Tru Design or Rota's

[1986911]

__________________pressed wrong button

[1986911]

Sorry about the above mistake anyone know which Fuchs style wheel has the deepest lip in 7.5/8 inch (front) and 9 inch rear?? Tru Design, Rota's etc... There was a post somewhere that had the 9 inch Rota's had a 3 inch lip. I would like to find the deepest 17 wheels possible for my 86 3.2 Targa.

Below are the measurements I am talking about

Thanks!
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[Moses]

The lip on my Rota's are more than 3" deep

[WPOZZZ]

Go with TruDesign or Lindseys. They will cost more, but the quality will be there.

[lfot]

Originally Posted by WPOZZZ

Go with TruDesign or Lindseys. They will cost more, but the quality will be there.

Not to start this endless debate again, but I would say that time will tell on the Rotas since they are very new. Personally, I've been quite pleased with them as my street/track wheels. Again though, time will tell.

[1986911]

Moses, sharp looking targa. That is the exact look I want!!

How deep are your front wheels?
What finish are they?
and lastly what size tires are you running?

I appreciate all the help guys



Thanks!

[MikeSid]

You might want to study this thread.

The Rota Fox 17" wheel. RSR finish preview.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by lfot

Not to start this endless debate again, but I would say that time will tell on the Rotas since they are very new. Personally, I've been quite pleased with them as my street/track wheels. Again though, time will tell.

No debate as I have a set of Rotas still sitting in the box they were shipped in. I have been amazed at the lack of quality control.

These brand new wheels have runout issues that most manufacturers would have erred on the side of caution and pulled them from shipment. The majority of runout has been from .025 - .035 over 8 wheels. After checking runout, you could spin the wheel and see a visible wobble. Then my friend put an old Fuchs wheel on his balancer, spun it and it was perfect. Imagine that, a 20+ year old wheel that has seen its better days still balances perfectly.

Then there is the issue of finish. I had the RSR set and had them cleared for ease of cleaning and there were visible scratches/sanding marks after it was cleared. My painter who does lots of show cars said it was that way from the factory and I said BS! I thought they did a piss poor job of prep on the wheels. The RSRs were replaced with a set of the gloss black/machine finish lip. They are gorgeous! Upon closer inspection, I see the same scratches/sanding marks under the factory clear coat.

Throughout the time I've had the wheel problems, Zoeb has been great. However, he did try to blame the runout issue on the refinising process. He thought I had the wheels powdercoated and said the heat would affect the wheel. I explained the wheels were painted, not powdercoated so no heat was involved. A little later on, Zoeb told me there were runout issues with refinished wheels. He replaced the RSRs with a gloss black/machine finish set that was factory clear coated. That set sits in my garage to this day as I'm waiting for him to pick them up. He has spent a lot of money on shipping the wheels back and forth so I can sympathize with him, but the factory quality control on the product is unsatisfactory to me. All I wanted was a set of wheels that had no runout issues or paint defects.

[lfot]

Wow! That's a bummer. I wonder if there is a difference in finish quality from the initial run to later runs. I got one of the first sets, and the finish was spectacular... at least before I nicked them up a little on Willow.

Moses, did you notice any problems like the afore mentioned on any of the wheels you got?

[Moses]

Originally Posted by lfot

Moses, did you notice any problems like the afore mentioned on any of the wheels you got?

No problems. I have three sets, RSR finish, Yamaha black with polished lip and a set of hyperblack. Beautiful finish on all of them. Sorry to hear about Bryans trouble. They've sold a LOT of wheels now. This is the first problem I've been made aware of.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by Moses

No problems. I have three sets, RSR finish, Yamaha black with polished lip and a set of hyperblack. Beautiful finish on all of them. Sorry to hear about Bryans trouble. They've sold a LOT of wheels now. This is the first problem I've been made aware of.

Mark - I've asked Zoeb to see if the crew could check the runout on the wheels before they were shipped out. That way, I could determine if it was the wheels that had the problem, or if something happened in shipping them to Hawaii. He never got back to me about it. I don't suspect shipping would cause the runout as the rim would have to be pretty weak to be damaged like that in shipping. However, when the FedEx guy picked up the first set, I do remember hearing a THUD! when he put it in the truck.

[mjshira]

I have no issue with mine

[khamul02]

FYi, I had 2 of my 4 fuchs go perfect on a balance. 80 models.

[village idiot]

Not my car but here is a pic of an 16x9.5" wheel from True Design


Found some pics of mine. Also 16x9.5"


Mounted on car

[1986911]

Wow, thanks for the pics, those wheels look to be over 4 inches deep. The angle of the pictures are perfect.

Thanks

[Buckterrier]

Here's a picture of my TDW. The rears are about 4 1/2" deep. They will cost you approx. twice what the Rotas cost.

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by MikeSid

You might want to study this thread.

The Rota Fox 17" wheel. RSR finish preview.

Yeah. I was labled a "hater" on that and other related threads for asking questions about ROTA's casting process and alloy used and for posting some objective, factual info, such as this:

"No opinion to offer, but here are a few facts you may wish to consider when choosing wheels for your Porsche (or any other car).

The dirt cheap approach to making money selling cast aluminum wheels is to use the cheapest possible casting technique called "gravity casting" wherein molten metal is poured into a mold and gravity is relied on to draw the molten metal into all cavities in the mold.

Gravity casting results in inconsistent density of the metal as it cools at different rates as the pour proceeds and there is a high likelihood that bubbles and voids will be left in the cast which weaken the piece. The bubbles and voids will vary in each casting as there is no way to monitor and prevent this from happening in this crudest, cheapest, most basic, method of casting.

Gravity casting is an acceptable technique for a product whose primary focus is on aesthetics rather than on sound engineering and manufacturing of a product which must withstand large physical stresses.

You can’t tell a “pretty” cheap wheel from a “pretty” quality wheel by looking at them. The cheap wheel’s flaws and weak points are hidden beneath its shiny surface, only detectable by x-raying EACH and EVERY wheel (which is never done because that is not cheap).

SOME aftermarket wheel manufacturers, those looking for the absolutely cheapest way to make a buck, use gravity casting to produce cheap pretty wheels, usually in a third world country where labor is cheap and there are no government controls to speak of on safety or quality. It may be difficult if not impossible to even know what quality metal is being cast.

MOST aftermarket wheel manufacturers use low pressure casting technology to produce a product that is vastly superior to the crude gravity technique. It is a slightly more expensive process; however the vast majority of aftermarket wheel manufacturers choose not to sully their reputation by going for the quickest buck while sacrificing quality.

NO AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERER PUTS GRAVITY CAST WHEELS ON THEIR CARS. NOT Hyundai and CERTAINLY not Porsche – to be redundant."

[BGCarrera32]

Interestingly enough I wonder if the guys claiming "no problems" actually took the time to look for any issues....? Which isn't to say I don't think the wheels look gorgeous in pictures but the "wheeldude" website is enough to make me steer clear:

"Some of the Wheeldude staff went back to the Philippines to do some R&D..."

Nah, no thanks...

[lfot]

The guy claiming "no problems" was in on the development of the Rotas as well as being the prototype tester.

[WPOZZZ]

I believe in trying different things and of course looked at the Rotas as a great product for the Porsche at a good price. Lots of friends that race told me that "Friends don't let friends roll on Rotas". They used to joke about it all the time, but I put no stock in it. I figured they were just haters because the wheels were made in the PI. I've had BSA wheels made in Malaysia on my 996 and had no problems, so I figured wheels from the PI couldn't be bad.

The RSRs arrived at my home and they were gorgeous! I immediately dropped them off at my mechanics for him to have a look at and he did tell me I should put them on the balancer to see if they are round. I didn't listen and sent them to the paint shop for refinishing and brought them back to have tires mounted. One of the wheels had some blemishes in the refinishing so I took it back to the shop. In the meantime, the rears were ready to go so I took them home and mounted them on my 930, 16s in the front and 17s in the back. Took the car for a run up my street and all was good. The front was refinished, tires mounted and I put those on the 930. Took it around the block and it seemed fine. The next morning, I head to Cars and Coffee and as soon as I hit 50 mph, I get a shimmy in my steering wheel. This never happened before so when I get home, I take the new wheel and have it rebalanced and they are having a problem and get it the best they can and I re-install. I still have a shimmy. Bring the other front and rebalance and still have the same problem. My mechanic said to check the runout and he gave me the dial indicator and I checked it at my house and came out with runout numbers of .005, .025, .030 and .035. Bring all the wheels down to the shop and dismount the tires and my friend gets similar numbers. He spins them on the balancer and shows me the visible wobble.

Back to the drawing board with wheeldude and wheels were swapped out with the polished lip/gloss black centers. It took a while to get the full set as we swapped them out in pairs. I didn't check the wheels until the complete set was here and then I take them to the shop and my friend runs them on the balancer and gets the same result as the first set. Spins an old Fuchs to compare and tells me that is a 20 year old wheel vs. the others that are brand new. Which one do you want on your car?