Travis

Anyone know a good place in L.A. to get wheels chromed? (nt)

Elmo

FYI, this is not considered good for the wheel; do it at your own risk

Greg Davis

Why is that??

Reggie

I first want to say I love chrome wheels and the look but there are some drawbacks:

1. Weight - Can add 2 lbs to the wheel
2. To chrome the wheel properly takes special care and processes that not all places know how to do correctly.
3. The heat from the brakes can cause the chrome to deterioate or discolor.
4. The chrome can hide corrosion of the wheels. Thus you are at risk if you you do not see the fractures occurring.
5. Can be scrached easily from road grime and pebbles.
6. Harder to fix if the wheel is scratched.

There may be more reasons others can post.

antony

I've also read that the process of chroming parts can weaken them structurally. I am not sure of the metallurgical reason for this, but I believe that chromed suspension components are illegal in IRL because of this (perhaps this is old news - they probably use carbon fiber now).

Paul Z.

Only reason I can think of is balancing. Take to a reputable shop and you should be fine!

TTex

there are thousands of rims that are chromed. I use to have a mustang & had the factory rims chromed, friend had a prelude & did the same thing. I would love to have my whls chromed, only problem is i'm in NY & the best place to have it done is in Calif. If any place does it here, they ship the wheels out to Calif (a lot more expensive). To answer you question, I found a place in Gardina, CA - Capital wheels. They do it for around $150/whl. The phone# is
800 463-rims.
good luck, let me know how it goes, I'm still considering using them - Tony

Keith J

If its the electroplated variety and not done correctly. Electorplating makes the object cathodic, generating atomic hydrogen under the plating skin. Hydrogen atoms from an improper plating job diffuse into the metal and recombine into diatomic (H2) in dislocations, voids and cracks that otherwise are benign. This trapped H2 is suspected in reduction of fracture toughness in non-wrought products, like cast wheels. The brittleness would be most pronounced aroung the lug holes, corners and thinner sections. Normal heat from brakes would increase the severity of the situation.

How about a polish, anodize and chromate conversion? This is the method used on the old A8 wheels.