TheSamba.com :: View topic - Authenticating Wide-5 Centerlines

Mon Jul 02, 2018 7:27 pm

Just wondering, I've been searching the web and I keep coming up blanks as to how to authenticate genuine Centerline wide-5 wheels.

I've owned plenty of sets of them, but it never came up before because I had always just ordered new. I was chatting with a guy today and I've a set on a car that I just assumed were look-a-likes but I've no way to tell for sure.

Thanks

Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:32 pm

I have some originals on my car and there are no markings so I don't know how you could tell. What I can say is that the original wheels are a true 2 piece wheel with sealant between the layers. You can see it in the center opening and in the lug holes.

Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:36 am

Thanks !

Tue Jul 03, 2018 7:04 am

I think they should have stainless rivets and not bolts.

Casey

Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:28 am

Ask Centerline. It is in their best interests to tell you how to sort out the real from knock offs.
(877) 283.6347

Tue Jul 03, 2018 12:21 pm

earthquake wrote: I think they should have stainless rivets and not bolts.

Casey

Like Casey said they have SS rivets all the way through both halfs with the rivet set leaving a dimple in the center of the end. They are O'ringed and then covered in clear sealant like Vanilla mentioned. They are very light weight compared to the cast aluminum look alikes that have fake rivets that are just pressed in. The sets I have are stamped with Centerline on the rim but I believe later versions were not stamped. Bolt together spun aluminum rims are usually CMS which I consider just as good, and since you damage both styles of rims easily in racing by hitting stuff, CMS can be purchased by the half so the whole rim doesn't have to be replaced if you just bent one side,

Tue Jul 03, 2018 6:56 pm

Centerlines and Jackman Aluminum Stars are forged, CMS and other bolt-together wheel brands are spun.

Centerline

If it looks just like a Centerline, but has a 5-spoke center, then it's a Jackman Aluminum Star

CMS (Custom Metal Spinning)

CMS bolt together wheel with bead locks

The welded together spun aluminum wheels like Douglas and Mitchell that are popular on sand cars are similar to CMS, also spun, but are even weaker than bolt together wheels. Still fine for dunes, but will quickly bend like a soft shell taco in rocky terrain.

CMS - Douglas - etc. sand wheels - welded together halves

CMS sand wheel with reinforcing ring

The bolt-together wheels such as CMS or the old Streaker brand were invented by Fred Puhn, of Chassis Engineering, who built road race cars. A Sunbeam Tiger road race car I was a crew member for in 1968 used some very early examples of them. Fred wrote the HP book "How To Make Your Car Handle. He later sold the design and rights to Cragar, and the brand became Cragar Super Trick. They were extremely popular for decades on Funny Cars, Top Fuel, Pro Stock and other drag cars.

CMS wheels are not as tough as Centerlines or Jackman Aluminum Stars. The aluminum used is a somewhat softer alloy so they bend a little easier. That's necessary for the Spin forming process they use. CMS offers weld-in rim stiffener rings to compensate for that. Then they're a little heavier than Centerlines.

Spinning is a forming process that starts with a flat sheet mounted on a machine that rotates the sheet like a big lathe with a form, or die, or mold in the shape the finished part should be shaped to. Then an arm on the side presses a roller against the sheet to form it against that die.

All 3 brands, Centerline, Jackman and CMS, may be straightened even after they are SERIOUSLY bent. I've had Centerlines bent so bad it took 45 minutes of hammering with a BFH and 5' long pry bars to get to the lug nuts to remove the bent rim. Then have them come back looking damned near new. A cast aluminum wheel will break long before it bends that bad.

There are steel wheels that are imitations of Centerline/CMS type wheels. If a magnet sticks to the wheels, it is NOT a Centerline.

If at the opening in the center of the wheel shows 2 layers and the 2 halves are riveted together with stainless steel real rivets...Then it IS a Centerline. If the opening at the center of the wheels shows 2 layers and it has bolts around the edge of the flat, then it's NOT a Centerline.

Imitation Centerline cast wheels - 1 thick layer at the center opening

These cast Centerline-Look-a-like wheels are actually just fine in my book. Nobody seems proud enough of them to tell us what brand they're offering for sale. But I've seen some used on offroad play cars that got abused pretty hard and they took it. they're quite a bit heavier than Centerline, but cost a lot less too. They're about 1/2 the price new of a CMS.

Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:14 pm

L5wolvesf wrote: Ask Centerline. It is in their best interests to tell you how to sort out the real from knock offs.
(877) 283.6347
Not sure where that number goes because Centerline is no more.

To add to the confusion, I have a set of 15x6 4 lug Centerlines that appear to be a single spun outer rim with a welded-in center piece. The rivets appear to be cosmetic as there is no seam between where the two halves would be, but I could be very wrong. These are stamped CENTER LINE around the center hole and have original spec decal inside the rim with the company name, load rating, max tire size, and location in Santa Fe Springs, CA.

Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:32 pm

EnjoyNukaCola wrote: L5wolvesf wrote: Ask Centerline. It is in their best interests to tell you how to sort out the real from knock offs.
(877) 283.6347
Not sure where that number goes because Centerline is no more.

Got it from their site. But the name and wheels evidently will survive.
http://www.centerlinewheels.com/about.html

Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:44 pm

The name might have survived, but none of the previous wheel designs have survived. The current offerings only refer vaguely to one particular model of previous Centerline Wheel, the Convo-Pro, which came out in the mid 1990s and was fairly popular among drag racers and wannabes.

VW offroad wheels...NAW!!!!! :roll:

All the rest of their current wheels are just so many more of what forty-eleven other companies are getting made in China.

Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:06 pm

EnjoyNukaCola wrote:
To add to the confusion, I have a set of 15x6 4 lug Centerlines that appear to be a single spun outer rim with a welded-in center piece. The rivets appear to be cosmetic as there is no seam between where the two halves would be, but I could be very wrong. These are stamped CENTER LINE around the center hole and have original spec decal inside the rim with the company name, load rating, max tire size, and location in Santa Fe Springs, CA.

I can confirm this as a close friend just bought a set in Michigan and it is a 4 lug as you describe, rim stamped centerline and even has centerline branded hub covers.

Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:46 pm

I have two sets (of five) currently mounted up.

Both sets have actual dimpled rivets (dimples on the inboard side). Both came on cars I picked up and in each case the PO said that they were genuine.

One set are just the standard fare.

The other set are beadlocks (the 15" rears being single, the 16" fronts are double beadlock). A few of these appear to all have an oval stamp on the ring face with "Champion Beadlock" stamped on them (which leads me to think that's what they really are).

Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:49 pm

Champion is a brand of beadlocks to be added to wheels that were not made originally with beadlocks built into the wheel. For a number of years, this is how you got beadlock wheels. You bought the wheel, then welded the beadlock ring on.

Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:10 am

Thanks Dusty.

That must be what I'm looking at here.

Fri Jul 06, 2018 2:10 pm

Make sure if you have spun aluminum wheels the guy mounting the tires knows what he is doing, I saw a guy using a new style machine square the back out when he put it on the machine and stood on it a bit too much. they have to use light pressure on the rim grippers or what ever they are called.

Casey