TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT FINSPEED'S WHEEL MANUFACTURING SYSTEM
A forged, one-piece aluminum wheel is the lightest, strongest construction aluminum wheel available to performance automotive enthusiasts. However, that conventional wisdom doesn’t guarantee that all aftermarket one-piece forged wheels are machined and finished with the same quality standards—even if the initial forged blanks come from the same source.To get more news about Alloy wheels, you can visit nnxwheels.com official website.
Finspeed produces wheels from traditional one-piece forgings, yet there are distinctive variations in the design and manufacturing process at the work that set a higher benchmark within the performance community.Those shopping for performance one-piece wheels will note that there are three other popular wheel aluminum wheel manufacturing methods that don’t offer the strength and durability of a one-piece forging:
• Cast wheels - Molten aluminum is poured or pressure-fed into a mold. It’s an inexpensive process but the wheels are much heavier due to the extra material required to compensate for the porosity (micro bubbles) when the molten metal cools.
• Flow formed or rim rolling - Starts with a simple casting, then that casting his reheated. The outside barrel portion is spun and stretched over a drum to the desired shape.
• Billet - A huge chunk of billet aluminum is machined into the final wheel size and shape. Even a machined billet wheel isn’t as strong as a forged wheel, and it can be three to four times more expensive due to the amount of machining required.
Forged wheels start out as a small block of billet aluminum that is pressed between forging dies under intense heat and pressure into the basic shape of the wheel. The forging process produces a very dense and strong molecular composition. Traditional forging aligns the grain structure in the direction that the material flows. Ideally, that aligned grain structure is perpendicular to how the stress will be applied—which further enhances the metal’s strength.
The rough forging is then machined and finished into the final wheel dimensions and style. It’s these final production steps where Finspeed takes a more meticulous approach and differentiates itself from the competition.
Virtually all aftermarket wheel manufacturers (cast, flow-formed and forged) start with a typical wheel size—for example, 19x11 is popular for many fitments. They will overlay different brake profile drawings to check clearance and ultimately settle on a wheel profile that is suitable for many different applications. This wheel profile is pre-produced with a trendy spoke pattern. As the company receives a customer’s orders, those pre-manufactured wheels have the hub bore, lug pattern and offset machined to fit the final application before final finishing is applied.
Advanced five-axis CNC machines provide the capability to implement industry-leading features and benefits while transforming a forged aluminum blank into a finished wheel. A CMM (top left) ensures that the wheel is precise down to the most minute measurements.
“At Finspeed, our philosophy puts the priority on producing the best possible product, rather than an adequate product that is easy to make,” says Finke. “This, of course, is significantly more difficult to do as compared to how the forged wheel industry does it, but it produces a superior product.”
Again using a 19x11 wheel as an example, this size is common on the front of a C7 Corvette, Nissan GTR and Dodge Viper in addition to the rear on the C5 and C8 Corvette, Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Huracan and several others.
“If you are building for performance, even with the same wheel model from the same manufacturer, none of those wheels should be the same,” explains Finke. “Yet, that is how virtually all of the forged wheel industry does it. The only changes are the final finish and to allow the wheels to be attached to the vehicle while fitting under the fenders.”
