3 piece wheels with hidden hardware - Yes or No?

[Jersey Jeff]

Do you think it is a waste to get a 3 piece wheel with hidden hardware, thereby preventing the average observer from noting you have real 3 piece wheels? Somebody actually told me I would be stupid to have wheels with hidden hardware. I have wanted hidden due to ease of cleaning, or at least the 3 piece with less hardware. Would value some comments please.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Why not just get one-piece?

 

[plumcrazy]

i think you either like the hardware as i do, or you get a one piece wheel. simple

 

[Ricketts]

I've always liked the hardware myself.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Somebody enlighten me on this.
A tracker gets a three-piece wheel for maintenance.
A poser gets a three-piece wheel to pretend.
So why get a three-piece wheel and then hide the fact that you got a three-piece wheel?

Sorry if this offends. Just askin'.

 

[Ricketts]

<-----Poser

Somebody enlighten me on this.
A tracker gets a three-piece wheel for maintenance.
A poser gets a three-piece wheel to pretend.
So why get a three-piece wheel and then hide the fact that you got a three-piece wheel?

Sorry if this offends. Just askin'.

 

[CitySnake]

Somebody enlighten me on this.
A tracker gets a three-piece wheel for maintenance.
A poser gets a three-piece wheel to pretend.
So why get a three-piece wheel and then hide the fact that you got a three-piece wheel?

Sorry if this offends. Just askin'.

They're also easier to detail.

 

[Malu59RT]

I personally hate the exposed rivets. Hidden hardware makes the wheel look "cleaner". I would either get a 1pc concave wheel, or a 3pc with hidden hardware. Just my preference.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Because you can get a custom wheel if you do 3 piece and not one piece. The hidden bolt option adds some weight because the flange needs to be thicker to do it. There are a lot of "fake" 3 piece wheels out there so who are the real posers? Keeping things clean is always cooler than seeing a bunch of crap racer or not.

Just some food for thought.

 

[FLATOUT]

I get this question a lot obviously from customers, and it's really just personal taste.

It's great having a 3 piece wheel even if you don't track the car. I like to put a lot of miles on my cars and enjoy them. If I hit a *** hole, or something happens to the face I don't have to replace the whole wheel just the damaged section.

People say why have hidden hardware just buy a one piece wheel instead. Well you certainly can't swap out a new lip on a one piece wheel if it gets damaged like you can on a 3 piece. Most people that hide the hardware do it because they like the cleaner one piece look of the wheel, but want to be able to customize and maintain the wheel like a three piece wheel.

Andy Wheeler

 

[GTS-R 001]

I would think, from a logical and practical view, that if you are going to get 3 piece wheels do not get hidden , how will you replace them when you repaint or need to re torque some day, hidden probably fastens into an aluminum lip vs titanium nuts, how many torque-ings can that aluminum lip handle??????

 

[FLATOUT]

I would think, from a logical and practical view, that if you are going to get 3 piece wheels do not get hidden , how will you replace them when you repaint or need to re torque some day, hidden probably fastens into an aluminum lip vs titanium nuts, how many torque-ings can that aluminum lip handle??????

The hardware is just moved to the inside hidden part of the flange instead of the outside. It uses a Helicoil type of a system. It honestly just comes down to asthetic's pure and simple. I have a few customers that really like 3 piece wheels but hate the exposed hardware. Now we can hide it for them if they want. We can expose every other fastener if they want frankly.

 

[GTS-R 001]

The hardware is just moved to the inside hidden part of the flange instead of the outside. It uses a Helicoil type of a system. It honestly just comes down to asthetic's pure and simple. I have a few customers that really like 3 piece wheels but hate the exposed hardware. Now we can hide it for them if they want. We can expose every other fastener if they want frankly.

See, this is why it is important to have people in the know on this forum that can tell us what is what. It is good to have a wheel vendor like yourself who actually attends the forums here, look at all the business the viper community gives to companies liek HRE and Forgeline and they are never here....

 

[FLATOUT]

See, this is why it is important to have people in the know on this forum that can tell us what is what. It is good to have a wheel vendor like yourself who actually attends the forums here, look at all the business the viper community gives to companies liek HRE and Forgeline and they are never here....

Thanks Steve I appreciate that, and thanks Jeff for the PM.

 

[Nine Ball]

I like both styles, exposed and hidden. To me, the choice is aesthetic alone, and it depends on which wheel style I'm going with, and which car I'm building the wheels for. Some cars look better with hardware showing, some don't. Same goes for wheel styles. There is no right answer.

Tony