There are different construction types of wheels available today, they are aluminum wheels also known as cast wheels and forged wheels. Casting takes molten aluminum and it is then poured into a mold that creates the wheel design.
Typically, it’s not just poured in but also shaken and moved in a certain motion to eliminate air pockets during the forming process. A cast wheel is going to be typically more inexpensive than the forged wheel however it is usually much more heavier than forged wheels.
An aluminum wheel is first cast for the face and the initial stage of the process. That casted wheel is then taken to a rolling forming machine that presses out the barrel of the wheel and the shape of the wheel is then determined.
A Cast Aluminium wheels are the most common types of wheels available.
To the more interesting part, a forged aluminum wheel is the strongest and lightest wheel available today. While it is a very expensive process, it is the strongest and lightest wheel you can buy. Some companies will forge just the base of the wheel and machine out the rest while the more higher end companies like Rays Engineering and BBS will completely forge the entire wheel, including its face, only to machine finer details out like bolt patterns, logos, and other small parts of the wheel.
Forged rims are made from solid aluminium that are heated to allow pressurized machines to shape the rims. Forged rims gets its name from the process of forging a single piece of aluminium into the shape of the wheel rims.
Some of these big name brands go through strict research, design, and manufacturing standards to the point that many OEMs even rely on them to make their stock wheels, these manufacturing plants are usually located in Japan or Taiwan.
