KMC, Method vs Icon : Quality/ Durability

Tons of brands out there with all sorts of marketing and influencer hype. Fuel, Rhino, SSW, Vision etc.

Between KMC, Method and Icon is there any actual difference in general strength and reliability of their cast wheels in the $250-350 range?

Looking at some sort of 17x9 with a 35x12.5 setup. I could be convinced to go 18's.

 

Nobody has ever owned these wheels?

 

More likely noone has owned all (3) and broken or had a failure from any. I don't think you can go wrong with any, fwiw, I've been running Methods for 10+ years.

 

I have Method bead grips myself, love them and the look. They are VERY stout and balancing was easy, I did have to torque the fronts in the air though to get rid of a shake. My cousin has some KMC wheels on his Tacoma and hates them, two are bent and one just won't stop vibrating.

I went with 18's as I had new 18" Yokohamas on some TRD wheels, also I like the 18's as they don't make my tires look like little chocolate donuts.

 

I’ve seen cheaper wheels bending pretty easily offroad. But never any Methods or Icons. I’ve only had Methods on my truck and did bend one, but that was probably user error. Just don’t buy generic brands if you plan to offroad. Especially if you’re trying to get lightweight wheels.

 

Honestly, they all come out select few factories.

Method wheels are own by Fox (the suspension company) now, and they've always been made in either China or Taiwan, I believe some were made in Philippines.

KMC is one of brands from Wheels Pros, which owns almost 20 brands , https://www.wheelpros.com/

Bottom line is, wheels making is rather safe, the process has been refined for a long time and the dividing factor is the Wheels Load index just like your tires they tend to follow JWL standards if they have JWL, means they had it done by a third party, but they can also JWL compliance, means they did their own test but following JWL procedures, Method is typically 3640lb per wheel,

Wheel Pros tend to go bit higher, which also means their wheels tend to be heavier, they also have a great page explain the way their wheels are labeled:
https://helpcenter.wheelpros.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055697352-Identifying-Wheel-Markings

So in our case, forged wheels doesn't always mean better, forged is lighter but its more rigid, which sometimes you want some "softness", kinda like how if you hit a curb, a forged alloy wheel will most likely crack, while steelies will just bend.

as an example, Vivid Racing Forged is very light, but their load rating is only 2425lbs.

 

I have no experience with Methods and had never heard of KMCs until now. I’ve had Icon Rebounds for about 5 years or so with no problems. I almost got Methods and actually prefer their looks over all the others, but I went with Icons at the time because of their offset and the fact their 17” wheels fit over the large brake calipers.

 

No issues with my current KMC wheels, and they balance out well. I’ve beat them for over 100K miles with zero issue.
Down side? They’re heavy. Like OEM wheel kinda heavy.

I have a new set of SCS Ray10 with tires sitting in the shop, just waiting to finish wearing out my current tires. Hoping to get similar satisfaction from them.

 

I have method 701s and haven’t gotten to push them hard yet. I’ve been happy so far though.

 

been running my Methods Standard since 2013..no issues to report.
I recently got some RRW 17's I need to install. time will tell if they are as good.

 

.....
https://www.fnwheels.com/

 

I have to say give Dustin a shout as well! The fellas customer service and communication is awesome and they make a great wheel.

 

RRW HH7 on my truck with no issues and method 701s on the old man’s also with zero issues. I’m not sure the type of wheeling you do but any of the mentioned brands should be fine for you

 

Had Methods on zero offset with fake beadlocks for years. I recently bought the Beadgrip 703s, which doesn’t have fake beadlocks, went wheeling and smashed the valve stem. The valve stem broke off part of the rim that it’s seated in, which was not covered my Method’s warranty.



If you’re gonna wheel, get something that protects the valve stem.

 

But you also had very large stiff valve stems lol

 

True

 

I run Icons and have never had an issue with the strength of them. I did however have a wheel that had a slow leak (very slow but a leak) for years. It was so slow it did not bother me too much but it was annoying. I finally got a Discount employee's interest and she was determined to find the leak and it ended up being a pin hole in the wheel. It was covered under warranty