Decision time...

One subtle ‘mod’ i’ve been really pleased with on our blackberry van is painting the calipers black as the 204 calipers are huge and IMHO stand out like a sore thumb. I will get a photo in the daylight if anyone wants an idea what it looks like.
 
One subtle ‘mod’ i’ve been really pleased with on our blackberry van is painting the calipers black as the 204 calipers are huge and IMHO stand out like a sore thumb. I will get a photo in the daylight if anyone wants an idea what it looks like.
Yes! Please!!
 
Thanks mate, I am now off to google about that... I’m not one for cleaning my vehicles so looks like a standard alloy colour/finish is best for me!

It's a reference to an issue that's common with diamond cut/polished fronted wheels. Most of these styles are generally painted in one colour, then the faces cut with a machine, then the full wheel lacquered. This is what gives the polished front look.
The issue is where the lacquer either gets chipped or scratched, or even as i've personally found out, just a poor quality job from the factory.
The water will get behind the lacquer, and start to corrode the bare exposed aluminium. The result is small tracks that look like worms, or worst the lacquer starts to peel off in places, leaving the wheel looking awful. This process is often accelerated with the use of harsh chemicals, pressure washers, and rough wheel brushes.
I've personally owned half a dozen sets of polished rims, and the only ones that didn't cause this issue were my genuine BMW wheels on my 3 series, but that had done very little mileage compared to my vans.

I think that if you have a vehicle you are doing very little mileage in throughout the year, and you tend to use more in the summer for holidays etc, then polished wheels will last for ages.
If however you're like me, and your van is your daily driver, and you use it 12 months of the year, meaning constant washing through the winter, then you will end up having the wheels re-furbished once a year, and diamond cut re-furbs are not cheap.
 
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It's a reference to an issue that's common with diamond cut/polished fronted wheels. Most of these styles are generally painted in one colour, then the faces cut with a machine, then the full wheel lacquered. This is what gives the polished front look.
The issue is where the lacquer either gets chipped or scratched, or even as i've personally found out, just a poor quality job from the factory.
The water will get behind the lacquer, and start to corrode the bare exposed aluminium. The result is small tracks that look like worms, or worst the lacquer starts to peel off in places, leaving the wheel looking awful. This process is often accelerated with the use of harsh chemicals, pressure washers, and rough wheel brushes.
I've personally owned half a dozen sets of polished rims, and the only ones that didn't cause this issue were my genuine BMW wheels on my 3 series, but that had done very little mileage compared to my vans.

I think that if you have a vehicle you are doing very little mileage in throughout the year, and you tend to use more in the summer for holidays etc, then polished wheels will last for ages.
If however you're like me, and your van is your daily driver, and you use it 12 months of the year, meaning constant washing through the winter, then you will end up having the wheels re-furbished once a year, and diamond cut re-furbs are not cheap.
Thanks for the information. You made my decision a lot easier... I will go standard look on 20” wheels, it will be my daily driver even though I don’t cover many miles I don’t want to be getting the wheels re-dressed every year!
 
Don't let me put you off the wheels. I am an extreme and I do wash and polish my van more than most, but then I do around 50k a year, and my business means my Van has to look as good as possible at all times.
 
once i 'd had it built i was in oswestry and thought bloomin hell that looks familiar,
i was going to enquire about his front bumper but thought he might think i was a stalker :D.
I will put it down to just good taste :sneaky:
you should of flaged me down always up for a chat
 
i thought i would be clever and put assassin GT's on but they are a terrible wheel, the spokes sit proud of the rim and are damaged so easily
so new wheels soon, but the problem is which ones for a blackberry its a nightmare :confused:
 
I sold my assasins as fancied a change they wemt to new owner in shrewsbury in september.
New wheels are making there way across the atlantic as we speak :D
 
Sorry, I am a bit late to this thread but here is my Blackberry T32 lowered 30mm with 18" wheels. I personally like the contrast of the brighter wheels against the dark colour, and had two other parameters on my wheel choice:
  1. Completely painted with no polished element. I have had polished wheels in the past and they were a nightmare after about a year with corrosion getting in behind the lacquer
  2. I wanted them reasonably easy to clean. Some wheels are right buggers and take almost as long as the vehicle to clean properly
Blackberry T6.jpg
 
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