Alibaba Forged Wheels?? Worth it?

[Brisvegas]

So I've seen some hype about forged wheels and other components (brakes, etc..) coming from Alibaba. I've never ordered anything from there as I have always been very skeptical. But I have been looking to do a drag pack for the rears, all the usual suspects VMS, WELD. Then I started looking on Alibaba and came across some pretty nice designs. I have the PP2 wheels and I would like to have something somewhat match that style.

Just wondering if anyone has gone the Alibaba route or if its just scam city.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...p82T&priceId=b2e46de30bd34e388a95dc14bb35aa1c

I realise this is a contentious subject but many assuming " x " brand wheels being made in Murica potentially is misplaced . Given you are thinking of Weld Racing wheel reps here is a bit of Weld Racing imports manifest , This is just information , not opinion . Clearly some of Weld Racings supply chain come out of china . Are they the wheels you buy for you drag pack mustang ? who really knows but it appears not as clear cut as some may think . I can produce these manifests for an assortment of " US " wheel companies . The list is long , DYOR and dont assume much . My living is from doing research , i am fact and data driven , no opinions . Good luck to all . Probably some wheels you can buy from Alibaba are junk but some will be from the same factory built to the same specs you pay 3 times the price for locally . Some Alibaba wheel companies build wheels for prestige manufacturer cars worldwide , i suggest this is an important factor if you want to find some Alibaba wheels . DYOR or just buy locally sold wheels .

Sponsored

 

[86Capri21Stang]

I have used a company called JOVA wheels 3 times now and on average you're spending about $400 per wheel delivered. You get full customizastion, design offset, width, color they email back and forth several times with renders to verify you are getting what you want, The process is not quick it usually takes 2-3 months from start to receiving the wheels. I am not worried about weight as I don't use these at the track, the look great for daily driving. I am working through a set right now for my Mustang but here is a set they made me just a few months ago.

[/QUOTE
Look Almost like my 21 gt base wheels. A little thinner.

 

[Apex Wheels]

Yeah man I’m not gonna come to your house and force you to buy rep wheels

just buy what you like, but I’m telling you you’re mostly paying for a brand. I don’t think you can honestly say anything I’ve said is “demonstrably false”

Hey everyone - Apex here! There's a lot of misconceptions in the wheel world currently in regards to Alibaba wheels. We wanted to jump in and shed light on a few of those misconceptions.

We want to be very clear that any wheels you're finding on Alibaba are not authentic Apex wheels.

While a portion of our products are made in China (with other wheels made in Taiwan and Malaysia as well), we work only with vetted suppliers, have exclusivity agreements, and our suppliers don't sell on Alibaba or similar marketplaces.

Everything about these counterfeit products is different - while they may look similar at a quick glance, the reality is that those counterfeit wheels are designed based only on images of our wheels. They don't have any of the same engineering behind them. That's a huge issue, and one that's easily overlooked because there's no standard way in our industry to test for engineering quality. As a consumer, how can you be sure that the counterfeit product you're buying is even safe for use, let alone has any optimization at all from a performance standpoint?

This is why we independently test our wheels, something that these counterfeit sellers simply don't do. You can read about why that matters here: https://apexwheels.com/blog/technical-discussion/testing-to-a-higher-standard

Custom wheels + JWL/VIA/Independent testing is not affordable at the price points of Alibaba wheels because of how wildly expensive it would be to offer a new custom fitment for a single customer that hasn’t been tested already.

We have 8 engineers on staff, all based here in the US, specifically to design, optimize, and test our wheels. This isn't fluff - it's real engineering that makes for meaningful differences. Wheels that might look similar on an Instagram reel are often very different when you scratch beneath the surface. Even small changes from a visual standpoint on a high performance wheel can have significant impacts to the strength, stiffness, brake clearances, and other features of a wheel.

There's dozens of counterfeit wheels out there, so it's difficult to catalog all of them, but we've acquired various fakes and it's easy to see the compromises when you compare them side by side. For example, take a look at the difference in design around the lug area of these counterfeit wheels:

This is just one of the many, many differences between the counterfeit wheels and our wheels. The counterfeit spokes have ~25% less depth than our spokes (because they use inferior manufacturing blanks), but consumers can’t tell because they’re only judging the aesthetic similarities. That spoke depth difference alone gives up critical strength and stiffness that's important when you're pushing heavy vehicles (like a Mustang) hard.

The design differences continue way deeper than that - the counterfeit barrels don't have a 0* draft angle so they won't clear as many brakes, they have standard inter lip designs instead of our Sprint Spec inner lip, the counterfeit wheels have worse side milling and rear mounting hub pocketing, the counterfeit wheels don't offer OEM center cap support - the list goes on and on.

Ultimately, what it boils down to is a wheel that simply doesn't perform to the same level as an authentic product. In our testing, we found that a counterfeit wheel in the same size as our wheel was nearly two full pounds heavier - that's unsprung weight that matters a lot, even ignoring all of the other differences listed above.

We also recognize the appeal of these products - it's understandable to want to find ways to save a few bucks, but they aren't the same as our wheels. When wheels need to support many thousands of pounds while someone drives their car hard, do they really want to be second guessing if the person at the random factory overseas actually had any relevant engineering qualifications, or if the wheels you bought were compromised from their optimal design?

It’s a common misconception that forged wheels are inherently strong, and that similar looking styles will perform similarly. That's not the case - engineering matters, and there are absolutely forged wheels out there that don't just perform worse, but that are unsafe for use simply because of the poor engineering that's gone into them.

We bring all this up not to attack anyone, but to educate. There are a lot of myths out there about Alibaba in the wheel industry, and we're going to be releasing more content over the coming months to help educate enthusiasts.

 

[fiveoboy01]

Woof, looks like a few people need to come back and offer an apology.

I won’t hold my breath!

Thanks for the informative post

 

[junits15]

-

Woof, looks like a few people need to come back and offer an apology.

I won’t hold my breath!

Thanks for the informative post

An apology would imply I hurt your feelings.

that didn’t happen, did it?

 

[fiveoboy01]

-

An apology would imply I hurt your feelings.

that don’t happen, did it?

Woosh.

I am not talking about apologizing to me.

Thanks for making my point.

 

[junits15]

Woosh.

I am not talking about apologizing to me.

Thanks for making my point.

Apologize to a company?????

 

[fiveoboy01]

Apologize to a company?????

"I'm sorry for making comments borne out of ignorance. Next time I'll research better before looking silly."

Is that so hard? (I know the answer)

Anymore people just can't admit that they are wrong.

 

[fiveoboy01]

Back to the topic, I have seen people complain about Apex and call them "reps" and I think that's pretty funny.

ETA it's also interesting to see the very minor variations between the authentic and the fake wheel. I used to cut my teeth on spotting fake Rolexes all over the 'gram, so I can appreciate noticing the minor stuff, even the slight differences in the font machining on the lip.

 

[junits15]

Dude you wanna know something? The wheels I was referencing were Volk TE37 knockoffs.

Those are the $800 wheels for $200, they’re actually $250 I’m gonna buy these for my beater car.

Wheels

Im not apologizing to a company first off, and I’m not apologizing for some shit you made up in your own head holy shit bruh.

 

[fiveoboy01]

Dude you wanna know something? I never even mentioned Apex.

LMAO, holy shat indeed.

Nice edit. You gotta be quicker than that.

Suddenly, you're talking about Volk wheels. How convenient.

 

[rin5.0]

I have the PP2 wheels and I would like to have something somewhat match that style.

Not directly from Alibaba and just sharing my experience. I got custom performance pack wheels made by VFC Performance last year, who I believe sources their materials and manufacturing process in China (if anyone knows more about them, please correct me if I am wrong). The process was smooth, asked what I was looking for, then I was given renders within 5-7 days after a 50% deposit. Did a few revisions and then the renders were finalized and the wheels were made to order. In total, it was around a two month process. I've had them for a while now and they have a pretty good reputation on Instagram from what I see. I know another mustang owner that had another custom set for his S650 made by VFC Performance too. I've had these for a while now and am also in the process of getting another custom set from them for my Supra.

 

[junits15]

Idk how to help you man, you can spin this however you’d like. I called them “apex knockoffs” literally what more do you want.

like I said, I’m not gonna come to you house and force you to buy rep wheels

“Apologize to apex” good god what even is that

 

[fiveoboy01]

“Apologize to apex” good god what even is that

That isn't what I said. READ and COMPREHEND.

General statement. Admit you were wrong and apologize to nobody in particular for spreading bad info. That hard? It shouldn't be. Man up.

End of conversation.

 

[junits15]

That isn't what I said. READ and COMPREHEND.

General statement. Admit you were wrong and apologize to nobody in particular for spreading bad info. That hard? It shouldn't be. Man up.

End of conversation.

Bad information? What bad information? that you can get knock offs on ali express in sizes and patterns that don't exist otherwise? That many reps are made in the same factories by the same people? I want you to point to where i said something "bad".

If the real deal was made in the USA and these were off ali-express id agree with you, but that isn't the case.

The apex's were an example that i gave because i know people here like apex wheels. Obviously they aren't fuckin apex wheels, they're just knock offs, which is why i called them that. But they are forged, much lighter than stock, look really nice, and work perfectly on the street. The "Volk TE37's" are for my 20 year old mini, do you COMPREHEND why i wouldn't be inclined to reference a 4x100 17" rim on a mustang forum?

"end of conversation" whatever bruh I'm still not gonna force you to buy rep wheels.

Sponsored