{"id":5545,"date":"2016-02-29T22:33:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T22:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/\/?p=5545"},"modified":"2016-10-17T19:11:09","modified_gmt":"2016-10-17T19:11:09","slug":"linked-crash-course-on-wheel-types-manufacturing-methods-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/02\/29\/linked-crash-course-on-wheel-types-manufacturing-methods-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Linked: &#8220;Crash Course on Wheel Types (Manufacturing methods)&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:5054,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.m3post.com\\\/forums\\\/showthread.php?t=357430&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20240224205519\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.m3post.com\\\/forums\\\/showthread.php?t=357430&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2025-11-04 12:29:57&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-24 12:21:16&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-01-28 15:15:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-09 09:36:23&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-19 06:45:35&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-02-24 08:18:34&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-06 01:46:52&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 21:19:43&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-17 11:41:41&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-22 06:31:36&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-31 17:23:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503}],&quot;broken&quot;:true,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-31 17:23:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:503},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.m3post.com\/forums\/showthread.php?t=357430\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">via M3Post.com because DTMrack.com is now defunct<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>Forged<\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Forged is definitely the king of manufacturing when it comes to wheels. Top-notch quality. The forging process uses immense amounts of compressive force to shape the metal.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Let me give you an example to make this easy to understand. Have you ever wrinkled aluminum foil and then tightened it as much as possible by hitting it with a spoon to shape a ball? If you have, this is essentially what forging is. Once that little ball is as small as possible it is extremely hard. This is virtually what happens during forging, to an infinite power. The piece is pressed between a Ram and an Anvil. (see diagram above)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Forging can produce a wheel that is stronger than an equivalent cast or machined part. During the process the internal grain is deformed and rearranged to the shape of the part. This deformation due to compressive force improves the strength uniformly throughout the entire structure of the wheel. As a result you have a stronger, lighter wheel.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>There are different types of forging processes that offer subtle differences, but I will write about them in another article, specifically targeting Forged Wheels.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Cast: Casting is the most popular way wheels are manufactured today. And all cast wheels are also not created equal. Casting is basically taking metal, heating it to achieve liquid form, and then pouring it into a mould with a specific shape. This process is very cost-effective as it takes very little time to produce one wheel. Hence it\u2019s popularity. However, there are three ways, essentially, to cast a wheel: flow formed, low pressure cast, and gravity cast.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Gravity Casting:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Gravity casting is the simplest form of casting. As it\u2019s title suggests, this form of production allows gravity to do the work. To start, the molten metal is poured into the mould. Once the mould is full it is cooled down and the wheel is then retrieved. This is an excellent alternative if you are looking to purchase wheels on a budget or with cosmetics as a priority. Because of its low cost, it is the most common form of production for aftermarket companies.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Low Pressure Casting:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Low pressure casting is a step up in quality from gravity casting. The process is the same but the molten metal is injected into the mould. By applying pressure, the molten (liquid) aluminum enters the mold quicker. This allows the mechanical structure of the wheel to be denser because of the pressure, denser is better. The end properties result in a lighter and stronger wheel than those that are gravity cast. Most wheels produced by O.E.M. companies, such as BMW, are created using this manufacturing system due to its advantages in cost and higher quality.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Flow-forming:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Flow forming is the superior over its two other cast brothers. It is done by taking a piece that is cast using low-pressure casting, the piece is then spun. The outer area of the cast wheel is heated and pressed by the use of steel rollers to achieve its final shape. By combining heat, pressure and circular rotation of the piece, flow forming rearranges the mechanical characteristics of the wheel, creating a kind of hybrid wheel with properties similar to those of forged wheels.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What about multi-piece wheels?- Three piece wheels were originally designed for track use. The purpose behind the wheels was to have the capability of interchanging the barrel of the wheel incase it bent or cracked while racing. Nowadays, you are most likely to run into the \u2018three piece look\u2019 then the real thing. Some companies even weld their wheels because their products have air leaks which defies the purpose of having them entirely. Multi-piece wheels can be a combination of forged barrels and cast faces, vice versa, or any combination yielded by the two. If you are set on purchasing multi-piece wheels make sure the company is a legit multi-piece manufacturer, you WILL regret it if you don\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>So Why does this all matter? For starters, the way the wheel was manufactured will most likely determine how much your wheel will weigh. For motor-sport enthusiasts like us, this is a huge deal. In the vehicle, there are essentially two ways of measuring weight: sprung weight, and unsprung weight. The suspension in your vehicle divides the mass distribution in your car to sprung mass and unsprung weight. The section of your car above the suspension is the sprung mass, this means the frame of the car, engine, etc\u2026even you. The unsprung weight is whatever is below the suspension, such as the wheels, rotors, calipers, etc\u2026 A pound of unsprung weight can translate into as much as 4-20lbs of sprung weight depending on your vehicle. The less weight, the better. The ratio between sprung weight\/unsprung weight affects the smoothness and handling of your car. The general rule of thumb is that the higher the ratio, the better.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>There is one VERY important thing to consider. Most wheels are engineered to withstand a specific weight load. This means that if you are choosing between a set of forged wheels, and a set of cast wheels, and they were both have the same weight load capacity, they will likely share the same damage resistance when it comes to force impact. In other words, they may be equally strong. So in this case, don\u2019t buy the forged wheels because you think they will be stronger. The difference will be that IF you hit a pothole at high speeds, the forged wheel will most likely bend, where the cast wheel will crack. This goes back to the wheel structure yielded by the manufacturing method.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Good info here. Most of you with commuter cars have cast-wheels so yes, Aluminum Alloy is awesome but it really comes down to how the alloy is manufactured\u00a0into a wheel. If you have a car with steel wheels and hub-caps, well you probably wasted your time reading this.<\/p>\n<p>I was doing some research into new Summer Wheels that are trackable and while Forged is obviously the best, I can\u2019t afford it. To give an idea on pricing.<\/p>\n<p>Cast: $500-$800 a set<\/p>\n<p>Low Pressure Cast: $500-$1200 a set<\/p>\n<p>Flow Forming: Usually around $1500-$2000 a set<\/p>\n<p>Forged: Each wheel is $600-$1200 per wheel and some are $1700 a wheel<\/p>\n<p>(These are prices for 18\u201d wheels, not huge 20\u201d or anything crazy that you\u2019d find on a Porsche)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"via M3Post.com because DTMrack.com is now defunct: Forged: Forged is definitely the king of manufacturing when it comes&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2016-03-17T01:52:40Z","apple_news_api_id":"7f645dc1-6561-4781-9a4a-4a29542da038","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2016-10-17T19:11:11Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Af2RdwWVhR4GaSkopVC2gOA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_custom_appearance":"","csco_disable_excerpt_posts_layout":false,"csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-life","7":"cs-entry","8":"cs-video-wrap"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb3IC4-1rr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5695,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/03\/29\/my-car-hre-flowform-ff01-w-michelin-pilot-super-sport-summer-tire-setup\/","url_meta":{"origin":5545,"position":0},"title":"My Car: HRE FlowForm FF01 w\/ Michelin Pilot Super Sport &#8211; Summer Tire Setup","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"March 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I found a really good deal on wheels from one of the most respected wheel makers today. Their reputation is up there with BBS, O.Z. and many more. HRE is known for making Forged Wheels. These ultra-strong and lightweight wheels are sold as standard on some cars and HRE is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Car&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Car","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/my-car\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HRE FlowForm Wheels, FF15 18x8.5 5x112 for Golf R MK7","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1540\/25215006990_aed96b9e90_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1540\/25215006990_aed96b9e90_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1540\/25215006990_aed96b9e90_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5262,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2015\/11\/23\/my-car-winter-wheels-tires-are-on-mk7-golf-r\/","url_meta":{"origin":5545,"position":1},"title":"My Car: Winter Wheels &#038; Tires Are On &#8211; MK7 Golf R","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"November 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The following is what I posted to a VW Forum about my decision on how to go on Winter Tires: ======= This whole winter wheels business has been a long process. Low-budget for wheels and tires has lead me down a few paths. Initially, O.Z. light weight 18\" wheels were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Car&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Car","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/my-car\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MK7 2016 Golf R, Advanti HY Hybris Black Painted Wheels + Blizzak LM-32 Tires (225\/45R-17).dng","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5666\/22787490767_3e1fcefc8f_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5666\/22787490767_3e1fcefc8f_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5666\/22787490767_3e1fcefc8f_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6046,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2016\/07\/22\/my-car-xuji-black-suede-steering-wheel-cover-for-mk7-golf-gti\/","url_meta":{"origin":5545,"position":2},"title":"My Car: XuJi Black Suede Steering Wheel Cover for MK7 Golf \/ GTI","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"July 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Car&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Car","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/my-car\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"XuJi Black Suede Steering Wheel Cover for Volkswagen Golf R MK7","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7309\/27316139951_da88821d29_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7309\/27316139951_da88821d29_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7309\/27316139951_da88821d29_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1184,"url":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/2010\/11\/20\/can-we-stop-fighting-about-social-media\/","url_meta":{"origin":5545,"position":3},"title":"\u2605 Can We Stop Fighting about Social Media?","author":"Adam Chandler","date":"November 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe writing this will get me kicked off the island. I don\u2019t really care. I registered a LiveJournal account in 1999 and posted my first blog post. I joined Twitter when it was still full of early adopters and techies. 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I want a consistent amount of snow on my ground throughout the winter and maybe this 12 inch dump finally achieves that. 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I guess enough Golf R inventory has arrived with initial demand satisfied that average buyers are walking up to a dealer and seeing both cars available. I keep seeing people ask for advice and, like this thread on Reddit,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;My Car&quot;","block_context":{"text":"My Car","link":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/category\/my-car\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adamchandler.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}