I plan on putting a 3" body lift with 33" tires and 16" wheels. I was wondering since I live in newengland(MA), should I get chrome or polished? I like chrome but am afraid the sand and salt will mess them up in the winter?

 

chrome. no questons asked. way easier to clean. i had polished b4 and you really have to work to keep them shining. no problems with rust and such as long as you keep them clean.

 

wat about the newengland winters

 

Shouldn't be a problem with chrome, polished oxidize with the salt especially and the weights gouging opens the coating allowing this to happen. Mine look like crap because the idiot beat the weight on, now oxidizing. Besides, chrome is blingy and pretty easy to maintain. Look at newer Grand Am GT's rims, all 2002 and newer look good around here.

Cool burnout too!!!!

 

Another vote for chrome.

 

Chrome

 

Def Chrome.

 

My vote is for chrome - any day of the week. Let me add one caution though. I don't know of a single aftermarket chrome wheel that will hold up to road salt. (Polished aluminum is even worse.) I put my factory wheels back on for the winter.

 

Uncoated polished aluminum gets stains and surface oxidation very easily. Any dirt, brake dust, or other road grime left on there for more than a day or two bakes into the wheel surface and requires serious elbow grease and body-english to remove. If you don't stay on top of your polished uncoated aluminum wheels, thoroughly washing them at least every couple weeks, polishing/waxing at least once per month, and hitting them with a pressure washer every now and then in between, they start to look really bad really fast and it takes a ton of work to get them looking good again. I wash, polish, and wax mine every couple of months only because I've been getting lazy and the schedule's been getting busy, and it shows.

I sorely miss the god ole days with my old truck's chrome-plated steel wheels where 2 minutes with wheel cleaner and a hose on each wheel had them looking like new again.

 

Chrome...there's a lot of up keep with polished wheels...

 

It depends on what you want. Chrome is easier to maintain, but is also a whole lot more prone to the chrome "chipping" off and scratches. On the other hand, aluminum can be buffed out if needed. If you want pretty wheels, get chrome. If you want high-performance wheels, get a aluminum wheel, plain and simple. Aluminum wheels will be cheaper than chrome. You can put a coat of clear coat polish on it to maintain it between cleanings. Also, forged wheels makes a difference and are easier to maintain. Due to the density of the grain structure, the polished forged wheel will maintain its luster for much longer than a polished cast wheel which is very porous. My forged solid billet aluminum polished wheels from Center Line have been on for two weeks and only needed some soap and water, and a light polishing. http://www.centerlinewheels.com

 

If you get cheap steel chrome wheels they will chip and rust, but if you get a good set of chrome aluminum wheels you shouldn't have any problems.

Chrome is better than polished...I have had both

 

I think we should clarify here that chrome is a finish on a wheel - not what it's made out of. (There's no steel under my chrome plating.) On top of that (no pun intended) there's good and bad chrome plating jobs. A poorly applied crome plated finish will be prone to chipping or peeling. A well applied plating job will not have those problems. That's why OEM / factory chrome plated wheels hold up so much better than aftermarket wheels. Again, having owned just about every kind of wheel and finish out there, my vote is for chrome as the easiest to maintain finish.

 

[QUOTE=2stroked]I think we should clarify here that chrome is a finish on a wheel - not what it's made out of. (There's no steel under my chrome plating.)

You can get a steel wheel that is chrome plated and you can also get a aluminum wheel that is chrome plated. Aluminum being the better of the two.

You get what you pay for...so buy a from a company that makes a good product and shouldn't have any problems with the chrome finish

 

Yupper! Absolutely! That's why my wheels came from a manufacturer I trusted.