The Who:
Our forged wheel program at Dirty Diesel Customs wasn’t just slapped together overnight—it’s the result of years of blood, sweat, and ...... gears. Get what we did there? If the joke made you groan, well... so did we.
In 2021, we built our in-house Manufacturing department, initially outsourcing all our manufacturing. Being a company with performance roots, we have insanely high standards for precision and quality, and we weren't always happy with what our manufacturers were providing. Add to that an increasing demand for precision products, and we realized bringing manufacturing in-house was the best option. By vertically integrating, we gained full control over product development and quality assurance, ensuring that every product met our standards and was something we would be proud to throw on our own trucks.
We make our products for people who are cut from the same cloth as us—people who care about top-tier quality, precision fitment, and supporting a Canadian company run by those who get their hands dirty. Our wheels are made for those who want to put their truck through its paces and look damn good doing it.
The What: What are Forged Wheels?
If you're new to aftermarket wheels, you'll hear a lot of words thrown around. Steel, Alloy, Cast, 2 piece and 3 piece wheels and forged wheels. While each material and method has it's pros and cons, it was nothing but the best for us. A forged wheel isn’t just your standard, run-of-the-mill wheel. Forged wheels are made by taking a solid chunk of aluminum, and pounding it with a big-ass hammer/press. Think of it like blacksmithing, but with a ton more force.
To be technical, it's essentially heating and compressing a solid aluminum billet with immense pressure to form a dense, strong wheel blank. The forging process refines the grain structure of the aluminum, eliminating imperfections and aligning the grain along the direction of force to give it superior strength and durability.
Alternatives for forged wheels include cast or or flow form but they're all inferior in terms of quality of the actual materials. When you’re rolling on Dirty Forged, you’re getting a high-strength, lightweight product that's meticulously crafted to be capable of withstanding heavy loads and tough conditions while looking damn good.
Now one thing we are known for is throwing our own spin on things. We've often thumbed our nose at businesses who change the label on a product an resell them as their own. Our unique product offering is that we make premium custom wheels. This gives us a lot of flexibility as to what vehicles our rims will fit on and chances are that if you are rolling a pair of Dirty Forged you probably have a specialty-forged, rare one-of-a-kind wheel!
The When: The Dirty Forged Journey
After we set up our CNC in Manufacturing, it wasn’t long before people started asking whether we could make wheels. We thought about it, we had no reason not to, so we found a material supplier and developed our first prototype. We ran the first prototype on Jordan's truck and they performed flawlessly. He kept getting stopped by random people on the road who wanted to know "where he got those wheels".
We had such a positive response from the prototype that we decided to dig in, invest heavily in the process, develop a bunch of other designs, and fine tune the process.
The Where: BC Forged Wheels
We are located in the heart of West Kelowna, BC, Canada. When we began Dirty Forged, Manufacturing was still located in the mechanic shop. We've experience so much growth over the last few years though that we ran out of space so manufacturing moved down the road to a much bigger building. There's much more room to play now, and the warehouse has the space it needs to breath.
The Why: Why did we start Dirty Forged Wheels?
A big part that kicked off the Dirty Forged wheel line, was us having trouble finding a premium set of forged wheels for a decent price and without insane wait times. We realized this was a pain point as we didn't want to wait forever, or pay a ton out of pocket, to get forged wheels, so we decided to make a set ourselves.
Why did we dive into making custom forged wheels? Simple. We love this shit. We’re gearheads, just like our customers. The thrill of creating something that not only looks killer but performs under pressure—it’s in our blood. We want to make something unique, something that doesn't follow the grain. We made them for people like us, who don't want cookie-cutter wheels from a faceless corporation.
That's a strength of ours too. We're not some a massive multinational company churning out cheap wheels with a bunch of import labor. We bring our twist, our unique identity to everything we do, and when you order a set of Dirty Forged Wheels you know that each wheel you get is special, it means something.
Someone spent time pouring over designs, stress testing, and carefully manufacturing to the highest levels of precision to ensure that you have a unique, premium custom wheel, something you can be proud of that doesn’t compromise on performance or style. We’re here to give the middle finger to generic wheels and offer something truly exceptional.
How We Do It: The Process Behind Dirty Forged Wheels
Designing the Wheel
Every wheel starts with a concept. We begin by outlining the design, considering the aesthetic and performance aspects. Whether the design is driven by customer requests or our own ideas, we use advanced software to prototype the wheel digitally. By studying market trends and drawing on our experience with past wheels, we ensure each design is functional and visually appealing.
Strength Validation
Before any wheel is machined, we perform strength validation using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This computer simulation tests the wheel’s ability to handle different stress loads and identifies areas that need reinforcement. This process allows us to refine the design and optimize the material distribution, ensuring that the wheel meets all required specifications for strength and durability. For example you need to consider the size of tires that will be used, axel load, bore size, bolt pattern, etc. All of these variables and more come into play when simulating the load size on the wheel.
Machining
Once the design is finalized, the wheel blank is mounted onto a CNC machine. Using Computer-Aided Machining (CAM), we create a precise tool path that guides the machine through the cutting process. The CNC machine carves out the design from the blank, ensuring accurate dimensions and smooth finishes.
We've spent a lot of time refining our CAM so that we get really high quality results with accuracy. We've built up a good technology database, a robust library of cut recipes (feed and speed) that work really well to ensure that each cut is replicable and of the highest caliber.
Quality Control
Quality checks are an integral part of the process. We ensure that critical dimensions, such as the bore size, are accurate, and that the wheel meets all functional requirements. We take extra time and care to ensure that we get really high quality surface finishes. Once the surface finishes are carefully inspected, and any imperfections are corrected, the wheel is packaged for shipment.
Final Steps
After machining, the wheels undergo a final cleaning to remove any oils or debris. They are deburred to eliminate sharp edges and ensure a smooth surface (one thing we'll note that not all of our competitors do). Once they pass inspection, the wheels are packaged and shipped, ready to be installed on a vehicle.
