Home > Info Center > Chrome rims

Chrome rims

Click here to see our selection of Chrome rims.

Nothing screams “check me out” like a new set of chrome rims for your vehicle. Chrome is by far the most popular finish for many aftermarket wheel sets. The shine that only chrome can provide can make any car look like a million dollars.

Chrome, short for Chromium, is a naturally occurring chemical that takes the form of metal. However, even though it’s a metal, it cannot be used as a solid material. There is no such thing as solid chrome. In most cases, when something is referred to as chrome, it usually means that it’s been plated, usually over steel or aluminum.

Chrome rims are usually sought after due to their mirror-like appearance. However, not all that glitters is chrome. Electro-polished steel and aluminum often resemble the look of chrome, but when compared side by side, the differences become more apparent. As a finish, chrome has a much brighter, deeper surface reflection. When properly polished, it can produce a brilliance that is unmatched by any other plating material.

Chrome rims generally use what is called “decorative chrome plating”, which is different than the “hard chrome plating” that is often used for industrial applications such as hydraulic cylinders and piston rings. There are two major differences between these two types of plating. Number one is the actual thickness of the plating. Decorative plating is much thinner than hard plating, being measure in millionths of an inch, as opposed to thousandths of an inch for hard plating. Secondly, decorative plating usually requires a layer of nickel be applied before the chrome, which is why it’s often referred to as nickel-chrome plating.

Because wheels are in constant contact with the ground, through all kinds of weather and driving conditions, they tend to be the first places to show the effects of corrosion. This is the primary reason that wheels are made with a protective layer of some kind. Chrome is used in abundance for just this purpose. The material has an extremely high resistance to all kinds of corrosive effects including rust. Chrome is also exceptionally easy to clean and maintain, making it a very functional type of protective plating.

However, the most common reason that people choose chrome rims is because, let’s face it, they just look good. Nothing flashes quite like sunlight reflecting off of a chrome wheel. Wheel manufacturers are not oblivious to this fact, and most carry a wide variety of different wheel designs that are plated in chrome. Many car makers actually make chrome wheels that can be used to replace the wheels that were put on at the factory.

High quality chrome rims can be quite expensive to purchase. It is not unusual for a person to spend several thousand dollars on a new set of these wheels. When spending this kind of money though, it is important to know what you’re getting. If the manufacturer claims that the chrome is applied by “dipping” or “annealing”, do not buy those wheels. Real chrome can only be applied through electro plating, and any other process infers that it is not true chrome.