Hard times cut demand for big chrome custom car wheels

LAS VEGAS -- The bling-bling is going out of the fancy custom wheels business.

After a decade in which shiny chrome rims ruled the streets — the bigger and more outrageous the better — consumers appear to be passing up automotive cosmetics in order to buy gas and groceries.

"It might come back, but it's going to be a while," says Jim Fisher, sales manager for wheel maker Konig, at the big automotive accessory trade show sponsored by the industry's Specialty Equipment Market Association. "We're selling something that people don't need."

Athletes, actors and music stars who drive the plushest cars and trucks aren't scrimping on big chrome wheels now that the economy has soured, says Danny Ward, vice president of sales for Modular Society wheels. But many of the younger buyers who like to emulate them may have overstretched their budgets. The "easy come, easy go" crowd is disappearing.

Great wheels aren't cheap. A top-quality set of rims for a sporty model like a Dodge Charger can run $8,000 — more than many enthusiasts spent to buy the used car they want to mount them on.

For years, flashy wheels have marked the epitome of the pimp-my-ride urban lifestyle. Makers competed for the nuttiest touches, like spinners that made the wheels appear to keep turning even when the car came to a halt. Every year, they vied to outdo each other on size.

Though maker Lexani Wheels was showing off a set of 42-inch (!) rims at its booth at the annual show — wheels more than twice the size of a typical car wheel and so big that there are no tires yet to fit them — Ward says the size wars are largely over. With fewer Hummers and luxury SUVs, such as the Cadillac Escalade, being sold, there isn't as much demand for wheels the size of a tractor's.

But the reps say that although business may be off, they are finding ways to make sure their big wheels keep on turning.

"Maybe sizes and pricing will go down a little," says Ryan Friedlinghaus, founder of West Coast Customs, a Corona, Calif., customizing operation. But "wheels is always the first question" for customers looking to personalize vehicles, even if they lack the cash for a complete rebuild.