Say No to Fake Wheels...It Could Save Your Life

shadoquad

I'm kind of split on this myself. While I agree that original rims are better built in general than most of the copycats, I also don't feel that the video really backed up its claim that a well-constructed wheel will be a life saver, rather than a resilient product.

Jordo!

Exactly.

They rattled off some sort of standard that identifies the testing procedure, but I really have no idea what the Weds failure rate is by comparison (I doubt it's 0%) or know whether it even really matters.

Basically, they showed one of their wheels surviving this test (which may or may not matter) and one competitor's wheel failing (which may or may not matter). That's marketing, not science.

I think its awesome that Weds wheels may be a little stronger -- does that justify the cost difference or give them the ability to claim it will "save my life"? Beats me.

But the fact they presented it as a life saving issue is really, really, insulting.

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Jordo!

^^^ Dude, thank you for a well thought out and highly informative answer.

Yes, fair enough -- if a given company willfully fails to follow a government accepted standard of safety, then buyer beware, whether or not it will "save a life".

See, but THAT message, I can get behind... thanks again for all of the info

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phelan

Anytime

Also should add that in reading up on Rays specifically, their wheels are mandated by law to be JWL certified, but they take it a step further hence the JWL+R certification. Again I do not know what the acceptable failure rate is, nor their sampling rate from the processing. Just a little more explanation why they expect you to pay a bit more, and why people expect that once you buy a Volk rim, you'll never have to replace it...unless 1) you drive dumb or 2) you want to.

edit - someone beat me to it...and was a little more concise than i am

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Baer383

Did any of you guys notice in the side by side comparison the factory wheel was allot higher than the imitation wheel there for taking less of a impact.

Just thought I would throw my in.

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Jordo!

That test and video = Shameful propaganda

Phelan's comments and links = useful information consumers should keep in mind.

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370Ztune

I don't know if "shameful propaganda" is necessarily the right thing to call it; it's still somewhat informative. Although, I agree with everybody regarding that this isn't a definitive test. The portion of the title "it could save your life" was meant more as a way to get people to have a look at the thread...if I titled it "Weds Wheel Bump Test" I don't think as many people would've bothered to check it out. I still believe that the test holds some validity though. For instance, say you hit a very deep pothole at speed (as many of you know, are very common here in LA); the stress and hit that is put on the wheel can be equivalent to what this test demonstrated. I don't think completely discounting the testing that Weds has done is totally invalid.

Andrew is spot on regarding the JWL & TUV requirements; most low priced wheel manufacturers don't submit their products for certification.

By the way, if you guys want to know all the ins and outs of Rays' production process, have a read of this article; it's very informative:
w w w.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1608/industry-insider-a-look-at-the-technology-behind-rays-wheels.aspx

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KaienZ34

You run a risk with anything and everything you do. Even factory parts can fail.

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tsolin01

There's always a risk to everything. As long as you don't buy wheels made of paper or look like someone made them in their back yard, you'll probably be ok.

You get what you pay for though, so if paying that extra $$$ for your own piece of mind is worth it to you then great, otherwise get whatever you want.

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kenchan

I just saw the "food for thought" part. Time for angus burger today. I have a taste for fake charburger.

KaienZ34

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TongMan

Propaganda and advertisement. I'm pretty sure we agree that cast wheels are weaker than forged wheels. With impact, any wheel would be subject to break, dent, curb, or blow up. Getting one of my rims replaced will cost me $131 with delivery in 3-5 days. I can't say the same about baller wheels that can take up to a year for delivery. By the time your rims break or had been destroyed, I can safely say that many other factors contributed to the incident and not just because the wheels were "fake".

I can afford baller rims from Japan, but I find it unreasonable to drive on them on a daily basis. Maybe I'll just buy a set of Volks, Rays, BBS, or Weds rims just to keep as trophies in my garage so people will get off my back about running XXR's.

KaienZ34

Your pic is a pretty little X

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Jordo!

Uh...

1. "Fake" is irrelevant (more to the point, the supposed "originality" of the design is irrelevant). What theoretically matters is adhereance to a specific safety standard.

I can get behind that.

2. The likekihood that using "fake" or "real" wheels that adhere to this standard will "Save a life" is entirely speculative -- no data was provided on the correspondance between failing to meet that standard and auto accidents let alone fatal ones.

It's an over-the-top, dire warning that is clearly designed to instill fear in a consumer.

That I can't get behind.

So, yeah. Maybe I should have said "shameless" rather than "shameful".

Forgive me.

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SoCal 370Z

In all fairness, what was the motivation of the video? Did Weds receive legal treats regarding rims which are not theirs that are accident related? Are more knockoffs of their design being sold versus theirs? Why?

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