What Is a Wheel?
Your car essentially sits on its wheels, which carry a lot of weight when it comes to providing a smooth ride. When you think of wheels, you likely picture the round metal and rubber parts that roll against the ground as your drive. Youre actually looking at three different components: a wheel, a rim, and a tire. So, which piece is the wheel?
A wheel is a circle-shaped part that rotates to enable your INFINITI to keep moving. In fact, your car cant move an inch without its wheels. When you look at your INFINITI, the wheel is the metal part you see within the rubber tires. Wheels are composed of a hub, a rim (more on this later), and spokes. Wheels come in various styles, sizes, and materials. They are made of aluminum alloy, steel or carbon fiber.
Not only are wheels functional, but they can add flair to your INFINITI depending on the style of the spokes and whether you choose to add a decorative wheel cap.
What Is a Rim?
A rim is one part of a wheel. On older vehicles, you might have been able to remove the rim from the wheel, but on modern cars, they are inseparable.
The rim is attached by the spokes to the outer edge of the wheel and wraps around the tire. Some people use the word “rims” to describe decorative wheels. While the rims may contribute to the look of your INFINITI, their main purpose is to seal the tires and support the wheels. Rims are critical to maintaining air pressure in your INFINITIs tires.
Types of rims, reflecting the metals used to make them, include steel, alloy, and chrome. A rim is typically manufactured from a single piece of metal.
When to Replace Your Wheels
When is it time to replace a wheel? If a wheel is merely dinged up, you should be able to get it repaired. But if its bent, cracked, or unstable, it probably needs to be replaced. Replacement might be required, for instance, if your car was involved in a major accident.
Rims can suffer severe damage, such as cracks or broken edges, after hitting a pothole or curb. Keep in mind that lightweight rims might sustain more damage than heavier rims. Because rims cant be separated from the wheels, when a rim is cracked or broken, you will need to replace the entire wheel.
What Is a Tire?
Wheels and rims dont make direct contact with the road, but tires do. The tires are the pieces of rubber filled with air that are attached to your wheels. They play an important role in helping with ideal handling, a smooth ride, solid braking, and overall safety. Among other things, tires support the load of your INFINITI, assist with traction, absorb road shocks, and help keep your car heading in the right direction.
When to Replace Your Tires
Generally, you should replace your INFINITIs tires every five years or when the tread depth has reached 2/32 of an inch. Even if you dont drive often, its not recommended to use tires for more than 10 years.
Unfortunately, tire theft still remains a big issue. It often only takes a few minutes for a thief to walk off with your wheels, rims, and tires, and they might cause damage to the frame of your car in the process. If this happens to you, replacements will be in order, and you might need to stop by your local INFINITI service center for repairs. Luckily, you can add wheel locks to your INFINITI, which are special lug nuts that can help deter theft.
Need to replace a wheel, rim, or tire? Make sure youre using genuine INFINITI replacement parts by shopping INFINITI Parts online! Select parts to fit your model, year, and trim to ensure a proper fit for your vehicle.