Much of the look of your car depends on the rims. Rims are large, bright parts of your car that pop out and catch people’s eyes. When they’re great-looking rims, people are drawn to them, and they enhance the entire appearance of your car. If they’re not good-looking rims, the whole look of your car declines. There are many different ways to damage your rims, and you need to be aware of them. When you’re aware of how they get damaged, you can find the right way to protect them.
Scratches and Scuffs
Scratching and scuffing your rims is the most common way to damage them. Mag wheel rims are also called alloy rims. They’re typically made from an alloy of aluminum and magnesium, hence the name “mag.” The alloy is used because it is much stronger and stiffer than magnesium alloy. Aluminum is also more lightweight than steel and less prone to corrosion or rust. That’s why it is preferred for rim construction. However, since the magnesium alloy is stronger and harder than aluminum alone, it is more prone to scratching; that’s just a reality of hard metals.
These hard metal rims tend to get damaged when you pull your car too close to a curb and scratch the metal against the concrete curb. They also get scratched up if you have your tires changed by someone who does not use the rubberized protectors over the tire changing station. Polymer wheel skins are the best way to protect your mag wheel rims from being scratched on curbs and tools.
Polymer Skins
A polymer skin is a thin veneer of rubberized polymer that you can lay over the edge of your rims. The edges of your rims are the places where they are most often scraped up, especially by curbs and tools. That damage looks very unsightly and undermines the attractiveness of your alloy rims. A polymer skin goes over your rims, protecting them from damage and even hiding present damage. The polymer, since it is much more disposable than the alloy, can take being scratched up. Also, as a polymer, it doesn’t scratch as easily as a metal might.
You need to make sure your polymer skins are made to match your rims. If you have chrome rims, you need a skin that is colored to match your rims so it’s basically invisible. Similarly, you can choose a color that isn’t actually the color of your rims. Some people like to choose polymer skins that match the car instead of the rims. For example, if you have chrome rims and a crimson car, you might choose a deep red polymer skin to match your car. There are many options to protect your rims.
