When looking at wheel weights I see most of them are in the 22-27 pound range for painted or powder coated 17's. So if you were to get a wheel and have it chrome plated, are we talking a couple of pounds per wheel or is it a lot like 8-10 pounds?

 

a lot



like 10 plus lbs more on some wheels

 

The plating itself wouldn't weigh that much. The difference comes in the material of the wheel. It is WAY less complicated (read: expensive) to chrome steel than aluminum, so chromed wheels are likely to be steel. Aluminum can, however, be polished VERY bright and clear powder coated to look close-enough to chrome for the person who just wants shiny wheels. Aluminum can be powder coated pretty easily and again the coating is very thin. If it were >1lbs/wheel I would be shocked. Think how far a pound of paint goes when spraying a body panel, and think how small wheels are.



edit: these guys claim to use extra layers in their process and a 20" wheel picked up 1/4 of a pound http://www.calchrome.com/service_chrome.php

 

better to not chrome any wheel at all, they WILL bubble and flake and corrode on the bead area of the wheel causing air leaks and wheel corrosion due to exposure to excessive heat..i've breathed enough of the nasty dust while cleaning away the corroded wheels with a wire brush or RIST procedure just to make sure the tire holds air..worst offender is the pt cruiser.

 

The offender is not the car, it is the water-based lube that tire shops use mounting the tires and the nasty compressed-ambient-air everyone uses to fill their tires. If shops would use a proper lubricant and people would inflate their tires with (only) dry Nitrogen, the chrome would last longer than the rest of the car.

 

yeah, my workplace use's measures to prevent that..our compressor is purged daily, you should see the water pouring out of the purge valve on humid evenings and think of how much of that is going in everyones tires, we use thick non-water based tire lube.



stop and go traffic and hard driving + heat from engine, brakes, exhaust, summer heat..wheel acts as a heatsink and soaks up the heak and causing tire pressure spikes create bubbly flaky wheels on all makes and model cars.

 

22-27 lbs is CRAZY heavey for a 17! I wouldnt even CONSIDER a wheel over 20lbs! My 17's come in at about 15.4 lbs each. They are forged aluminum from Centerline. They are polished, so honestly, most people think they are chrome. Look great, perform even better. Save up and get some good rims. Even chromed from the factory will eventually bubble and chip. Go with a high polished aluminum. Will look just as good and will have the benefits of a light weight rim as well