Spring is slowly creeping up on us, the weather is finally warming up, and here at Rim & Wheel Works our thoughts turn to the environment. While that may seem surprising, the environment is an important part of our mission at Rim & Wheel. By straightening rims that would otherwise have to be replaced, we have kept literally thousands of pounds of aluminum out of junkyards and landfills. Even rims that we cannot repair and worn-out tires get recycled rather than discarded. We know we won't save the world, but we are proud to do our part in a small way. That's why we're so pleased to announce a new type of "chrome paint", a process that looks just like chrome but without the serious environmental impact that chromeplating involves. See the article below for details, or come in and see our Helios demonstrator wheels sometime!

Spring may be here, but just because those fantastic Nokian snow tires are about ready to come off until next winter doesn’t mean the weather will always cooperate. Good summer or all-season tires are important too. I’d like you to consider two brands I happen to know are good ones – not for every car nor for every size, but definitely worth investigating for reasonably priced, good quality tires.

The first is the Fuzion by Bridgestone. These were the tires I put on my Saab every summer until the lease ended just recently. The “Z”s are summer only; high performance tires that really handle on the highway. The Fuzion HRI is an all-season version.

The second is the Nokian I3, which I’m putting on my new Prius this spring. These are a reasonably priced all-season tire, with the genuine quality of the Finnish Nokian brand. Nokian’s all-season tires, both the WR and I3, are nearly noiseless, stick like glue in all conditions and they handle like a dream.

Please feel free to call us with any questions about these or any other tires. Until next month; Happy Motoring!

-Ina Ames

We love wheels. We love beautiful wheels. We even love chrome wheels. What we hate is how fragile chrome is, how it gets eaten away by road salt, how it flakes off when it gets damaged, how it can start to get yellow if the bronze undercoat bleeds through. Most of all, we hate the high cost, trouble and environmental impact involved in real chromeplating.

That’s why we’re glad to announce a new process that’s environmentally safe, cheaper, longer lasting, and just plain beautiful – Helios.

Rather than dipping the wheel into liquid chromium, Helios is a metallic paint process, followed by a clear powdercoat. The powdercoat seals the wheel and the finish away from the elements – dirt, water, or salt – that destroy regular chrome rims, so that these wheels can stay on the car year-round even in high salt and slush environments like New England.

You can have your wheels painted in your choice of silver or black chrome in about four weeks (including shipping time) for $200.00 a wheel plus a shipping cost of $20.00 per wheel round trip. The picture above is of the silver chrome, and it speaks for itself - the black chrome doesn't photograph all that well, but we'd be happy to show you our demonstrator wheels.