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HRE FF15 Flow Formed Wheels!
HRE Wheels, known for decades as being one of the finest wheel
manufacturers around and the go-to choice for racing teams around the
world, has recently introduced their new line of Flow-Form wheels.
Offering strength properties similar to Forged wheels at a lower
price point, while still maintaining the high standards of HRE
Performance Wheels.
These wheels conform to the highest standards of quality, satisfying the
strictest standards - and the wheels are designed and engineered in the
United States, just 75 or so miles south of ModBargains in San Diego,
CA.
As you'd expect of any HRE Wheel, they're lightweight, too, starting at
just over 19lbs. each
HRE FF15 Wheels on Tesla Model S
What are HRE Flow Form Wheels?
HRE Performance Wheels' all new line of
FlowForm wheels are
manufactured utilizng a unique casting and forming process that creates
a wheel with strength properties similar to those of a forged wheel.
The process begins with pouring molten aluminum into a mold
face-side-down, where it is then rapidly cooled. By quickly cooling the
metal down right after heating it up (sometimes referred to as
quenching), the aluminum alloy
becomes more dense, and thereby enhancing the elastic strength and
durability of the wheel.
After the wheel face is formed (Fig
A), it is pulled from the mold and placed into the flow-forming
machine, (Fig B)
which operates in a manner similar to a potters' wheel. This
process stretches the barrel downward, causing the metal to "flow" into
the correct "form", hence the name, and this process ultimately gives
the wheel its final shape (Fig
C).
This "stretching" process changes the internal grain structure of the
aluminum (much like the direction of the grain makes a difference in
wood), making it stronger, lighter and more precise than a
non-flow-formed barrel, resulting in forged aluminum-like strength.
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