Cars

Auto Rims

Auto Rims are the metallic housing for the wheel of a vehicle. They are made in different shapes and sizes. Although their main purpose is to support the inflated tire on the hub but many people install their cars with aftermarket shiny and big rims to make their ride one of a kind and look outstanding while showing off their rides in the streets.

The forging of auto rims starts with a process called Hot Forging. Then there is the process of Cold Spinning in which a high speed spinning machine can form auto rims of required width. Then the aluminium alloys are rapidly heated and melted using ultra high speed heating equipment. Then the alloys are immediately cooled down to help make a strong structure. A hardness testing machine is used to determine whether the heat treatment has satisfied the specific standards. Then comes the Machine work. An MC cutting device with an acuuracy of one hundredth of a millimetre is used to improve the accuracy of roundness of the auto rims. Then flashes are carefully removed after the pattering process. Then during an alignment test, the wheel roundness is carefully checked using an indicator balancer. In addition, invisible scratches are checked with a computer in Eddy current testing to avoid cracks and weakness. Then shot blasting is performed to make the surfaces smoother. Then surface finishing is done by powder coating and solvent coating. In solvent coating, the auto rims are spray coated and wheels are colored in line with their designs or clear coated to protect their surfaces. The wheels are Alumite treated to improve their metallic lusture.

Companies like Rays meet the standards by adopting an optimum method and by monitoring accuracy during every phase of production of auto rims. Only the products that make it through the final check are put on the market.

A dub is a wheel or rim that is 20 inches in diameter. The term dub is a slang term for twenty. Some can be chrome or polished aluminum-alloy. Auto Rims that are below 20 inches in diameter are referred to as sub-dubs, though this term maybe regional. Dubs are now often 22 inches in diameter, but can be even larger all the way to 28's and 30's, produced for SUVs.The term custom wheel refers to the auto rims which have either been modified from the vehicle manufacturer's standard or have replaced the manufacturer's standard.

Custom auto rims are one of the most common ways in which automobile enthusiasts customize their vehicles. Competition-oriented enthusiasts typically switch to lighter, stronger, or larger wheels, while appearance-oriented enthusiasts more often choose larger and more visually distinctive wheels.

The most-desirable characteristics of custom wheels vary with owner's goals: for racing purposes, strength and weight are considered for better cornering performance while for Drag Racing, Width is increased to maximize the traction off the line. However at some point, the performance advantage of larger wheels and reduced-profile tires meets the performance disadvantage of increased inertia and increased unsprung weight. This point varies depending on the vehicle, style of wheel, and driving style; however, most vehicles do not see a performance increase when rims are more than two sizes from original-equipment specifications. Appearance-oriented enthusiasts may feel that decreased performance and an increased risk of road damage with oversized rims is a worthwhile price to pay for the look they want.

Article Published: Sunday 15th April 2007