Swap meet wheels, yes , no, to buy?

[bandit67]

I made a local swap meet the weekend and a vender had brand new wheels for $75 bucks each. Magnums, rally wheels with sizes of 14, 15 inches to 7, 8 and some 10 inch wide. I was told he buys returns from places like Summit and Jegs. Well, I could see some had a blemish or a spot, a piant run, and those would be acceptable. But I hesitated wondering if some maybe were warped or out of round. The chrome magnums looked really good and a great price for sure. Just not sure if it is worth the risk on a warped wheel. He will be back next weekend at another meet a bit farther down the road. Anybody have good or not so good luck buying returns......

 

[BLK 68 R/T]

Also check the mounting holes to make sure they have not been over tightened and wallowed out.

 

[toolmanmike]

I made a local swap meet the weekend and a vender had brand new wheels for $75 bucks each. Magnums, rally wheels with sizes of 14, 15 inches to 7, 8 and some 10 inch wide. I was told he buys returns from places like Summit and Jegs. Well, I could see some had a blemish or a spot, a piant run, and those would be acceptable. But I hesitated wondering if some maybe were warped or out of round. The chrome magnums looked really good and a great price for sure. Just not sure if it is worth the risk on a warped wheel. He will be back next weekend at another meet a bit farther down the road. Anybody have good or not so good luck buying returns......

I sent a few Rally's back to Summit for paint runs. If they are smart they won't send them out to the next guy. Nothing wrong with the wheels otherwise.

 

[R413]

Ask him about exchanging or returning wheels if they are not round. You know how picky some buyers are, and others don’t like the look and make up a BS story to return. Big places like summit have a generous return policy. There may be nothing wrong with them, or just small cosmetics.

I would buy a set today.

 

[moparedtn]

I'll state the obvious:
There's no freaking way in hell of anyone else advising you accurately on this, since not only are none
of us able to lay hands on these wheels - but apparently you didn't even take pics of them.
If you'd actually like to share something, anything, substantive for folks to check out, maybe that
answer changes somewhat....
You at least going to share the vendor's name?

 

[#41]

$75 not a bad deal as long as you are not compromising on the size and offset you want. I'd pick out the ones that clearly have not been mounted.... they would not likely have been returned for the reason you are worried about.

 

[Photon440]

Check for a scratch in case they 'fell off a truck'.

 

[Runcharger]

When I was in the biz we had to send a few back due to not running true. I would look for ones with cosmetic issues if I was considering them.

 

[gkent]

"Blems" are regularly sold by legitimate dealers. Jack McCornack in Detroit often sold blems - marked as such. Generally the "blem" occurs in the final stages. If a wheel was out of round, dented or whatever, it would never make it to paint or plating. I wouldn't be concerned about anything but the finish. If you can live with a plating flaw or paint run, go for it.

 

[Don Frelier]

 

[DGE330/NC]

yea, tell others the location hell be at , we might would like a deal . in other words ,help a brother out .

 

[Purepony]

Damn that’s a deal 75 each that’s 300 total !
Too bad I’m ca and he’s probably on the other side (

 

[topside]

Roll of the dice but good advice so far.
All I can add is that I've sent back a new "Magnum" chrome wheel because it was a wobbler - you could see it on the balancing machine, it was about 1/4" off.
I've had a couple that were also out of round by .062" but they balanced & drive fine.
Whatever Coker/Vintiques/Specialty (all the same companies now, owned by Coker) does with their out-of-spec returns I don't know, but they may indeed wholesale off their blems.
Like most things, the quality seems to have deteriorated from what I bought 20 or more years ago.

 

[bandit67]

Ok, what I know. I did not get his name, he was just unloading boxes of wheels from the back of his covered trailer. Being I am new here , a local here said he believed this guy gets his returns from Summit, which their big store in Georgia is only 30 miles from here. The seller , it seems, comes to this annual swap meet every year and the guys here know him. I could see some black paint runs out from the center on some Magnum wheels and that is not a problem. I did not ask if he would/could swap out an out of round wheel as he was pretty busy. So not sure where he is from or traveling to. BUT, we have another much bigger swap meet in Moultre next weekend and he supposed to be there. I ask about back spacing on the 15x7s 500 and he said 4.25, he thought. I am planning a trip down and may drag a set back home.

 

[topside]

The steel 15x7s are listed at 4.25 BS & the 15x8s at 4.50 BS every place I've seen them.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Back around 2002 I bought a pair of 15x7's & a pair of 15x10 Blems from Wheel Vintiques at the Pleasanton Goodguys event... Back then I gave $35 pr wheel... They ran true, a couple had minor scratches in the chrome overall they were a great deal...

 

[duster22]

Just for info , Coker shutdown Specialty Wheel the summer of 2020 , they no longer exist anywhere on the net or otherwise. They killed all the smaller vendors that dealt with Specialty and their deals. At least that's what they did to me.

Frank The Wheel Guy

 

[duster22]

I just went and looked up prices at Coker , Jegs and Summit , steel wheels. Wow , $170 to $180 each for a start and that's the narrow sizes. I had not checked prices lately.

Frank

 

[Purepony]

Just for info , Coker shutdown Specialty Wheel the summer of 2020 , they no longer exist anywhere on the net or otherwise. They killed all the smaller vendors that dealt with Specialty and their deals. At least that's what they did to me.

Frank The Wheel Guy

Those idiots also bought out wheel vintiques just to shut them down it seems. I called them a few months back and they said we aren’t making wheels for wheel vintiques at the moment, I asked when they planned to start making wheels and he said he didn’t know

 

[69 Q5 Bee]

When I go to a swap meet I take a straight edge with me and a tape measure if I'm looking for wheels. The straight edge will help you determine if it is bent or warped. Tape measure for checking the bolt circle and hub ID. Hope this helps.