Chrome Wheels & Rims

Chrome alloy wheels do not rust. They corrode and oxidize, and that is what causes the chrome plating to peel. Peeling hurts the look, but the bigger problem is where it tends to start. Peeling commonly happens in the bead of the wheel, the sealing surface the tire mounts against. When the bead peels, the tire can stop seating properly and the wheel can leak air. That is why we steer customers away from triple plated chrome in salty environments.

There are three. Triple plated chrome is the traditional finish with the deepest mirror look, but it can pit or peel in harsh, salty conditions. PVD chrome is a thin nickel coating that holds up much better against salt and weather, though you should never pressure wash it, and its tone shifts with the base finish underneath, so a black base becomes black chrome, a silver base looks like traditional chrome, and a bronze base becomes copper chrome. Chrome powder coat is the most durable of the three, with a powder coated clear coat over the finish, but its shine is not as brilliant and it can look slightly cloudy with a faint orange peel texture.

Not at all. Soap and water handles regular cleaning, and a metal polish cream like Blue Magic 400 will even lift stubborn staining and etching that you could never remove from a painted or powder coated wheel. How often you clean them is up to you and your environment, but the more consistently you keep chrome clean, the longer the finish lasts.

It depends on your environment and on the quality of the finish, more than on the color itself. A cheap paint or clear coat can start peeling within a couple of years without maintenance, and the same is true of a cheap chrome finish. A quality chrome plating and a quality powder coat will both last. If you want the blacked out look, compare against our black wheels and black chrome wheels.

Not in the usual sense. A curbed, scratched or peeling chrome wheel has to be stripped and replated to be truly repaired. There is one practical workaround: if the bead is peeling and causing a leak, the bead can be ground down to fix the leaking issue. This is also why we sell chrome wheels individually, so a single damaged wheel does not force you to replace the whole set.

Yes, chrome is great for daily driving as long as you keep the wheels clean and, most importantly, keep them away from salty environments like coastal cities and winter roads that get treated with salt. If you do drive in those conditions and still want chrome, PVD is the more durable choice.

Both. We sell chrome wheels in full sets of four, staggered or non staggered, and we also sell single wheels for anyone who needs to replace one damaged wheel. A lot of other sites will not sell you anything less than a full set, which is a problem when you only curbed one.

We offer chrome wheels from 15 inch up to 30 inch. As for whether they are worth it, if you want that mirror finish there is no real substitute for true triple chrome plating. PVD and chrome powder coat have improved a lot, but neither quite matches the reflectiveness of real plating. Chrome does cost more than it used to, largely because of tightening EPA restrictions and the shrinking number of facilities that still plate, but for the right look it is money well spent.