Refinish Wheel Barrel or Buy New ones

la_fx35

la_fx35

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Location
Chicago
Car
2017 QX70S
Name
Andy
My 2-piece iForged Imola chrome barrels has been peeling and had a few curb rashes on all of them. I have decided take them apart and have all 4 wheel barrels serviced. I have been researching on getting them re-chromed and have pretty much made up my mind to send the barrels to California Chrome to get them repaired and re-chromed until I saw a vendor on ebay (referenced LB Forged) that sells finished wheel barrel. He advertised that his barrel will fit many multi-piece wheels. Price wise, it came out the same with both options. Since I have no experience in both re-chrome or replacement barrel, I can't decide which it best route to go. I want to hear your experiences if you have done this before. Any advice is welcomed.
 
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I talked to them also 2 weeks ago. I'm going to get 2 barrels switched out and one wheel repaired/sealed due to a slow leak. I would switch out the barrels rather than rechrome.
 
Cool. I take that you're confidence with the quality of the barrels from speaking with them since you're willing to replace their onto you HRE. I have not spoken with them. I ebay message asking them if they have 24" finished barrels for sell. Is your HRE two or three piece?
 
Oops. I got one of out the three letters in the name. Not bad! :laugh: thanks for the info, Rip.
 
If price is the same, get the new barrels. That way you have a spare set and you never know if there are hidden issues w/ your old barrels. Plus sometimes re-chrome can have it's own set of issues. Most wheel barrels come from a handful of suppliers, so I wouldn't sweat the quality too much. Most wheel makers outside of HRE and a few others just buy barrels from the same factories as everyone else. Just make sure that the bolt holes are correct, most are 40, but there are a few others.

Also, if your wheels are 3 piece, make sure the shop rebuilding them seals the two halves correctly. Nothing more annoying than a slow leak due to a bad seal. I have one right now, not bad enough for me to have it fixed, but it's annoying for the TPMS on my BMW (which is far more intrusive than the FX) come on every 2-3 weeks.
 
Cool. Thanks for the info shadow. Mine are two-piece. So I don't have to worry about the seal. I hear you about the slow leak. One of my wheels had a leak on the lip due to corrosion. Its PIA to remember to refill every two days. Took it to Discount Tire and gotten it taken care of already.
 
Did you call iForged tor a quote by any chance? Sometimes it's cheaper to buy from the manufacturer direct than a 3rd party place.
 
Been hearing how bad iForged customer service, so didn't bother to call. I may call just to find out for myself for sure. Thanks Zee.

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 AM ----------
jbaker1121 said:
Ship the wheels to me and I'll tell you ;)
Click to expand...
:laugh: Didn't know you do wheels on the side while at law school.
 
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