Vintique wheels

I have had a hell of a time getting my bias ply tires balanced. It has been over a year and 3 tire shops with no success. Finally I went to another tire store and when they spun the wheels it was obvious that three of the four wheels, not the tires, were out of round or the centers were not centered before welding in place. Well, since these are NEW wheels from Vintique Wheels I could not believe what was being told to me. Well, after seeing for myself it was obvious that something was wrong with them. Anyway, has anyone out there in HAMB world experienced this with new Vintique wheels?

 

You mean Wheel Vintiques? I know their hubcaps don't fit their wheels worth a hoot.

 

I have a set for my truck, spun them before I mounted tires & were all ok.

 

Give Wheel Vintiques a call and see if they will swap them out for a good set.

 

I have a set of Wheel Vintique steel wheels that I spun on the balancing machine before powder coating. They were all OK.

I guess it's just part of being old and cynical.

 

We've used numerous sets at work and not had any problems. But that is a ton of weight on that wheel, even for a bias tire.

Had a set from Stockton that was way off though.

 

Tell me about it, I email the company and the owner replied that he wanted to fix the problem and make me happy, and then decided to not return any of my emails from then on.
I emailed them to tell them about my dis sastisfaction with the fit of their hupcaps to their own wheels, not asking for anything, but then the owner replied that he wanted to help me out, and then nothing, I still have the hupcaps...

I'll never give them another cent and would not recomend them to anyone, use Rally America, wheelkid on the HAMB I bought stuff from him and it was top notch...

 

never had a problem with a Wheel Vintiques wheel personally

 

Why can't anybody make stuff anymore that right the first time, I keep reading bad things about this and that and this don't fit and that don't fit and tires not right, WTF!!!! if these companys are going to make something make it right the first time. I'm afraid to buy anything new anymore. Just my .02

 

I bought a set of wheels, center caps and trim rings from WV around a year ago. I could have used older original wheels but I wanted something a little wider and I also wanted something that I knew was perfect right out of the box. I was pretty disappointed.

I ***umed the wheels would be perfect so I didn't bother to spin them on the balancer before mounting the tires. By the time I got the tires mounted and tried to balance them it was pretty obvious something was not right. I even pulled the tires back off of the wheels and checked just the wheels on the balancer. It was then that I saw that 3 of the 4 wheels were a little bent or had a wobble to them when spun at speed on the machine.

I was bummed but had already painted them so they were no longer returnable. I decided to try them anyway. They actually have worked out just fine for me even at highway speeds.

Here are a couple tips if you're having trouble with wheel balance.

1) Take the tire back off of the wheel and rotate it 90 or 180 degrees and re-spin it. A lot of times a balance problem can be a combination of the heavy spot in a tire and the heavy spot in a rim being oriented together when they shouldn't be. Sometimes just spinning the tire on the rim will fix this.

2) Put the wheel that takes the most weight furtherst away from the driver. This moves the 'problem' wheel to a point where it is least likely to be noticeable while driving.

Obviously these won't correct problems with a severely bent or out-of-balance wheel but for minor issues it can help.

It's very common for wheels to have a slight bend or wobble to the wheel (especially aluminum wheels) but I find it usually is pretty normal and not often noticeable while on the road.

As to WV hubcaps...I was very unimpressed. Had to practically force them on and then did cosmetic damage to 3 of 4 while trying to remove them later.

Jay

 

I'm a lurker with a 65 Mustang, so I don't post much. I bought a set for Ford 15" Styled Steel Wheels from them. They were a 2 piece and welded together. The originals used rivets. and I learned that welding warps the wheels.

Long story short: The local tire shops couldn't balance them off the center hole. My wheels needed to be balanced of the lugs (lug-centric balancing) and the generic shops around here have never heard of it. All modern aluminum wheels are balanced off the center holes.

I took mine to Stockton Wheel. They milled the inner center hub flat and balanced them off the lugs. No problems since then.

 

Thanks, I had my tire store rotate the tires on the rim, the one in the photo got better the other rear became worse, had to rotate it back. Tire guy explained what someone else said here about the welding process while ***embling the wheels. I just cant believe that a company in the 21 century can not reproduce a product any better than it was made 50 years ago!! Anyway, glad I'm not the only one with the issues. I just hate to think I might have to use radials on the highway, hate the look.

Anyone know how the Excelsior tires are on the highway? I've seen them on high end hotrods buy not on any drivers.

 

Bought 4 chrome Corvette rallys for an O/T car with a custom offset from Wheel Vintiques. One had so much lateral runout I could see it in the rearview mirror.

After a h***le. the replacement sent was their standard wheel with a different offset than my other 3. (I told them the offset before it was sent)

They told me "hey it's only a 1/2" difference, nobody will notice"

Got the 2nd replacement, still had runout but nearly acceptable.
Had to modify the original derby hubcaps to fit.

They do make some nice "garden hose hangers" though.

Since then I've used "Early Wheel Company" with no problems.

 

Balancing off the lug holes not the center hole is correct with multi pattern steel wheels.
I have seen a few centers for wheels that were mis-stamped. you couldnt catch it by eye. they were off just enough to cause issues. 3 out of 4 though??Being in the Wheel business, I talk to these guys pretty often. Explain the problem and what you have done to try to remedy it calmly and They should help you out.

Thanks for the compliment LowKat.

Jason.
Early Wheel Company
Bear Metal Kustoms

 

I would like to see some company step up and make some aluminum wheels, that look like steel wheels when they are painted. They could be made ROUND and LIGHT. If you look at the hoops on American Torque Thrust II wheels, all you would have to do is forge some aluminum centers, weld them in and have some slick LIGHT "steel" wheels. I've never heard of anyone having trouble with aluminum wheels being "out of round", unless they were bounced off a curb or something.
I doubt that anyone at American could pull that off, they aren't even smart enough to put raised lettering on their salt flat wheels ( it's engraved in). If the lettering was raised, you could remove it with a die grinder. That's how So Cal makes their "salt" wheels, but then So Cal is run by HOT ROD guys............I don't think American Racing Wheels is.....I would hope they prove me wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

"Out of round" repro WHEELS and TIRES.........**** and ****!