After Market Wheels, Where can I check on some? Options

[gas65]

I have'nt decided yet, but I'm thinking about purchasing some after market wheels.Probably won't go for anything bigger than the stock size of 15x7, but I might if I find something that looks good on it.

I'm tired of the factory original wheels coming up warped everytime I get the tires rotated.My 94 had one wheel warped prior to my wreck, and afterwards one more came up warped, and it was'nt even the front wheel, go figure.

Just bought a 95 to replace it and it has one wheel warped and the rest are pitted a little from the previous owner not cleaning the car regularly.Even bought a new wheel off ebay awhile back, and the paint job on it does'nt match the wheels on either car.It actually looks better, but who can afford to buy 3 more like it from toyota?Let alone take a chance on them getting warped again so easily.

So out of 9 factory wheels, I have 5 that look great(2 of which are now warped, and 1 that does'nt match any of the others) and 4 that look like they need a new paint job(1 of which is warped).I thought about putting the best looking wheels on the drivers side, the 2 that look bad on the passenger side, and use the one that does'nt match real well as a spare.But I hate to have 2 rough looking wheels on my car.

I have'nt bought after market wheels since I was a teenager many, many years ago, so I'm asking for some of you to post thoughts on what brands I should check into.I want something for all seasons(even though we don't get alot of snow), something easily cleaned(don't want something that I have to use a toothbrush to clean areas not easily accessable), something sturdy or warranted(tired of warped wheels).I keep my car cleaned regularly, but would prefer something thats does'nt rust or flake off.

So if some of you can give your honest opinions on after market wheels, or if you have links to sites of the wheel distributors, or even pics of your own wheels and and whether you recommend them or not, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks
Greg

This post has been edited by gas65: Dec 21, 2003 - 7:58 PM

[boosted_K2]

no problem at all, thanks for the feedback, with the post count off its hard to distinguish whos been here for how long and im definatly guilty of not looking at peoples' register dates. anyways im sorry you felt offended as to my post, the exclamation points were put there to emphasis the importance of such a great thread neverstop put togeather for the site, i feel its one of the key points seperating this board from most others and i feel like im one of the only people who ever used it, so i put the exclamations there to signify the importance i put on that thread, not to say, drive my point in sternly, like i see you have taken it. After reading it again i see how you got the wrong impression sorry about that.

i focused my response on your question about which brands to look at, which is a question that comes up often, i forgot however to respond to your other question.

Wheels these days are coated quite differently then the old wheels you are acustom to. Most wheels these days wont have the rust problems, but common problems are flaking of the finish, staining and fading. any lower priced wheel will usually have staining or fading problems if they arent taken care of atleast once a week. i do not recommend to anyone to keep their wheels on in the winter (if you have a winter), for the following reasons:
1)salt and poluted water/snow/slush fades and stains the finish. if you have chrome wheels you may experience some rust like the older wheels you are used to. i know some places are switching from a NaCl deicer to a KCl, which doesnt promote rust as bad, but it still eventually will have the same effect if you dont take care of it.
2)these types of wheels are usually mounted with some decent performance tires, which are absolutely horrible in bad weather. I.E. i love my kumho 712 tires to death in the dry weather, but even in the rain they are all over the place, i couldnt imagine trying to use them in the winter.

as far as offset goes, i cant remember exactly what it is measuring from, but between 35-45MM is a standard offset for the celica.

other notables, they now have out a specific wheel wax that supposedly protects aganst scuffs and scratchs, that sort of thing. and like you said just keep them clean, excessive brake dust can stain and fade some finishes too so just need to keep them clean. another trick is to use EBC greenstuff break pads, if your rotors are in good condition you get virtually no brake dust.

brands ive delt with that ive liked: i have a set of enkeis, love them, good price from whalentire.com and discount tire co., the ones that i have are a bit heavy (20.2 LBS per wheel). i also have a set of speedlines that are on my MR2 and they are sweet, i bought my MR2 with theses wheels and they are a bit faded, id expect theyve been on there a long time, and yes on these i do have 1 or 2 centercaps that are loose, i dont have that problem with the enkeis. my friend had motegis, they are nice, no problems at all with them. umm.... one of my friends has a set of RHE C5s on his eclipse, heard nothing but good things there as well... hope this helps ya!