Quality Fake Fuchs

There are plenty of Fuchs fans on this site, myself included. For those not familiar with these wheels, they were OEM Porsche wheels. Forged and light right from the factory. There have been aftermarket fake fuchs that were quite poor quality. Very heavy, poor casting techniques, prone to breakage etc.

Fast forward a couple of decades (since the last factory "real" Fuch was made)... Now the real Fuchs are getting kinda old. You can still pick them up reasonable but many are now 30-40 year old wheels. The largest diameter is 16". Performance tire sizes are not as common for 15 and 16" wheels as they used to be...

There is an alternative. One of the fellas on the Pelican BBS has been working with a maker to create a quality Fuchs reproduction in 17" sizes. The first wheel is actually built now and will be tested. It is a cast wheel, but supposedly of very high quality manufacture. The wheel is out for testing right now - it is intended to be strong enough for endurance racing purposes.

I'll enclose a picture and a thread link. The thread is really really long.... Here's the gist: $1000 will buy you 4 NEW ones.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=ffa8ae71e74267071636bb8afbcc870b&threadid=324952&perpage=20&pagenumber=1
angela

Angela,
Who is testing them? What tests?
Will they be d.o.t. approved?

Greg B

Moses is not releasing who the maker or tester will be until the wheels are fit for market. Just last week the first production run for the 7.5" wheels began with the 9" scheduled for this week.

All wheels will be Pressure, Load and Fatigue tested. I do not know if they will be DOT "approved", but they will be tested to exceed that requirement. They are "legal for sale/use in the US and Europe" whatever that means regarding DOT I'm not sure.

They will be made in 2 sizes initially and 3 finishes. The finishes are as pictured above, polished lip/petal with black background, or RSR finish or SC finish (polished lip/black center).

Also the weights have been finalized and they are surprising light. I found the original Fuchs weights to compare, but remember that the Fuchs are not available in 17 - so its just a rough comparison:

Fuchs 16x7 = 18 lbs, these 17x7.5 = 18.5
Fuchs 16x9 = 20 lbs, these 16x9 = 20 lbs.

The castings are drilled for valve stem in the same position as Fuchs so you can use any standard valve stem or the "braced" metal ones that are sold for Fuchs wheels. The holes for the fasteners will be drilled to accept the standard porsche lug nuts (most of us use aluminum).

By the way, they are talking $999 DELIVERED.... More sizes available later if this first run sells easily.

angela

$999 delivered is a terrific price for new wheels if they're as good as you say.

Heck! You could easily drop 2/3's of that (or way more) for really good, used, original ones with a lot of mileage (and unknown stress) on them.

BTW: My center caps are drilled (2-holes) for the enameled center crests, but I never see them for sale anywhere. Anyone have a source for them? Pelican?

gn

Gordin,

I have caps with the enameled crests. They only use one hole for mounting and the crest is inset into the cap. Performance Parts has those.

I am pretty sure the the two holes you have are used to insert a double tipped, heavy wire like tool to remove the caps. I have seen the tool and was told by some of the RGruppe guys that that is what the two holes are for.

Thanks, Dale.....I'll check out Performance, and I remember seeing them in their catalog years ago, but thought that was a one-shot.

Never seen that tool you mentioned...never needed it, as I usually just tap them out from the back side.

gn

You know, Gordon, I don't understand the "pull 'em off from the front" either. The units I have are very nice and they are made specifically for early wheels (smaller hole dia, prongs) or late wheels (large holes, non-clip). They have a ring inside the wheel and uses set screws to secure the caps to the wheel. Very theft proof.

The centers are not cheap. I bought mine from the manufacture at a swap meet and paid $75 EACH. Depending on the cost at Performance, you might call the mfg (link below) and check their price.

There are many styles available, one uses the 356 enamel badge mounted on a polished 911 center.

http://boothedesign.com/centercaps.html

Dale:

Now that I've seen the site, that's not quite what I meant. I'm looking for just the crest, meant for an existing wheel center cap.

The caps I use ('89 911) have two holes in the front, I think at 11 0'clock and 5 o'clock, inside of the crest area (they also have those nifty set screws to hold them in the center hole). I've seen crests only, made just to fit those holes on original Fuchs center caps, but they were usually $45+ per wheel and I was too cheap to buy them. I haven't seen them in a long time, either.

If I remember right, they are just a tad bigger than a 356 hood emblem, so that shot the idea of just getting four of those..... The two holes were needed to keep them in place and not spin on the cap, thereby scratching the background (they also fit right over the existing Porsche crest that's already engraved into the cap).

Mine look OK, painted black on the polished surface, but the holes are still there if you look close.

Gordon... I have one I will send you. I ordered an anodized that you knock on with a rubber mallet and the one that I got has the two holes... A lot like the one you just described, but it is not black. Still looking for an anodized center crest too.

For such small parts why not just anodize them yourself? I've never tried but it looks pretty easy to do with stuff that's readily available.

Anyone here give it a try before?

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/anodize.shtml

it is not the right size too. forgot to mention that.

"Thanks, Dale.....I'll check out Performance, and I remember seeing them in their catalog years ago, but thought that was a one-shot.

Never seen that tool you mentioned...never needed it, as I usually just tap them out from the back side.

gn "

Found it! This is a .gif file so you need to click it to see it.

For $ 999.00 I'd buy those wheels in a heartbeat!
I'm running original 30 year old Fuchs wheels on my old IM and have thought of 'updating' for safety's sake many times but haven't yet as I love the look of those old wheels...
Frank

30 year old forged Fuchs are probably stronger and safer than any cast reproduction wheel you'll find.

Dale:

That's one heck of a tool!! Never seen one like it! It must have some sort of little hooks on the back side of the cap, huh?

All I do to get mine off is pull the wheel, loosen the set screws and tap them out with the handle end of a hammer. They're pretty tight when the set screws are tightened, and I have to pull the wheel anyway, so I guess I'll stick with my trusty hammer handle!!

Thanks!

(Still, that's one heck of a tool!!)

gn