Multipiece Wheels Explained

In general, more than 90% of wheels in the market are either cast or forged single piece (industry term Monoblock) type of wheel. When your local tyre shops or friends are introducing Multipiece wheels to you, he does not mean the wheels comes in packages of 5pieces or the wheels are easily bolted on. Multipiece wheels utilizes two or three components assembled together to produce a finished wheel.

Multi-piece wheels can use many different methods of manufacturing. Centers can be cast in various methods or forged (hot or cold forgings). The rim sections for 3-piece wheels are normally spun from disks of aluminum as spun rim sections offer the ability to custom-tailor wheels for special applications that would not be available otherwise. The rim sections are bolted to the center and normally a sealant is applied in or on the assembly area to seal the wheel. This type of 3-piece construction was originally developed for racing in the early 1970s and has been used on cars ever since. The 3-piece wheels are most popular in the 17" and larger diameters. Enkei Japan produces Gravity casted disc (wheel center), spun outer and Cast Inner Rim. High end manufacturers like O.Z Italy and RAYS Japan have Forged Disc (Wheel center).

There are now many options for 2-piece wheels in the market. The 2-piece wheel design does not offer as wide a range of application that a 3-piece wheel allows, however they are more common in the market and the prices start well below the average 3-piece wheel. Some 2-piece wheels have the center bolted into a cast or cast/spun rim section and other manufacturers press centers into spun rim sections and weld the unit together. When BBS developed a new 2-piece wheel to replace the previous 3-piece street wheel, they used the special rim-rolling technology (originally developed for racing wheels) to give the rim section the weight and strength advantages similar to a forged rim.

On the high-end of the 2-piece wheel market you can find wheels using forged rims and forged centers. Since these are only sold in small volume and due to the high development and production costs associated with the forging process, they tend to be on the high end of the price scale. Recently Japanese manufacturers like RAYS and WORK Wheels have really expanded their 2-piece wheels line up to give high end tuners more options while keeping cost lower than manufacturing 3pc wheels.

When money is not the object, trying forged centers with carbon rim

**Special Note: Don't assume monoblocks are any heavier or less fragile than multipiece wheels, in my experience, multipiece wheels are just great to racing as it is highly serviceable but not as light or any stronger than properly forged monoblocks.