Please explain the 17" fuchs process

[m110]

Originally Posted by tom84930

I have a set of 3-piece HRE Fuchs-style forged wheels in 17x8 and 17x10. Polished rims and black centers, in excellent condition with brand new 100% tread P-Zeros on the back (17x35x285) and 85% tread P-Zeros on the front (17x40x235). The fasteners (20 to a wheel) are visible. HRE stopped making these several years ago. They have 6,000 miles on my pampered 930. I'm thinking about going to 18x9 and 18x11. Let me know if you have an interest.

Can you post a pic of these?

Apparently these were nearly perfect forging dies for the centers and were discarded by the owners due to lack of interest.

[AlfonsoR]

the True Designs are really nice.

I went to barnes and noble today and looked through all the Porsche mags. I saw a least two or three companies offering fuchs copies. One of them supposedly forged. New and forged is the best way to go if you're gonna track the car. Zuffenhaus is one of the best looking options, but they seem to be letting people down with their several-month-long deliveries.

[JeremyD]

Zuffenhaus Wheels - 9 and 11's - Al Reed frosted finish




Same car - 17" True design wheels - same offset (tires look weird - because they are small for the rims - 235 and 275's)

Front wheel

Rear wheel

[Canada Kev]

The Zuffenhaus wheels are awesome. You do wait a long time to get them. The wait is not the issue - custom built is like that - Keith's lack of upfrontness is. If it's going to take six to nine months to deliver, tell the customer that. People can handle it and make their own decisions based on the facts. I don't honestly think most of that is the fault of Zuf, but the cagy answers to reasonable questions and lack of accurate communication certainly is. Despite all that, for me the wait was worth it, though I only had to wait six months or so.

[AlfonsoR]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

Zuffenhaus Wheels - 9 and 11's - Al Reed frosted finish




Same car - 17" True design wheels - same offset (tires look weird - because they are small for the rims - 235 and 275's)

Front wheel

Rear wheel

Jeremy, why did you switch to TruDesign and what width are the ones on your car? I guess you wanted to go wider than the Zuffs?

[JeremyD]

Nope - just wanted a set of track wheels in the same offset. They are made to the same dimensions.

The true designs were made from a set of 951 7's and 8's that sat in someone's garage for 20 years. They have the deeper lug holes that better clear my 993/965 brake calipers.

[Zuluracerx]

Jeremy, what size tires are you running on your Zuff's? Thanks, John

[AlfonsoR]

Thanks Jeremy. It's probably just the lighting, but I like the look of the TruDesigns better. Both very nice though. And the car is spectacular! Very nicely done!

[JeremyD]

Originally Posted by Zuluracerx

Jeremy, what size tires are you running on your Zuff's? Thanks, John

255's and 315's on the Zuffenhaus wheels

[irl]

Now the question nobody whats to ever answer on here. Can someone at least PM me and let me know even roughly what I need to budget for 9 and 11 x 17 wheels like the photos above.

[JeremyD]

pretty sure they both have prices on their websites

The ones I had on the car this past weekend.
https://www.zuffenhaus.us/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?listcategories

The track wheels that I had made from my old fuchs
True Design Wheel

The true design will be cheaper if you have a set of donor wheels.

[irl]

it looks like Zuffenhaus would be between 3200 and 3700 between offset needed and finish. TruDesign says you need to call for pricing information.

[Zuluracerx]

I'd say that looks perfect! Love how that 315 fills the flare.

[varyat]

I ordered a set of Zuff. wheels on 1-24-10. I still have not recieved them. If you must have the Zuff. 17's be prepared to wait, a very long time.

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by varyat

I ordered a set of Zuff. wheels on 1-24-10. I still have not recieved them. If you must have the Zuff. 17's be prepared to wait, a very long time.

That's sad... and friggin ridiculous... They simply should not accept orders, let alone take someones money. Is Kodiak still doing them? I have a request in to them for race wheels and mentioned my wait for the Fuchs they made for Zuffenhaus and have not even got a response. My advice to anyone out there is to simply go elsewhere.

[PcarPhil]

I've had a few different flavors of 17" Fuchs - Zuffenhaus, Lindsay, TruDesign, and OEM Fuchs with BBS shells.

My order of preference:

1st: Zuffenhaus wheels. After genuine Fuchs (which aren't available in 17") I think Zuffenhaus wheels are the best wheels made. Expect long wait times to get them. A huge plus to the Zuff wheels are the fact the centers are brand new and proportioned for 17" wheels.

2nd: OEM Fuchs with BBS shells. I like the profile of the BBS shells. It's more Fuchs like vs Lindsay or TruDesign. It's possible to setup the wheels using hidden fasteners.

3rd: Lindsay. I wish he'd use 7" wheels as donors but he has his method and I understand that.

4th: TruDesign. Nice that he'll use 7" wheels as donors. IMO 951 7x16 centers are the best donors for TD wheels due to slightly increased clearance for brakes.

All the above are very good wheels and all the above suppliers stand behind their wheels. You really can't go wrong with any of them. 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all very similar except 2, 3, and 4 require using real Fuchs centers. Unless you buy a set of brand new Fuchs to use as donors then the centers have numerous stress cycles already, possibly 30 years worth.

If you go with 3 or 4 consider going 3-piece (bolted) instead of 2 piece (welded). This way the wheel parts are replaceable.

Zuffenhaus:


Fuchs with BBS shells:


TruDesign front, Lindsay rear:

[clutch-monkey]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Rota makes cast 17" wheels. Pros: Most economical option of the bunch. Cons: Little flexibility in custom sizing. What they have is what they have. Heavier than the above, forged options. Some people have made noise about the supposed inferior quality of Rota's casting process, but no one has yet posted any evidence of any wheel failures. (Or maybe they just haven't live to tell about them.)

sorry for bump, but...

i would advise against the rota's; apart from blatantly ripping off established companies and contributing nothing to the industry, they are wheels made to a price after all.. and it shows:

Track Report: Rota Rims And P-cup Slicks.. - Skylines Australia

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p43/xru260/Supersprint%20RD5%20Wakefield/DSC_0518edited.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p43/xru260/Supersprint%20RD5%20Wakefield/DSC_0520edited.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p43/xru260/Supersprint%20RD5%20Wakefield/DSC_0543edited.jpg

This is pretty weird, cracked like this on both front wheels (on a single spoke each side)

this was after six months use.

these weren't flawed from factory, the owner running the experiment with these had them xrayed when they were first fitted, and the cast was perfect:
http://www.forrestfamily.com.au/duncan/GTR/misc/rota_xray_1.JPG
http://www.forrestfamily.com.au/duncan/GTR/misc/rota_xray_0.JPG

i don't know what materials they use, but just remember the wheels keep you connected to the tarmac and shiny side up! i wouldn't risk it

hope that was informative.

[Canada Kev]

Nice first post.

And no, it wasn't terribly informative. This is a Fuchs thread.

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by syzygy

Nice first post.

And no, it wasn't terribly informative. This is a Fuchs thread.

No, it's not a Fuchs thread at all and it was informative, though only showed the negative aspect of Rota wheels. I'm sure many run them on the street w/o issue. Only thing "Fuch's" here is the possible use of their centers in repro 17" wheels as there is no such thing (AFAIK) as 17" Fuchs.

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by GaryR

No, it's not a Fuchs thread at all and it was informative, though only showed the negative aspect of Rota wheels. I'm sure many run them on the street w/o issue. Only thing "Fuch's" here is the possible use of their centers in repro 17" wheels as there is no such thing (AFAIK) as 17" Fuchs.

Sorry, I thought the title, "Please explain the 17" Fuchs process" suggested it might be a Fuchs focused thread. The contents detailing the different variables such as genuine Fuchs centres, Zuffenhaus and Rota Fox, to get them and their variants in 17 inch appeared to support this.

It seemed like a post directly intent on bashing Rota wheels. That he jumps in with both feet on his first post like this seems a bit off. His example doesn't shed any light on the Fox 17s debate. I have no opinion on that and don't wish to start/continue that particular argument as there's already a thread that deals with it all too effectively. I was just concerned it seemed directed at primarily knocking the Rota (and not even the Fox) product.

Edit: I apologize if this came across as snarky, but I was in a bit of a "mood" this morning and a bit less diplomatic than I maybe should have been. Sorry 'bout that.