- Hey guys what's going on?
It's Alex from Fitment Industries.
And today we're gonna be talking
to you about everything you need
to know about multi-piece wheels.
So I know that sounds pretty generic and stuff
but we thought we would talk a little bit about it.
Because, the current automotive scene
has gotten extremely popular
in terms of multi-piece wheels.
But not a lot of people really understand
why they're become so popular.
Where they originally came from.
So we just thought we'd shed
a little bit of light on it.
So before we get started, I'm gonna give
you the favorite sales pitch
that everybody loves.
Just be sure to subscribe.
We're trying to get to 50000
and it would help out a ton if
you just hit that little red button.
But let's just get right into it.
So, multi-piece wheels were originally
started as a way for racing teams
to create custom wheels for their
specific need than want.
So, back in the day there weren't
really a lot of options.
In fact, really there was steel
and alloy and that was pretty much it.
To make a wheel in a certain size required a mold.
And back in the day, if you think it
was hard getting molds now, it was even
more difficult to get custom made molds
for just one or two applications.
And it became clear that they needed
some sort of way to customize a wheel
without having to go through all
the hassle of finding a factory
and doing this and doing that
for just one car or one racing event.
An thus, multi-piece wheels were born.
And what that allowed the companies to do,
or the racing companies to do,
was to create custom built wheels
exactly to what they needed.
There really were only a few companies
that were capable of doing it.
We had companies like BBS,
companies like Work or Weds
that were really capable of creating
multi-piece wheels because they just
had the technology and the means at the time.
Plus they were really involved
in the racing enterprise.
Well, now as we've gotten more current
there're other companies doing it as well.
Concept One, is one of those brands.
ESR, Rotiform, pretty much anything out there
starting to really get into multi-piece wheels
because it's become such a hot topic
and a pretty common buy in the current scene.
But, now a days it's not really for creating
some sort of custom race built setup.
It's become more about just flashy wheels.
And that's where multi-piece wheels have truly shined.
Is the way that they're just completely customizable.
Everything that you could possibly want
in terms of wheel, you can probably get
from a multi-piece wheel.
Different companies off a plethora
of different faces and centers and different
designs that you can run.
And on top of that, they have different sort
of intricacies whether you're looking
at bolts, hardware, anything in between.
Multi-piece wheels is just there because
of how customizable it is.
The craze of wide body and over fender
gotten more and more common
and what that allows people to do
is build wheels that fit that exact setup.
So whether you're looking at stock body
or you're looking to go rocket bunny,
multi-piece wheels allows you to just
create the wheel that you need
to fit pretty much any application.
If you're looking for a 19 by 10 and a half
negative 13 offset, multi-piece wheels can do that.
If you're looking for a 22 by 10 and a half
and a negative 33 offset, multi-piece wheels can do that.
They can do pretty much anything you
could possibly want them to do if you're
looking for an exact measurement wheel.
That's what makes them so awesome,
but that's also what makes them so pricey.
So we're gonna get into that here in just a little bit.
So when we look at a multi-piece wheel,
we're generally gonna talk about a three-piece wheel.
Now there are two-piece welded wheels
that exist out there
and they are still pretty common.
There are companies like Work and Vossen
that partner to make two-piece wheels
and then you can buy them already figured out
and together with the offset that you need.
But we're gonna be talking about three-piece wheels
just because that's just a little bit more fun.
So three-piece wheels consists of, well, three parts.
Duh.
A spun outter lip, usually made of aluminum,
an inner barrel, and then obviously
and most commonly, a forged center.
And that is actually going to be your face of the wheel.
Now when we look at a multi-piece wheel,
there's a couple different ways
that companies have designed them
or put them together depending
on what works for them.
You're gonna see a lot of times
companies mostly will use a silicone sealant
to keep the wheel together.
To keep it air tight when you put the tire on it.
On top of that, there're also features,
the hardware here, that allows you
to just essentially put the wheel together.
But these rivets are actually kept
at a pretty low torque spec.
So, for the most part there really isn't
a whole lot that keeps the wheel together by itself.
There are of course different things
to take into account to pull a wheel apart.
And it's not as easy as it sounds.
But in terms of really what companies do that,
that's it.
Work is one of those companies
that takes a little bit of a different avenue.
And what they do is they will actually
weld some of their wheels together
just to make sure that you're increasing
the rigidity and the strength of the overall wheel.
But that's gotten a lot less common.
A lot of times companies will silicone seal it,
they'll put the hardware in there,
they'll torque that to spec,
and then you're ready to roll.
And by the time you put tires on it
and you get it onto the car,
just the way that the rotational mass works,
it doesn't really have that much
of affect on essentially splitting
the wheel if you needed to.
Now, it can happen but it's extremely unlikely.
I really can emphasize enough
the amount of customization you can get.
Even when we go just to the outer spun lip,
you have different options.
You can just do a standard lip.
You can do a step lip.
You can do a double step lip.
You can do pretty much anything
you could possibly imagine when
it comes to the actual face of the wheel.
You can go with a reverse lip.
You can go with these weird different
style floating spokes.
You can go with just hard spokes.
You can go with reverse spokes.
You can go with pretty much anything
you could possible want.
And I'm glad that we're gonna be talking
about this while we're shooting a video
because all those name kind of sound the same.
So we'll put some pictures up for you guys
to kinda look at the differences between the two.
When you go into more customization,
just the hardware itself is a piece of its own.
You can have different colors,
different options, different finishes,
different hardware can be different
in terms of material.
There's all sorts of things that
if you really want to pay the extra money,
you can get.
But to give you an example of what we're looking at here,
this is a Concept One, this is a CF003SX.
And this was made by Concept One.
And this is relatively a new design
that Concept One is doing for their multi-piece wheels.
They wanted to do something that was
that typical multi spoke but looked really good.
Something like this is gonna end up
costing you probably around 6000 dollars.
And that's what makes multi-piece wheels so,
kind of a deterrent to a lot of people,
just to how expensive these wheels can truly be.
But that's the price that you pay
for having the customization
of making any wheel that you want.
On top of the fact that you can just
do anything with the face as well.
Different brands do a ton of different designs.
And 90% of them are going to be original designs.
Meaning that a lot of times
companies aren't gonna be stealing
those sort of designs from each other
just because of how much you're paying.
A lot of times, designers will go in there
for companies, create the wheels, get paid,
and then they leave.
Those are the designs that get made
and sold to people like you and me.
A lot of companies have gone through
and tried to make their multi-piece wheels
as light as possible.
And they have gotten better.
Multi-piece wheels are still pretty heavy
when it comes down to the alternative of what you have
and a little bit of the same diameter.
But because it's forged, because the barrel
is spun, a lot of times you're cast,
you're not gonna have a cast face anymore.
You're gonna a have a forged face.
Just because of the price point.
What you are gonna get is a very strong wheel.
And that's a super cool thing,
because model block forged wheels
are pretty pricey as well.
And for a slight amount increase
in what you're gonna be paying,
you can have a lot more customization
that multi-piece wheels offer.
But if you're looking to do something with
the multi-piece wheel, maybe this is
your first time towards buying multi-piece wheels,
there's a couple things that you guys gotta remember.
Number one thing is that the wheels are gonna
be a lot like any other part of your car.
Occasionally they are going to need cleaning,
they're gonna need repairs, they're gonna need fixes.
And the way that I say that is because
multi-piece wheels just sometimes
have an issue with staying alive.
And that's not always the case.
But especially older wheels,
are gonna have to be refinished.
A lot of times the hardware can come out or get loose.
A lot of times you can have a bent lip
or something like that.
They have to get replaced.
And it's not the end of the world
because you can replace that part.
But you're gonna have to remember
that just like anything else,
there are going to be times where
you're gonna need to replace
and repair a piece of your wheel.
And because it's multi-piece, just means
that you're gonna have to repair
more than one piece sometimes.
On top of that, another thing you have
to remember is just the basic price point
of what you're gonna be paying for a multi-piece wheel.
You're going to be paying, generally speaking, more.
The most affordable multi-piece wheels
that we see out there right now
are around 3500 dollars.
And of course those wheels don't have a lot
of history behind them just yet.
If you're looking to get wheels
that have history and have reliability
and people already running them,
probably paying anywhere from five to eight grand.
And that's just how the price point is right now.
We'll probably see it right around there
for another couple years.
Final most important thing that you gotta remember
is the wait time that you're gonna have
on some of these wheels.
So a lot of companies will always
say six to right weeks.
And that's usually not the case.
Work wheels, multi-piece wheels,
they do a great job of making quality wheels,
but their delays are sometimes pretty darn long.
You're looking at five-six months to get your wheels.
Concept One, sometimes experiences the same issue.
So you're always gonna have companies
that are gonna tell ya, four to six weeks
but you're likely not gonna get them
for eight to twelve weeks.
So just remember if you're looking
to pick up a set of these wheels
that if you're buying them in June,
you probably won't have them until
the season is over.
So, that is everything that you need
to know about multi-piece wheels.
Drop a comment below if you have any questions.
But I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
If you haven't hit that subscribe button, please do.
And if you're interested in picking up
some multi-piece wheels, head on over
to www.fitmentindustries.com.
You can actually send in a quote.
We have accounts with Work
and all them fun guys.
So if you're interested, let us know.
But I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
We'll see you later.
Peace.