How It Works
Buying a bespoke set of wheels should not require a leap of faith. You see them on your own car, with your own paint, before any money changes hands.
Here is the whole process.
Why we do it this way
Walk into a wheel shop, find a design you love, and find out it was never made for your car.
The usual fix is a spacer or an adapter. A machined plate between your hub and your wheel, on the part that holds your car to the road. It is offered so routinely that most people stop questioning it.
We started PB Forged to get rid of that conversation. Every set is cut to your car's exact bolt pattern, centre bore and offset from the first operation. Not adapted. Not spaced. Not close enough.
That is why any design in our range can be built for any car. The design is the design. The fitment is machined to you.
The six steps
1. Send us your brief
Pick a design, tell us your car, choose diameter, width, offset and finish. If you are not sure on a number, leave it. We will come back with a recommendation rather than a blank.
Send a photo of your car at the same time. It does not need to be a good photo. It needs to show the car.
2. We put the wheels on your car
Not a stock image. Not a generic render of the design on a car like yours. Your car, your colour, the wheels you specified.
Normally back with you within 24 hours.
3. You get a firm price
The render comes with a price that does not move. Diameter, width, construction, finish, hardware, and delivery, all in one number.
4. You approve, or you change your mind
Nothing is payable up to this point. If the render is not what you pictured, tell us what to change and we will send another. You get two revisions at no cost. If it is not for you, that is the end of it and you have spent nothing.
5. 50% deposit, and we start cutting
On approval, you pay half. The balance is due on completion, before the wheels ship.
6. Six to eight weeks later
Your wheels arrive, fully insured, free of charge in the UK.
What "forged" actually means
Most wheels on most cars are cast. Molten aluminium is poured into a mould and left to solidify. It is quick and it is cheap, and the grain structure inside the metal is effectively random.
A forged wheel starts as a solid billet of aluminium, squeezed under enormous pressure so the grain follows the shape of the wheel. The metal ends up denser and the grain runs continuously through the areas that carry load, rather than stopping at the boundaries left behind by casting.
In practice that means a forged wheel can be lighter than a cast wheel of the same strength, or stronger at the same weight. On a car where that matters, it is the difference you feel first: less unsprung mass at each corner, which is the weight your suspension has to control over every bump.
Then it is machined. That is the step that lets us cut your bolt pattern, your centre bore and your offset rather than whatever the mould happened to be.
Why it takes six to eight weeks
Because nothing is sitting on a shelf.
When you approve the render, your wheels do not exist yet. The engineering review happens against your car, the billet is forged, the faces are machined to your fitment, the finish is applied, and the set is inspected before it leaves.
We could be faster by making wheels in batches to common fitments and keeping them in stock. That is the model that produces the adapter conversation, and it is the one thing we are not willing to do.
If you have a fixed date, a show, an event, a build deadline, tell us at the brief stage. We will tell you honestly whether it fits.
Stud pattern or centre lock, we machine both
Most cars use studs or bolts. Some do not.
A 992 Turbo is five studs. A 992 Turbo S is centre lock. They run identical wheel sizes on completely different hubs. A 718 GT4 and a GT4 RS are the same story. So are several Porsche GT cars, the McLaren Senna, and the Lamborghini STO and Performante.
Almost no catalogue covers both arrangements properly, which is why one of them usually ends up compromised. We machine centre lock and stud pattern in house, so it is a normal build either way.
Tell us the car, or send the chassis number if you are not certain. We would rather check than assume.
What you pay, and when
| Stage | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Brief | Nothing |
| Render and firm price | Nothing |
| Two revisions to the render | Nothing |
| On approval | 50% deposit |
| On completion, before shipping | The balance |
Sets start at £3,099. The render always carries your actual price before you commit to anything.
What comes with the set
Every set is engineered in the UK, FEA analysed and VIA certified, and carries a lifetime structural warranty. UK delivery is free and fully insured.
The correct hardware is specified as part of the build. That matters more than it sounds. Porsche uses ball-seat bolts where most cars use cone seat. Rolls-Royce uses M14x1.25 where nearly every wheel on the same bolt pattern ships with M14x1.5. A GT-R uses M12x1.25. Wheels supplied with the wrong fasteners cannot be torqued safely, and it is one of the most common faults we see on sets bought elsewhere.
Common questions
Do I need to send my wheels away?
No. Nothing comes off your car until your new set arrives.
What if I do not know my offset?
Most people do not. Tell us the car and what you want it to look like, and we will put a recommendation in the render.
Can you match a finish I have seen elsewhere?
Usually. Send us the photo with your brief.
Will they clear my brakes?
We check it against your actual brake package before anything is cut. If you are running an aftermarket big brake kit, say so at the brief stage and send the spec.
Can you build for a car that does not have a page on your site?
Yes. We have built for cars with no catalogue fitment at all, including race cars. Send the brief and tell us what it is.
What if the render is not right?
Tell us what to change and we will send another. Two revisions are included at no cost, and you have still paid nothing at that stage.
Start with the car
Tell us what you drive and what you want it to look like. The render comes back within 24 hours, and nothing is payable until you say yes.