When purchasing your wheels you may see a stamp that says something like “SAE, VIA, JWL or TUV.” So what do those stamps mean?
Wheel standards have been associated with a level of quality but that is not always the case. Most of these standards are built for a specific region so if you are living in those regions do you need that standard? Different regions will have different standards for reasons such as geographical factors ie: harsh winters and bad roads and politics and laws.
So how does a certain standard impact quality? A standard like JWL is a globally recognized standard for wheel manufacturing due to it’s stringent standards. However, a wheel can be stamped as JWL without being certified. That means that a manufacturer can go through their own testing for JWL standards and if met they can be stamped without a third party approval for certification.
Who cares? Well you might. Not having a certain stamp may give you the idea that some wheels are not made to a standard you are aware of. For instance TUV standards are basically only enforced in Germany. These standards require additional testing in order to qualify for TUV standards. Most other manufacturers will not bother with TUV standards because the additional testing cost extra money and if you are not catering to Germany then why would you? That doesn’t mean that wheels that are not made to TUV standard are inferior to TUV wheels (even though that can be true in some cases) but you wouldn’t know unless testing was done.
Now VIA is similar to JWL but unlike JWL in order to get a VIA stamp you need to have your wheels processed and approved by VIA themselves.
Now if you are reading this you are likely in the North America. For North America SAEJ2530 is our standard and is a globally recognized standard.
If you are concerned about a wheel standard, don’t be afraid to ask a manufacturer about their standards. A reputable company will be able to tell you about their standards and let you know if their standards live up to your expectation.
For more information here is the full video.
