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:

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. by production material:
  • steel;
  • aluminium;
  • magnesium;
  • titanium;
  • various alloys.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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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