Opinions on OE Replica wheels

[msj724]

Hi all,

My Tahoe came with the 22's on it, but I have been considering stepping up to 24's and eventually doing a slight drop on it. I have always been a fan of keeping a production look to my vehicles so my question is if anyone has had experience dealing with companies like Factory Reproductions, etc? I found the OE replicas in 24 inch that look sharp in photos. Just wondering about quality. The one manufacturer gave a lifetime structural warranty but only two years in finish. Am I better off looking into some of the true aftermarket manufacturers like Giovanni, Gianelle, KMC, etc?

Appreciate your help!

 

[fiatdale]

Most of them are pretty good. If you take care of them you shouldn't have any issues

 

[95escahoe]

I run 20" Denali reps from Factory Reproductions they look great

 

[THE YETI]

considering not any aftermarket wheel will give you more than one year on the finish, I'd say Factory Reproductions warranty is pretty solid.

If you are in the market for their 24", let me know. I've sold a few sets. For the most part they are great wheels, I've had one bad wheel come through, but they swapped it out without any problems.

Hope this helps...

I'd also take your stock wheels in as trade.

 

[Goodinblack]

Hi all,

My Tahoe came with the 22's on it, but I have been considering stepping up to 24's and eventually doing a slight drop on it. I have always been a fan of keeping a production look to my vehicles so my question is if anyone has had experience dealing with companies like Factory Reproductions, etc? I found the OE replicas in 24 inch that look sharp in photos. Just wondering about quality. The one manufacturer gave a lifetime structural warranty but only two years in finish. Am I better off looking into some of the true aftermarket manufacturers like Giovanni, Gianelle, KMC, etc?

Appreciate your help!

What 22s?

 

[THE YETI]

What 22s?

probably the ones in his signature?

 

[Goodinblack]

probably the ones in his signature?

Can't see on tapacrap

Sawwyyy

 

[msj724]

Thanks for the replies. Factory Repro does seem to be a good company based on reviews. Yeah my 22's are the bright machined manoogian. I think they are the CK161 wheel. I like them a lot, but just want to try a little larger. They have about 2300 miles on them if anyone would be interested. I would like to try and get $2300 for wheels and tires if I do decide to sell. They are a $3000 option through the dealer.

Yeti I will let you know which ones I am looking at when I get home later. Thanks for the offer.

 

[NathanJax]

I'm happy with mine

 

[07Burb]

Yeti I will let you know which ones I am looking at when I get home later. Thanks for the offer.

He's top notch to do business with

 

[THE YETI]

Lemme know MSJ. $2300 might be good for a local sale. If not try eBay.

 

[msj724]

Hi Yeti.....I was looking at a variation of the CK156 in 24 inch. They have a set of 4 machined finish with black accents plus tires for $1799. Seems like a solid price though I would add the tpms to go with it. So are you saying you could get those in, and I could buy off of you? I would consider the chrome finish on these but I don't see them offered in that finish.

On mine, are you interested in only the wheels or the whole complete set? Thanks

 

[THE YETI]

Email me [email protected]

 

[MarkD51]

I've had my 22" Factory Repro Wheels only for about 1-1/2 months, but so far am very happy with them.

The plating looks to be top quality, just beautiful, as good as any other customs I've seen, and would say they rank with some of the very best, and are better than some other customs I've seen.

It looks like a very good degree of attention was paid to polishing prep, and handling before the plating process, barrels look good, no mangled rim edges, anything in the way of nicks-dings that make me think that the factory who make these did some substandard rush job in some back alley plant.

Now I'll grant you, I live in the southwest desert here, we rarely see snow and if we do on occasion, doubtful that salts are dumped on the roads.

I would suspect any wheel, plated, or clear coated will eventually have their finishes fail if one would place any wheel into a 24/7 salt bath for a long length of time without being properly protected.

Experience tells me your 3 biggest enemies with any wheel made will be Salts, Brake Dusts, and Harsh Cleaners.

And that was one sole reason I chose to coat my wheels with a semi-permanent Ceramic Coating, versus a lesser Wax, or a Synthetic Sealant.

I chose Carpro CQuartz UK Coating, then topped with Carpro Reload.
There are others on the market from Optimum, 22ple, Pinnacle, Duragloss, etc.

Such Coatings are more impervious and resistant to acids-alkalies, brake dusts, heat, and abrasion from cleaning. A relatively inexpensive bit of good insurance to coat such wheels in and out before placing into service.

So far, I haven't even had a need to resort to shampoos, or detergents, just a simple hose down with clear water, and wipe dry. In a number of months, all I'll need to do, is replenish the Coating with a fast application of Carpro Reload, which is a diluted Ceramic protectant, can be used on Chrome, Paint, Glass, Rubber, Plastic.

PS: I wanted to also add, that packing of the wheels was excellent as well, totally first class all the way. Super heavy duty Cardboard Boxes, with additional pieces of Cardboard at both the box's sides top and bottom, additional sheets of cardboard top and bottom, both rim edges wrapped with foam, and the wheels themselves are encased in large plastic bags. Smart that each box has grab handle cutouts (2) on each box to ease handlng.
Mark
Mark

 

[07Burb]

^^^cant wait to have those on my burb!

 

[08grey]

My experience with the same wheel above is completely the opposite in the 24". Finish process before plating was poor. Plating overall poor and not consistent from rim to rim. This is absolutely no reflection on any reseller. This is directly on factory reproductions. May just be that these are still not being mass produced in 24" and I chalk up my experience to that. If I had the option to see them in person first I would have never brought them and I would have waited.

 

[Goodinblack]

That sucks ^^^^

Chrome is always a tough one though. Why I would opt for machine or painted...... then PC it.

I seen GM OEM wheels chrome peeling....... with age...... so replicas from china can't be perfect or chrome be better.

Coatings seem like a really good investment. Imo

 

[THE YETI]

That sucks ^^^^

Chrome is always a tough one though. Why I would opt for machine or painted...... then PC it.

I seen GM OEM wheels chrome peeling....... with age...... so replicas from china can't be perfect or chrome be better.

Coatings seem like a really good investment. Imo

Not at all true. GM wheels are made in china. Has nothing to do with where they are made. Just like there are cheap things made in the us and good things made here. Saying that anything that comes from china is subpar is a stereotype statement based on what the majority comes from there.

There's a reason why FR comes with 2yr as opposed to your typical one year. Their process is pretty solid. And they (24") are mass produced. They usually come in 100 wheel batches. They stand by their product.

Buying machined or painted and powdercoating it does not make any sense either. Powdercoating is only as good as the surface it adheres to. So spending money to strip it down and PC is properly for something that isn't warrantied much better wouldn't really add up.

 

[MarkD51]

I had assumed such, that all these "real" factory authorized GM Wheels were coming from China, and in fact would also take an educated guess they're coming out of the exact same factory there also!

Many companies in the world do this, let's take somebody like Uberti Firearms in Italy, they make them for themselves, as well as other companies over the years, or sell them the parts, like Navy Arms at one time, Taylors, Cimarron, USFA, Beretta/Stoeger, etc.

Dependent upon what another distributor is willing to pay for such can determine the amount of quality in final fit and finishing.

I'm sure if factory reproductions were encountering a lot of misfit-poor quality wheels, they'd be talking with the factory in China, demanding better quality or all bets are off.

I imagine one can get a morphodite product from anyone today.
I gather factory reproductions will stand behind their warrantees to uphold a good reputation. Mark

 

[THE YETI]

^well said [emoji106]