Potential Problems with Chrome Alloy Wheels

If you are considering buying chromed alloy wheels for your car there are a couple things you should be aware of. If a set of alloy wheels are really cheap to buy its possible that short cuts have been taken in the manufacturing process resulting in a product of poor quality and finish.

Some chrome alloy wheel manufacturers do not copper plate the alloy wheels before the chroming process takes place. If the wheels are not copper plated first the alloy underneath the chrome finish can start corroding, which results in the chrome finish peeling away from the wheel. This peeling can start with in a few months of buying the wheels and you may need to replace the whole set with in a year.

In some cases the clear coat finish over the top of the chrome plating is not sufficiently thick or of a good enough quality, again due to short cuts by the manufacturers and may start lifting off the wheel. If this does happen to your chrome wheels it means that water will be able to seep underneath and start damaging the chrome finish. As soon as this starts happens the chrome finish will start to pit and corrode where the lifting is occurring. Eventually the wheels will need replacing, or re chroming as they look so bad. Unfortunately low quality chrome wheels are prone to this happening.

Occasionally the manufacturers of Chrome alloys will not offer a refund when damage to the chrome effect has been caused rather than happened naturally; e.g damage caused by kerbing the wheels. This is because the damage has been caused by you accidently or not, however a set of good quality chrome alloys should not corrode as easily.

You should always do some research on the manufacturer of the wheels you are thinking of buying to make sure they offer the high quality chrome wheels that you are after. If you do not research the Wheel properly you may have to learn the hard way and end up having to buy a second brand new set of wheels. Forums are a good way of finding info about specific wheels and how they actually work in operation.

When purchasing a set of alloys find a reputable dealer, they will offer advice on treatment and care of the alloys as well as fitment specifications for your vehicle. Then decide whether you want to make the extra effort involved with chrome wheels, remember you get chromes to make a statement so keep the clean and scratch free because you not making much of a statement with expensive brake dust coated chrome wheels.

In conclusion Chrome Wheels look great but can be prone to corroding and flaking, if you want to go Chrome its worth while spending that little bit extra and go for a quality set. Remember you need to take good care of the chrome if you want it to last but it is definitely worth the extra effort involved.