They are much lighter than bead locks and less expensive than the AEV Salta or Borah that I was also considering.


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[ZMagic97]

I had ProComps on my JK and was happy with them.

These days, I still to OEM wheels. For my off road worthy GMC, I use the steel wheels and painted them.

 

[snagging4trout]

Qudaratec makes Hubcentric wheels that have the OEM style with offset moved out to 5.2" VS 6" so you can run oversize tires without rubbing. It moves the tire right even with the fenders on most JK's and JL's. I like the Hardrock line which looks like the OEM Rubicon wheel.

 

[Regcabguy]

OEM > Aftermarket

See what happened to the ford explorer because of bad tires? Yeah well those aftermarket wheel shops dont have none of that to worry about, once they got your money who cares if they break.. whereas OEM wheels passed engineering/crash tests and all that good stuff.. and if OEM's started breaking randomly there'd be a massive recall of em.

To minimize the rollover defect Ford advised dropping the psi to 27psi or something close. The tires heated up and failed. The new design was lower,longer and wider thus stabilizing the vehicle. I've got hubcentric Method's on mine in order to go wider. That being said the stock forged aluminum's are beefcakes.

 

[dreadlocks]

I know what the issue was, my point is that yer wheels/tires are some of the most critical components of a vehicle and its safety.. if an OEM cant manage to get that right they risk severe damage to brand, ie the Infamous Ford Exploder. even some burratic pencil pushers are unlikely to take much risks when it comes to wheels and tires after Ford set up the case study they all were taught in college..

yeah they are all made in china now days, but I'd bet the OEM's are analyzing metallurgy so they know they didnt get made w/Chineesium.. aftermarket designs are often replicas/clones and beating the OEM on price is typically the name of the game.. now there are aftermarket wheel makers who do quality, but I'd expect to pay more than OEM's due to scaling/demand differences, if they are less I'd be very suspicious.

 

[billiebob]

The Asian market will build to any spec we supply, unfortunately our corporations spec price above all else. But Asia has no problem building the best computers in the world... economically.

 

[jadmt]

I know what the issue was, my point is that yer wheels/tires are some of the most critical components of a vehicle and its safety.. if an OEM cant manage to get that right they risk severe damage to brand, ie the Infamous Ford Exploder. even some burratic pencil pushers are unlikely to take much risks when it comes to wheels and tires after Ford set up the case study they all were taught in college..

yeah they are all made in china now days, but I'd bet the OEM's are analyzing metallurgy so they know they didnt get made w/Chineesium.. aftermarket designs are often replicas/clones and beating the OEM on price is typically the name of the game.. now there are aftermarket wheel makers who do quality, but I'd expect to pay more than OEM's due to scaling/demand differences, if they are less I'd be very suspicious.

have you priced OEM jeep wrangler wheels? luckily the market is saturated with takeoffs. AEV rims are equal to OEM and quite a bit cheaper if comparing to new OEM's. Heck mopar even rebrands the AEV pintler and Savgres and lists for more.

 

[tdferrero]

*wheels

 

[CampStewart]

How many of the companies listed in these threads actually make rims? It seems to me that any company that outsources them could change manufacturers at any time and put their pretty sticker on anything they choose to sell

 

[nitro_rat]

Weld used to make nice wheels, I'm not sure how they are now since they revamped their entire lineup several years ago. Centerline also used to make some nice off road wheels but don't anymore. Method does make at least one nice wheel, the 701. I don't think the Walker Evans wheels are street legal but I may be wrong. I don't know anything about Ultra.

 

[CrazyDrei]

anything hubcentric.

List of aftermarket wheels that are hubcentric

Would be nice to have a concise list of aftermarket wheels that have the same wheel bore as the factory wheels (71.5mm) to keep the hubcentric fit. If you know of any others just add to the thread as it saves the hassle of trying to use hub adapters and chasing down vibration issues that may be...

www.jlwranglerforums.com

Main difference between hub centric and lug centric is the lug nut. Take one off and see what it looks like. flat lug nuts mean you really do have a hub centric wheel, acorn type lug nut with a 60 degree bevel means that you have lug centric wheels.

Raised ring or lip on the rim to help seat the wheel on the hub while tightening the lugs does not make the rim hub centric, just a marketing gimmick to make you feel better and sell more expensive product that you do not need. Hub centric wheels are easier to balance correctly, where as most shops do not have the correct equipment to balance a true lug centric wheel which would be attached to the balance by the lugs and not the cone that the hub centric rim is balanced with.

Besides that, best rim is too subjective. What characteristics are important and in which order. Look, color, weight, strength, diameter, width, offset, price?

With that said I have always been a sucker for Weld Racing rims, really like the look, durability and always got them dirt cheap on craigslist.

 

[mrtopher1980]

That weird Nissan website you got that image from is the only place I've seen making a claim that the cone always is lug centric.

But that same website claims that everything but Nissan is hub centric, and that most vehicles come with straight/flat lugs... That's simply not true.

It is correct that a cone lug will center a wheel if you tighten them correctly. But the existence of a tapered lug on a vehicle does not mean it isn't hub centric.

I've never been concerned with hub centering wheels on any of my Jeeps. Every Audi and VW has had them though.



As for best rims, as others have noted it's not that simple. I'm on my second set of Ultras on my TJ, but that's just because I like the style and price. My shop is next to and off-road shop, they seem to be installing a lot of pro-comps. Again no idea if they are good but I like the way they look and may switch.

 

[Cottontail]

OEM ******!!!

 

[SBSYNCRO]

OEM ******!!!

Agree, but if you lift you have to start thinking about backspacing and OEM wheels won’t work without spacers. Then the question becomes “are OEM wheels+spacers better than aftermarket...?”


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[sourdoughben]

New Wrangler Rubicons are fortunate to have a Mopar or AEV wheel option engineered specifically for it IMO. Both offer std. rim or beadlock designs with offsets that keep tires mostly under fenders and in scrub radius spec's. They also utilize the factory lug nuts without the need for narrow wall after market lug nuts and thin sockets.

AEV JL Pintler 8.5 wide wheel with 12.5 wide tire.