A car wheel or rim is a metal part on which a tyre is mounted. A typical rim includes such elements as a barrel, center disc, lug holes, spokes, centre bore, centre cap, valve stem. Not all wheels fit all cars, as there are many types of rims:
- by designation:
- for passenger cars;
- for trucks and heavy vehicles. They consist of more elements and are characterized by heavy duty;
- for off-roaders. Usually they have a beadlock, which clamps a bead of a tyre.
- by dimensions:
- by diameter measured in inches. Standard cars generally have wheel rims that are between 14 inch and 19 inch in diameter. Luxury, sporty cars, SUVs and 4×4 vehicles generally have the bigger size wheels;
- by width. This figure coincides with a tyre width. Wider tyre provide better road grip;
- by offset. It is a distance from the centerline of the wheel to the mounting surface;
- by center bore in mm.
- by production material:
- steel;
- aluminium;
- magnesium;
- titanium;
- various alloys.
- by bolt pattern (PCD). It defines a quantity of lug holes and a diameter of an imaginary circle which passes through the centres of all holes. For instance, 4×98 stands for 4 holes and 98 mm diameter.
- by production method:
- steel stamping. The cheapest and heaviest rims type.
- alloy casting. Such rims are characterized by low weight and could be of almost any design.
- forging. These rims have higher toughness and ductility than aluminium, are known for low weight.
In addition, a wheel rim can be paint-coated, creating specific style, for instance, silver, black, white or even dual-coloured.
An inappropriately selected wheel can worsen your car response or even damage suspension elements.
A damaged rim causes a tubeless tyre to fail to hold pressure also causing vibrations during driving. Mostly this happens after driving on poor-quality roads, after road accidents, etc. Another cause for rims damaging is influence of moisture and dirt resulting in abrasion and corrosion.
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