Gee4Zee

Hey

You get what you pay for of course, w/that in mind, I've perused sites selling Ruff alloy wheels(great looking wheels), at a very cheap price compared to the Boze alloy wheels that look almost identical to the Ruff wheels but @ $800.00 per wheel. Are the Ruff wheels cheaply made wheels @ cheap prices or cost effective bargains?? Are the Boze wheels worth their price??

I'm old school as far as my definition of 'cheap' versus 'well made' is concerned, you buy something once and it's well made so that it looks and/or performs well for yrs if you take care of it.

I've been a photographer for most of my adult life, that's 43 yrs starting from 18, and I have a mint '72 Nikon FTN w/extreme build quality which was my first professional 35mm, that you can't tell from new. I have a digital camera bought a yr ago that is scuffed/scratched/tarnished and can barely hold up under minimal use.

If I'm asking this question the wrong way then give me the baseline on what kind of wheel is the bottom line, and/or the best deal befitting a G37??

I know nothing about alloy wheels so teach me.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

Are you asking if Ruff wheels are cheap pieces of crap that you want nowhere near your car or just a really great bargain that they sell very inexpensively?

My money is on the former.

Good quality wheels are not going to be cheap because the process to produce quality wheels isn't cheap. Some are less expensive than others, but as you said yourself, typically you get what you pay for.

I'm also very leery of wheel manufacturers that produce exact knockoffs of well known quality wheels like Volks for example. A similar style is one thing, but making a wheel that appears to look exactly like a TE37 or GT30 or whatever completely turns me off to a company. If they won't put money and effort into producing their own original design, how much effort are they putting into R&D and quality control in their production?

Gee4Zee

Thanks for the quick response Black Betty

That's exactly what I'm asking and maybe a little more. I own several cameras in multiple formats(35mm, Medium Fomat, 4x5,8x10), my best 4x5 large format camera sells for approx. $2,000.00 and is considered a very well made camera, it's made out of metal. You can however, buy a 4x5 carved out of ebony hardwood that will cost you $6000.00 and the $4000.00 worth of difference in the price of the above cameras doesn't contribute one penny to the picture taking ability or build quality of either camera.

Having said all this, you can buy a brand new 4x5 camera for $500.00 and it will probably be a joke, and a bad one. You can however buy a used Graflex 4x5 which will take pictures as good as the cameras described above but you have to know what you're doing when you go looking the Graflex, If you don't know what you're doing, you'll be burned, and burned badly.

I was born at night, but not last night.................... so I'm aware of what you're saying, my purpose in asking the question was to save myself some needless heartache and time, by asking you fine folks such as yourself about the fine points and nuance of considering wheels that you've already gained by experience.

Your respone is the beginning of my getting a feel for the pretenders and the contenders.

Thanks again for the response

Gee4Zee

If refering to my personal website is against the rules then please delete this response w/my apologies. If it's ok then I'll refer you to my personal fine art photography website which is located at Welcome to Adobe GoLive 6 since I brought up the camera analogy .......

I'm not soliciting for work and I don't need the business, just mentioning what I do, which I do for the love of doing it.

PeteyP

Ruff wheels are very good quality for the money...
They will last if you take care of them and don't blast into potholes..

I had them on my Veilside 350ZR for about 3 years with no problems...
keep in mind, these are not Speedlines or Volks..... but they are much better quality then most of the other wheels you see around Fleabay, etc..

Gee4Zee

You mention Speedlines and Volks, and I'm assuming the Boze wheels are great wheels, so let me ask you this along 'good', 'better', and the 'best' considerations, where is the 'threshold'/tipping point where you're not talking the absolute best wheel at a premium price, but a very good wheel for a few bucks less or is there any middle ground w/wheels???

It doesn't mean I won't eventually try to buy the best, but I do like knowing my options when checking out these different brands.

yogregb

iTrader: (7)

I think the first thing you need to establish is, what style are you wanting to achieve?? Do you desire the luxury look or do you plan to mod the car in a performance style? One requires sporty and light weight ( more expensive) or a luxury style like mesh or mutispoke? Lip or no lip? When you decide, then it becomes much easier to narrow down the choices! Good luck, I think it took me a year to decide on my wheels to answer your original question, Ruff= cheap cast wheel Boze= quality forged wheel by so cal company, been around a long time, probably worth the money

Gee4Zee

The most beautiful wheels to me were on this site, Boze wheels(the mention of Stillen was in there somewhere) on a white G37, w/gold spokes on deep chrome rims if that properly describes them.

I remember the gent had to sell the wheels, and so from what I've heard around here, $800.00 isn't ridiculous for that kind of wheel. So be it.

Thanks folks for saving me some time and heartache, it's much appreciated.

Take care

Team STILLEN

iTrader: (3)

Boze builds expensive wheels, with tons of customization, as they are built for you, your offsets, your style, your finish, whatever you want. You have have seen a tie with us as we do sell them, or they'll sell you direct, but you can customize your brake fitment, get the lip you want, caps customized, whatever.. they are as legit as it comes..

I have them..

Images are too big to post.. so here's a quick page: Untitled Document

Team STILLEN

iTrader: (3)

Yep..

And my 3-piece 20" wheels were very close to my stock wheels weight.. so performance really wasn't affected, outside of a heavier tire with the 20's.. An awesome compromise..

Nothing worse than huge increases in weight on wheels.. just sucks the life out of a car..

XMMAN

Ruff racing wheels are not bad at all.. I know many people in south florida with them.. i've seen them slammed into potholes and slammed into curbs and they are still fine (except for some road rash)...i think it is a very well built product.

Danny@Limited Edition

iTrader: (4)

From what I've gathered on what the OP is looking for, you want to know how to determine when a set of wheels is of quality.
I would say generally, if the wheel is FORGED, it is a much stronger build than CAST wheels. If your budget allows for forged wheels, look into companies that make them and choose a design you'd like.

Check out iForged Performance Wheels | The next generation in forging technology - Global Site, they make multi-piece forged wheels and rivals some of the best in the industry. Very well known. Fully customizable from offset, caliper clearance, lip size, center caps, color rivets, color lip, or even carbon fiber.

Don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions.

hispeed-lowdrag

iTrader: (7)

OP, I would take what Danny said to heart. They will make the wheels set to exactly what you want, and are a very reputable brand.

Of the same token, Danny is an awesome vendor and will take care of you.

finagle69

iTrader: (3)

^ another + for iForged and Danny. I love mine.

Gee4Zee

Hey

Thanks U folks 4 all your help, it's much appreciated.

Take care