Has anyone had experience with having their wheels chrome plated as far as the cost involved and how did they look afterwards in addition to their durability or wearability.Thanks, Andy.

 

I Heard that chrome plating something weakens the metal but I don't think that would harm much for car rims.

 

well i am not sure how chrome would cause weaker metal, all they do is dip it in 2 to 3 different metals while attached to a power source and the metal sticks to the surface, if anything i would think the liquid metal would fill in the open pours in the stock rim, could be wrong of course, just my opinion, the cost would probably vary depending on the shop you went to, pull out the yellow pages and start making calls, i think my friend at work had his rims done for a couple hundred, but they were for his bike, sure its about the same for a car

 

http://www.westernchrome.net/index.p...owPage=process
there ya go.
basically, they dip in about 10 different vats of whatever.
i know they use pure chlorine, and a myriad of highly toxic liquids to clean it, and they put copper, nickle, and chrome, all of which react to each other causing the "chrome" look. in reality, chrome is actually a goldish red liquid.
ah yes, chemistry and physics. arent they fun?

peace

 

Most people would just have them polished then clearcoated, it'll give much the same effect.

 

Some methods of chroming will cause metal fatigue which weakens the part or piece. However on an auto wheel this should not be an issue even using the methods that would cause weaking. Just make sure that whoever you have do the chroming that they will surface prep the wheel before they are chromed. Some shops will some won't. The chrome will reflect the surface condidtion of the wheel so if its rough your chrome plating will look rough or dull.

 

No way. Polish can never give the same luster as chrome. Also, chrome upkeep is much more difficult. A little windex and chrome is good as new, but polished aluminum loses its luster over time, and is MUCH harder to clean up.

I had stock polished aluminum wheels on my Supra, and they were chromed by a shop in Cali, and they turned out having a LOT more luster than even stock chrome wheels.

You can't get this kinda shine with polished aluminum: