The "Most OVER-rated wheel thread"

[Petis]

A booth to powdercoat wheels could be small and the fumes contained. Shouldn't be too difficult.

[Jedidiah]

^ One of my main points here...... They have multiple designes in their cast line that sell very well, and it would make sense that their next step be, to buy the equipment to cast in house. And get a powdercoat booth for christ sake. That is a relatively innexpensive purchase that will pay for itself in about 1-2yrs.

Buying casting equipment is very very expensive.. The EPA would also have a field day if the equipment was located in Cali.. Even if Rotiform was selling millions of dollars in wheels, I don't think the justification would be there to risk the purchase of such equipment, never-mind the headache from the local government.

Run into the same problem with finishing wheels in house.. You need a bigger warehouse to allot space for a paint booth, equipment, man-power.. Then there is the cost of getting the license from the state, and again with the EPA non-sense. Just not worth it.

[Jedidiah]

Ben, CCW has more than 2 available faces for their 3 piece wheels though in the end it's no difference to them since they do it in-house as you said. Classics, LM20s, LM16s, and LM5s are available and the Classics have different barrels and lips than the LM series wheels. On top of that, they do make custom faces on occasion like my wheels.

Also, CCW doesn't do their anodizing and finishes other than polished in-house either. They get sent out to a local place they work with

Right-

My point in addressing the limited faces, was that it's one less variable in the complexities of lead time with making the faces for a set. Due to having the equipment in house, they can do whatever they want for sure, so the point is moot.

As far as I'm concerned, CCW has played their cards incredibly well, from a business framework. They have also seized the opportunity to get in the aggressive wheel market, and it's been positive for both them and the consumer. Nothing but kudos from me.

I wish more wheel companies could justify having their own machines, but that's not a reality for most. One of the main reasons: sourcing the right engineers to manage and operate the machines day in and out is difficult and expensive, never-mind the machines themselves.. This is at least from my understanding.

[Petis]

This.. The margins on 3-piece wheels are very small at the 3k range.

The reason CCW is able to sell cheaper and still make to order is that they have 2 faces to choose from, have the CNC machines to make them in house, and they buy large amounts of discontinued lips and barrels at a time, which they buy at a lower price due to volume and thus still can meet their margins when selling retail at the lower retail price.. You need a lot of startup capital, a big warehouse, etc to pull this off.. The risk is typically too great for the majority of 3-piece wheel companies.

The cast game is where wheel companies can differentiate themselves and thrive depending on where they manufacture and the deal they have in place. Even then though, it takes a good bit of capital and and some cajoles to go out there and make it happen. If you have a design that blows, and 100 sets of that design not selling.. You are dead in the water.

Rotiform has successfully done the latter and they are evolving quickly as a big contender in the wheel game because of it. That's not me stroking egos bc they are a site sponsor either.. That's just giving credit where credit is due.

^ One of my main points here...... They have multiple designes in their cast line that sell very well, and it would make sense that their next step be, to buy the equipment to cast in house. And get a powdercoat booth for christ sake. That is a relatively innexpensive purchase that will pay for itself in about 1-2yrs.

[aar0n.]

Ben, CCW has more than 2 available faces for their 3 piece wheels though in the end it's no difference to them since they do it in-house as you said. Classics, LM20s, LM16s, and LM5s are available and the Classics have different barrels and lips than the LM series wheels. On top of that, they do make custom faces on occasion like my wheels.

Also, CCW doesn't do their anodizing and finishes other than polished in-house either. They get sent out to a local place they work with

Absolutely agreed on the Corvette wheels. I'm assuming their popularity stems from the fact that they're cheap, decent looking, and wide.

[Jedidiah]

Where do you think all the multipiece wheel manufacturers get their parts as there are only 4 sources of lips/barrels in the US? The most they do is machine their own faces.

This.. The margins on 3-piece wheels are very small at the 3k range.

The reason CCW is able to sell cheaper and still make to order is that they have 2 faces to choose from, have the CNC machines to make them in house, and they buy large amounts of discontinued lips and barrels at a time, which they buy at a lower price due to volume and thus still can meet their margins when selling retail at the lower retail price.. You need a lot of startup capital, a big warehouse, etc to pull this off.. The risk is typically too great for the majority of 3-piece wheel companies.

The cast game is where wheel companies can differentiate themselves and thrive depending on where they manufacture and the deal they have in place. Even then though, it takes a good bit of capital and and some cajoles to go out there and make it happen. If you have a design that blows, and 100 sets of that design not selling.. You are dead in the water.

Rotiform has successfully done the latter and they are evolving quickly as a big contender in the wheel game because of it. That's not me stroking egos bc they are a site sponsor either.. That's just giving credit where credit is due.

[Petis]

^I guess I sould have also thrown in the fact that, unlike CCW, who had an enourmous amount of capital when entering the market and bought a ton of parts/material at once, Rotiform didn't have the same ability when entering the market, so their cost on those parts is higher.



Also, I mostly meant that they also outsource their cast wheels, paint work, and plating sevices. None of that is done in house, which drives costs up a good bit..... especially when having to ship them to and from the plater/painter, thenship to the customer.

[Han]

so they have to outsource a lot of their parts.

Where do you think all the multipiece wheel manufacturers get their parts as there are only 4 sources of lips/barrels in the US? The most they do is machine their own faces.

[Petis]

^unfortunately, they don't have the ability to produce their wheels at a smaller cost to themselves right now. Its pretty much a 'mom & pop" style operation, so they have to outsource a lot of their parts.

I do, however, think they could come down in their price in order to move more sets, thus increasing their overall profit, thus making enough income to justify buying the equipment to do most everything in house. Which, in turn, would increase their profit margins when selling at the previously lower profit to cost margin.

Make sense?

[aar0n.]

Rotiforms, Sorry.

They are a new company with no long line of reputation and a custom set costs 7k.

Over rated from the factory.

Where'd you get 7k from? Rotiform's 3 piece forged wheels go from anywhere between 3 and 5k from what I remember and that's pretty much standard for any custom high-end wheel now.

17x9 Rotiform SJCs are forged and weigh about 14 pounds, hardly overrated

[4DGS]

Rotiforms, Sorry.

They are a new company with no long line of reputation and a custom set costs 7k.

Over rated from the factory.

[Marxtin]

being stanced is over rated.....time to be stanched

[Marxtin]

My penis is over rated apparently...

....ochocinco

[mtm_motors]

I can't believe no one has said it yet.
Corvette sawblades.


I cannot stand these things.

I can't stand sawblades on a 'vette...

however everyone that's sporting them on here is looking great!