Spinning rims, also called spinners, are custom wheels for your car, pickup, van or sports utility vehicle (SUV). Spinning rims set themselves apart from other custom wheels in that the rim spins even when the car is temporarily at rest. These eye-catching rims add flash, movement and style to any ride, whether it is a standard sports car, souped up sedan, or tricked out truck. Most spinning rims work on inertia using ball bearings. When the car stops, the rims continue to spin on their own using centrifugal force.
Spinning rims come in a variety of designs and wheel sizes. Most are highly polished chrome with spoke-type designs that catch light well when spinning. If you’ve ever pulled next to a car with spinning rims at a light or stop sign, chances are, you noticed. Spinning rims are hard to miss!
Spinning rims don’t necessarily come cheap. Cost for a set of four wheels with spinning rims can easily cost 1500 - 2500 US dollars (USD), with some sets running as high as 10,000 USD. You can find spinning rims cheaper too, but even modestly priced or closeout spinners are normally upwards of 700 USD. Often, however, new tires are included in the deal. Many online vendors will also mount new tires to the spinning rims, and will ship free of charge.
If that blew your hat out the window, hold on. Spinning hubs can attach to your existing wheels, and only cost about 40 USD. However, spinning hubs don’t quite make the same impression as spinning rims, and you might end up attaching them to your little brother’s Big Wheel instead.
Some people have complained about spinning rims being a safety hazard for other drivers on the road. This comes from reports of drivers catching spinning rims out of the corner of the eye, mistakenly believing the car with the spinners is in motion. Purportedly this has caused some drivers to slam on their brakes, believing the other car was moving forward.
A few well-known manufacturers of spinning rims include Davin, Omega, Thunder, Spintek, Diablo and Dub Spinner. Before deciding on a design, be sure the spinning rims will properly fit your vehicle. Many online retailers feature website interfaces where a shopper can enter the year and model of the car or truck to see what spinning rims will fit.