After Market Wheels - WARNING!

[Velma's Dad]

The wheels are VIA and JWL tested

Which included various testing, cornering and bending stress, also impact testing

They aren’t TUV tested, which is a seperate body

Out of interest, does that involve testing every size and fitment?

 

[Californication69]

The wheels are VIA and JWL tested

Which included various testing, cornering and bending stress, also impact testing

They aren’t TUV tested, which is a seperate body

Yes JWL tested, Japan light Alloy Wheel Standard. Which, as I know the Japanese, like stringent testing.

 

[Roguealloyco]

Out of interest, does that involve testing every size and fitment?

Good question

And yes it does, it has to

The stud spacing on the wheel eg 5x108 and 5x160 for different vans will provide different readings on the JWL fatigue testing

They test them on 100,000’s of cycles

It also differs on offsets

 

[WelshGas]

Sounds like a can of worms….. would non TUV wheels fitted to a Uk vehicle travelling in Europe be legal under European law, ie could you get prosecuted ?

I gather as long as they are legal in the country of registration of the vehicle , Yes.

 

[Autumn]

Gosh, imagine that? Who would’ve guessed?
The compliance you’re talking of is TUV rating(German version of DOT).
Only a very small handful of wheel manufacturers comply, the rest are junk.

Feels like this is something fairly fundamental you should have known?

Oh hindsight, if only hindsight did not happen after the fact.............

 

[arcadelt]

Well, that was a fun read. Having recently gone through the process of buying aftermarket wheels in Australia, I can confidently say that many online sellers cannot even state the load rating of their wheels, let alone if they were tested by any independent body. Now, don’t even get me started on the issues that can potential arise as a result of parallel imported tyres of greater load rating than those officially imported by the official manufacturer/distributor. Suffice to say, the aftermarket parts game over here can occasionally make the Wild West look like the bastion of the purest law abiding corporations.

 

[Beaker]

Whilst not required by UK law, I have not checked this, consider also if you want to make a trip to Europe where you may need TUV approval. In Germany the ADAC do roadside compliance testing.
a few people, have been caught out on not having approved towbars, which do. Need to be approved and certified under, I guess, UKCE.
Thanks for sharing your experience and what we should be asking for, if not for safety our peace of mind.

 

[sidepod]

Out of interest, does that involve testing every size and fitment?

Good point. I’ve been looking at some Autec rims and they only seem to provide TUV certification for specific sizes, perhaps OEM fitment ? So a 16” rim would be certified but 17” in the identical style isn’t.

I’d still prefer to go that route given the same manufacturer/process/material etc than a non TUV rim.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

You would have the ask the Swiss that

The tests our wheels go through, and the documents we receive are sufficient enough for lots of customers that ask for us to provide them for their insurers

We also work with a lot of weight engineering companies when people want to increase the weight their van can carry, some as high as 5,000kg

These certificates are also enough for those guys, and have been for many years

Funnily enough we are in talks with TUV about gaining the approval on some of our models as we have motorhome manufacturers in Germany that want to use them from factory

Thank you for the clarification. It’s a welcome reminder in a world of unsubstantiated peer reviews, sometimes a vendor is unjustly tarnished.

I will visit in March when my van arrives to look at modular steel options, I’m just up the road near Stroud.

 

[PeteS]

When I read this I thought that the company selling the wheels was at fault. Luckily I continued to read the posts and in my view the buyer had mislead the forum and left out facts that made me think that the company was at fault.
I believe this behaviour is unacceptable and buyer should be banned from posting on this forum.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

When I read this I thought that the company selling the wheels was at fault. Luckily I continued to read the posts and in my view the buyer had mislead the forum and left out facts that made me think that the company was at fault.
I believe this behaviour is unacceptable and buyer should be banned from posting on this forum.

I concur.

In addition, can admin change the title of the post so users who don’t read in full are aware?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

When I read this I thought that the company selling the wheels was at fault. Luckily I continued to read the posts and in my view the buyer had mislead the forum and left out facts that made me think that the company was at fault.
I believe this behaviour is unacceptable and buyer should be banned from posting on this forum.

No need to ban anyone. The forum is very transparent.

The Supplier has replied and given the full facts, which actually puts them in a better position as its clear that they are professional and know their stuff!

 

[BikerGran]

No need to ban anyone. The forum is very transparent.

The Supplier has replied and given the full facts, which actually puts them in a better position as its clear that they are professional and know their stuff!

The only problem with that is that it's a long thread and many people don't read all the posts so may believe the slur on the company that sold the wheels. Could this put the owners of this forum in an invidious legal position? Even though the claims of the OP have been clearly refuted by the company much later in the thread?

 

[Lambeth Cali]

Maybe just keep the normal original wheels?

 

[Grigio Van Grigio]

Maybe just keep the normal original wheels?

That’s just crazy talk!

 

[Lambeth Cali]

That’s just crazy talk!

The 16” classic or GOAT as I believe the youngsters say!!

 

[Corradobrit]

Maybe just keep the normal original wheels?

 

[rswestling]

Maybe just keep the normal original wheels?

That's exactly what I was going to say! Why on earth anyone would want to make their van worse than new is beyond me. It's like the craziness in the states where people fit giant low profile tyres to 4x4 pick up trucks. Smaller wheels are generally better for fuel economy and handling on a van, and if VW thinks they are right for the van than so be it. This trend toward larger wheels makes no sense.

 

[SusiBus]

Even if they did have the right certification, or were VW options, Comfort Insurance told me that if I changed my wheels from those originally fitted to my vehicle I would incur an extra 10% premium. That was enough warning about changing wheels to make me reconsider.

 

[JuanVecino2023]

That's exactly what I was going to say! Why on earth anyone would want to make their van worse than new is beyond me. It's like the craziness in the states where people fit giant low profile tyres to 4x4 pick up trucks. Smaller wheels are generally better for fuel economy and handling on a van, and if VW thinks they are right for the van than so be it. This trend toward larger wheels makes no sense.

VW seem to think either 17” or 18” wheels are right for the van, based on the current options.

I don’t think the OP or any one else commenting was/is looking at 21” spinners?

My personal perspective? 17” steels are far better suited both functionally & aesthetically.

But VW only offer alloy options. And save for the stock Devonports, they are all quite bling.

So I intend to change my no cost option Woodstocks for something more functional.

Not sure that’s such an unusual concept?

 

[Azteccamper]

Even if they did have the right certification, or were VW options, Comfort Insurance told me that if I changed my wheels from those originally fitted to my vehicle I would incur an extra 10% premium. That was enough warning about changing wheels to make me reconsider.

That’s crazy. You could decide to swop them over to another set of original VW Cali wheels. How would they even know!

 

[Corradobrit]

Radio silence from Mr Steel. No surprise there.

 

[pjm-84]

Be curious to know how long this has been going on? The bad review I mentioned was about load rating, and not being forthcoming, but this must have been early 2022

 

[Perfectos]

Radio silence from Mr Steel. No surprise there.

When you tell lies that big , you can’t defend or justify them !

There is a point when a lie becomes apparent to all and you can’t keep the pretence Up , the lies and vitriol are out there for all to see in hindsight!

I hope the company take the shirt from his back, because thats what he’s tried to do to them With his made up vitriol

 

[Jimmylondon07]

We have TUV approved wheels on our website, but you opted for the more economy option.

Where are you mentioning that on your site out of interest? Only reason I ask is that I was just looking at the Sparco Gravels and note on the Sparco website that they are TUV certified, but couldn‘t see it in your ad for them:

Gravel - Sparco Wheels

Sparco Gravel is a powerful wheel, yet lightweight in its lines. It has an outer lip with a polygonal cutout motif which, in addition to reducing the weight of the wheel itself, is also a key design element. The point of departure or, better yet, of inspiration, was again the overseas 4x4 world...

www.sparcowheels.com

https://www.roguealloy.co.uk/product-page/17-sparco-gravel-rally-bronze

Fully appreciate you’re a UK company and it’s not a requirement but it might be worth mentioning it within the ads, then there is zero doubt.

Jimmy