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[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by SantaClawz

did you have to take pictures of the potholes and prove yourself?

The more information you have the better. They will require at least 2 quotes to repair/replace, or a paid receipt. The CalTrans process on their end essentially goes like this today:

A claim is submitted by yourself, with the time, date, location. The information about where the pothole / road hazard is, is analyzed and it is forwarded on to the supervisor in charge of road maintenance in that area.

The supervisor will either a) see the pothole and determine whether it is enough to cause damage, and then fix the pothole, or b) have already fixed the pothole due to other complaints, and will likely approve your claim if it is dated before the date the fix was implemented on the road.

All in all, it comes down to the discretion of 1 person - the supervisor of the road maintenance crew in that area. So hope you get a cool one.

[SantaClawz]

Jeez. i pray i never hit one. im on a 25 profile on 20 inch wheels. LOL

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by Bimmerboy87

You drive a BMW, not a Honda. Treat your car to some nice higher end wheels. Whats the point of buying a cast wheel? just because the cost is less. Why buy wheels then in my opinion? if your worried about bending, heck the cast wheel will totally break not bend, compared to a forged wheel. Just my 2 cents.

Hmmm.....you're a little mis-informed. A cast wheel will not necessarily break. I've straightened more than one cast wheel that met an unfortunate pothole.

[shragon]

yes, cast wheels can also bend.

on my last car, i had hamann hm2's which were made by o.z. i ran these wheels for more than a than a few years on cali's crappy roads. i bent one wheel in that time, which was done by a giant road crack going up to mount diablo.

[RMRC]

I debated this as well. I was going to go with a set of cast VMR CSL reps and probably would have been very happy with them. But I just can’t pass on the VS8s. At 20 lbs each and a price of about 3,200 delivered with GS-D3s it was worth the extra $1k to me. I couldn’t justify the $3k more for BBS LMs or RGRs with tires though. Everyone has a different threshold but I find the Morr wheels to be an incredible value for a light forged wheel.

[SV Concepts]

I've waited a long time for a chance to post this picture.....

This was in the olden days of Kinesis, though. And it also failed on a track doing god knows what.

[RMRC]

Wow that's scary. Looks like a Pilot Sport Cup (or some other r-comp) tire mounted so that wheel probably failed on track. I wonder what the circumstances were.

[iatacs19]

Hard to tell from that picture alone, it could have hit something going fast or it could have just failed under duress. We need more than just 1 picture to make any kind of conclusion.

[Chowbow]

Could have been an actual accident on track. Regardless, scary enough when you think about what happened if you just hit a bump and the spokes snapped.

[ScBlacksunshine]

Using iForge as example of quality forged wheel is a bad example to begin with Like HRC said, not all forge wheels are created equal. The pressure of the forging press plays a big factor in the final product

[Chunga]

And who would use a 2 or 3 pcs wheel for track? - they are not stiff enough.
One pice is stiff and strong.

[shragon]

agree. the pic is shocking looking, but we really need to know more about what happened before hand to come to a conclusion.

[Sick Speed]

3 years back I hit a pot hole and it put such a huge dent into my forged wheel I had to replace it.

Had it been a cast wheel it most likely would have completely fractured.

SS

[AWD Addict]

Originally Posted by Chowbow

And just to be clear..... The state of California ended up paying me back for those rims that time (pic above) because the pothole was huge. So you can get reimbursed back under the proper circumstances and everything. It'll take months though. And in the end, it still isn't worth my headache.

I tried that a few years back. After about 6 months of letters, phone calls, and wasted time, I gave up. While they're obligated to do it, you basically have to sue them to motivate them to pay, and then, they usually only pay a fraction of what you actually need.

[HRC]

Originally Posted by MarkNg335i

Forged wheel will bend when it hit a pothole ,cast wheel well bend and also crack. The OEM wheels are cast too it doesn't mean that cast wheel are garbage, it's just the manufacturing process is less expensive.

I'm confused, was my post(s) above not clear? Did I say a forged wheel will NOT bend under the right circumstances? I understand that the OEM rims on my car are cast. I never said cast wheels are garbage, I stated that if I upgrade, I prefer a forged monoblock wheel over any cast wheel, regardless of looks.

Danny

[Chowbow]

Originally Posted by AWD Addict

I tried that a few years back. After about 6 months of letters, phone calls, and wasted time, I gave up. While they're obligated to do it, you basically have to sue them to motivate them to pay, and then, they usually only pay a fraction of what you actually need.

Guess I got lucky then. They paid out the full retail cost of 2 of my wheels, in a few months, with minimal overall hassle.

[1WickedE90]

Originally Posted by AWD Addict

I tried that a few years back. After about 6 months of letters, phone calls, and wasted time, I gave up. While they're obligated to do it, you basically have to sue them to motivate them to pay, and then, they usually only pay a fraction of what you actually need.

Get a lawyer, if they don't want to play fair. In your lawsuit, include your lawyer's fees as part of the cost. I had to do this way back with a pair of BBS RC wheels. It took me about 8.5 months but I got everything back. Caltrans is usually ok to deal with but sometimes, you get the dumbass who just doesn't get why his organization is responsible for the pot-hole that bent/cracked your car's wheels.

Btw, they settled and we didn't have to go to court

[G35revup]

I bent my iforged wheels once hitting a pothole, I took the wheels to this wheel shop I know of and they fixed them for between $75-$150 per wheel

[BMW MotorSport]

Originally Posted by iatacs19

Forged will bend just as easily as cast if you hit a bad pothole.

Forged just means you have slightly stronger metal composition because the molecules have been pounded so much that they create a solid matrix, the grain in the metal is aligned much better. They are somewhat stronger than cast, but not a significant amount. Like the poster above said, just because it's "forged" it does not mean it's made from some indestructible material. It depends on what you value in a wheel, looks vs. performance.

Originally Posted by Former_Boosted_IS

Are you kidding me? What does the brand of vehicle have to do with it? The OEM is cast. In everything in life we have to make decisions on what is the benefit vs. cost ratio on things. If forged wheels are that much stronger and will withstand pot hole that much better, then the decision is easier. If really the main benefit of forged is the lighter wheel, then cast it is for me. I broke 3 pretty expensive wheels on my last car and it got really annoying flushing $800 down the toilet everytime I bent a wheel. They were cast wheels wheels, but I really wouldn't care as much if they were cheaper.

Originally Posted by Former_Boosted_IS

So it is sounding like the strength of cast vs. forged may not be worth the money. Really what you are paying for is a lighter wheel? If that is the case, then I will buy cast and buy down pipes to make up for the power. This really is a great discussion. Any other forged owners want to chime in?

All very good points and views. I honestly believe that both cast and forged have their slight advantages. But for the cost conscience customer cast all the way, for the discerning high end customer forged for sure.

[E92_335]

Originally Posted by Former_Boosted_IS

Danny, replacing a cast wheel is just a few hundred dollars, but replacing a forged wheel is $1000. For the money I save and go cast, I could easily get the extra power back with DP's and an intake. Just my thoughts right now.

What I am debating is a wheel like the Breyton CS vs. and IForged Essen or DPE S-20 or Enkreuz. I would just hate to spend $1000 on a replacement wheel.

Just thought I'd chime in... that is not necessarily true. My iForged wheel bent and got a small crack that would leak air out and it was only a couple hundred to fix it!

Hope this helped in making your decision if you have not yet done so...

-PJ

[Doc E]

FWIW, BBS CH (cast) are the strongest cast wheels out there.
I've actually bend a few forged (BBS RS-GT) wheels in my time and it a PITA to repair/refinish, esp the custom colored stuff...