Do you know your rims? If not, get it now! One of Rimgard's friends is Andie Lahdo, innovator and rim expert, who built up the rim company ABS Wheels in Sweden.
Just over 20 years ago, Andie Lahdo had started to speed up the sale of rims and tires in her car workshop in Märsta. But there was a risk of getting stuck with large bearings if the rims had the wrong bolt size. In addition, it was difficult to find stylish rims for the most common car brands , Volvo and Saab.
Andie, who is a trained automotive technician , therefore developed a self-patented steel cone , eccentrically drilled , so that cars with varying bolt spacing could have the same kind of rim. It kept down both inventory and costs, while at the same time the number of customers increased dramatically. Today, ABS360, as the cone is officially called , is design protected and licensed. It is also a great sales success.
ABS Wheels sells the majority to end customers and thus gets direct contact with the market and can quickly see how needs and trends change. Andie Lahdo has lived with rims and styling all his life, from the time he took the ferry to Germany to buy rims that were twice as expensive as the car he fitted them to, until today when he is responsible for the design of the self-made rims.
What should you think about when buying tires and rims and what are the most common mistakes? Here is Andie's response :
1. What need do I have? Do I buy tires and rims because I have to have winter wheels or because I want to update the car ? In both cases it is important not to rush . We can see on our website how customers spend a lot of time choosing and comparing. Better that than an impulse purchase that you regret the next day.
2. Stick to an established company with the right staff behind the counter , even when changing tires . This eliminates the risk of incorrect purchase and incorrect assembly.
3. Sure, it's good to read tire tests in the magazines, but read the instruction manual first. If it is the right dimension for your car, it is the right rim . Today's cars have several important functions linked to tires and wheels, air pressure, ABS, automatic lane keeping, which can be disrupted if the dimensions are not correct.
4. Tires and rims can do so much more today than just roll. They can roll easier, quieter, shorten the braking distance, increase acceleration, reduce fuel consumption. What is worth paying a little extra for ?
5. Tire design is not everything, take care of the function of the rim, a too tight rim lets in cold to the same extent as a more airy rim and can increase wear and even damage the brakes in the long run.
6. A strong trend now is concave rims where the spokes curve into the wheel housing. There are many car models that cannot handle that design.
7. T wash the rims, but not too often , and not too rarely . Today, all rims are painted with powder paint. In some places inside the rim, where the paint is at its thinnest, it risks disappearing if you wash too often and too hard, as well as when coarse dirt and asphalt residues take hold for a long time.
8. Rim damage often occurs in connection with parking on the pavement. A simple way to avoid them is to make sure to have the right tire dimension so the tire receives first if it wants badly. Tires are often fitted with dimensions that are too small for aesthetic reasons.
9. Are there no need for winter rims, maybe it is enough to put on winter tires on the existing rims? So be it , but wear and damage to the rim leads to a reduction in the lifespan of the rim after each replacement.