This is my surprised look. I loved the wheels and Pat seemed to be a decent guy, but the last 5 years or so, you could not get a set actually delivered no matter how hard you tried. The last few sets I have bought have come from American Rebel. Very nice, American made wheels shipped in a timely fashion. -Abone.
Speedway Motors has been stocking Real Rodders Wheels the last year or so. Not sure if they are still made in the US or not, but they seem to have a good supply of them. Hope everything worked out well for Pat. -Abone.
That’s unfortunate, I speak with Pat from time to time. Our last conversation was a couple weeks ago. He did not mention closing. I’ve bought wheels from Pat and Eric for years and love my last set of Indy Mags.
Lets hope he is at worse having a supply chain problem. The raw aluminum to cast the wheels may be in short suppl;y right now. If the casting or part of the machining is farmed out that may be an issue at the moment too.
The operation appears to be a little "shoestring" to me. If you want a wheel drilled in a pattern that is not part of their regular stock you get to pay for someone to deliver the wheels to Eric and then again to have them picked up after they are drilled. Not too hard to do with a mill equipped with a two axis DRO and that is not a big investment if you are "manufacturing" wheels. Roo
If you know Eric, as nice a guy as he is, you know that's the weak link in the supply chain. "Timely" is not in Eric's vocabulary.
If you really know Eric you're aware that his main business after selling Real Wheels is repairing and modifying aluminum speciality wheels. I've know Eric since the mid '80s and a finer craftsman you won't find. He has told me that manufacturing wheels is dependent on outside suppliers, foundry, polisher, transportation, etc. I would think that he is in a better financial position with his current business. He supplied the wheels on my 3W in '85 and repaired them when my car was wrecked in '99. He's the go to guy for wheel repair and widening or narrowing. I don't understand why he is still considered to be a part of Real Rodders Wheels.
That,s god to hear. People have to understand that right now the whole supply and manufacturing process is pretty well non existent in some parts of the country. In some areas a small low profile locally operation might function but when it relies on larger higher profile suppliers there comes the issue.
Just got some American Rebel 15X5 and 15X10 polished sprints and the quality was excellent. I've owned Real Wheels when Eric Vaughn owned the company and Also Real Rodder's Wheels and I would say American Rebel quality is comparable
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