Hey all, new here in the truck forum. Have been around when I owned my Charger, but forgot the logon, so here I am again with a new name and a new truck...

Man I love Dodge, and what they put on the road. That being said. I just bought my first Ram saturday nite. To my surprise after lots of drinking on sunday nite i was out admiring my new ride, and come to find that the chrome wheels are in fact plastic covers?

Now with out doing much research I've come to the term "Chrome Clad", can someone please explaing this concept to me, and tell why I shouldn't be a tad bit upset about my discovery?

 

I'm not exactly sure, but they are just plastic covers that are coated in chrome, just basically painted. I think yours are done different than the Daisy covers like mine. These ones peel off and don't hold a shine that well, luckily mine do.

 

Dodge has been using "chrome clad" wheels for several years and even lists them as such on the sticker. So it's not like they hide it. It is a rather cheap out to get a flashy, eye catching wheel. The problem is having to worry about them peeling after they age, although they have improved the quality with regards to that from my understanding. As much as I detest them being made out of plastic, I will admit they do look good. Albeit I was happy to have the regular aluminum wheels on mine.

One of the funniest things I had happen when searching for a Ram was explaining to a salesman that the "chrome wheels" were nothing but plastic. I could tell from the silence on the other end of the line that he was completely baffled.

 

I had mixed feelings when I found out they were plastic covers. I test drove a Laramie since they didn't have any sports at the time. At first I thought how cheap, but after thinking about for awhile I decided it actually isn't all that bad. I figure if the chrome does peel off I can do one of 2 things. Buy new plastic covers from dodge at probably half the cost of new chrome wheels or I can sand them down and have them painted with a more durable finnish. I guess I looked at it like the plastic covers give me some options depending on what I want to do. I've spent a butt load of money on wheels in the last 10 years and all of them end up looking like hell after a few trips to the ranch and not being cleaned on a regular basis. Also, if you break one but can find all the pcs, you could glue it back together and then sand and paint. I love blacked out wheels and I probably will eventually black out all the chrome on my truck except the grill which I kind of like being chrome. Cheap? yes, but also cheaper than new wheels to replace and look factory new again. Jeff.

 

I was so upset when I saw that also. I new that they are chrome clad but I I figures it was full chrome. I didnt do enough research to later find out that they are plastic! Only us dodge owners know that our so called "rims" are plastic so guys and gals keep it a secret!

I guess if someone smacks into your truck and bends a $1000 rim yes its expensive to replace. These chrome clad rims are cheaper to replace (probably $70-$100) and if cleaned right look just like a real chrome rims.

They will grow on me but I may buy rims down the road, but only if I find ones that look like mine that came with my Sport.

 

I guess I’m confused; are you guys talking about the plastic center caps that cover the hubs on the aluminum wheels?

Art.

 

no. the entire surface of the wheel...

 

to anyones knoweldge how is the durablility?

 

I have a 2500 and I keep looking at it, I don’t think they are plastic covers. Is this an issue only with certain models or is it 1500 vs. 2500 or??

Art.

 

I found this:

http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/Chrome_Clad_Wheels.html