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Wheel Bands EZ: Protect Your Rims Against Curb Scuffs - With Style!

Attractive "tape-on/snap-in" color wheel trim system to protect alloy rims from curb scuffs.

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Wheel Bands EZ: Protect Your Rims Against Curb Scuffs - With Style!

Wheel Bands EZ: Protect Your Rims Against Curb Scuffs - With Style!

Wheel Bands EZ: Protect Your Rims Against Curb Scuffs - With Style!

Wheel Bands EZ: Protect Your Rims Against Curb Scuffs - With Style!

Wheel Bands EZ: Protect Your Rims Against Curb Scuffs - With Style!

Attractive "tape-on/snap-in" color wheel trim system to protect alloy rims from curb scuffs.

Attractive "tape-on/snap-in" color wheel trim system to protect alloy rims from curb scuffs.

Attractive "tape-on/snap-in" color wheel trim system to protect alloy rims from curb scuffs.

Attractive "tape-on/snap-in" color wheel trim system to protect alloy rims from curb scuffs.

RimPro-Tec North America
RimPro-Tec North America
RimPro-Tec North America
RimPro-Tec North America
1 Campaign |
Royal Oak, United States
$197 USD 3 backers
2% of $9,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

RimPro-Tec® Wheel Bands™ is a dual purpose color pinstripe trim and "5 MPH bumper for your rims" that helps protect alloy and chrome wheels from curb scuffs. DIY installers can install them to factory fit / show car quality standards in less than an hour per vehicle.  They're available in a variety of interchangeable color inserts that swap out in seconds.

Ever kiss a curb with a pristine set of rims while pulling away from the drive thru window or ATM machine?  Let those cosmetic curb rash scuffs end up on attractive, shock absorbing, easy to repair Wheel Bands.  Save the time and cost of having to recondition expensive alloy and chrome rims.

The unique RimPro-Tec design consists of two hard plastic interlocking coils that are easily cut to length to fit a range of wheel sizes from 13" to 22".  The mounting track component tapes on to the face of the rim.  The color insert component quickly snaps into  the mounting track.  The only fitment requirement is a wheel design with a 1/4" wide flat surface on the rim face for the mounting track to bond to.  (Most late model vehicles have flangeless rims that meet this one simple requirement.  Many older model wheels work as well.)  


Wheel Bands Work

Unlike painted on or vinyl tape pinstripes, Wheel Bands are not just for looks.  The foam tape backed mounting track and snap-in color insert act as a sacrificial shock absorber in low speed curb impact events.  Scuffs from a curb hits during parallel parking have to get through the tough Wheel Band material first — before any cosmetic damage can occur to a rim. 


In many cases, scuffs on Wheel Bands only occur on the color inserts which can be easily snapped-out, flipped over and snapped back in good as new.  Because the two piece design of Wheel Bands is interlocking and self-reinforcing there is no need for clips or fasteners to hold the end joints together.  This means deeper scuffs can be repaired simply by splicing in new Wheel Bands material to the damaged area only.  There is no need to replace an entire Wheel Band.


Easy to Install

First time DIY'ers can install Wheel Bands to factory fit quality in less than an hour.



Customer Feedback: I LOVE your product

The results are in from our early adopters.  As predicted by our market surveys, vehicle personalization and styling is the initial attraction for many.  However, rim protection of expensive alloy wheels as a primary buying decision is more popular than anticipated.


"I LOVE your product and it's saved the black rims on my Cayeene S on several occasions in the last 12 months. New product is fantastic and I have recommended it to several of my friends."

James (Pleasanton, CA)



"They turned out great. Thanks for your help!"

Wendy (St. Clair, MI)





"I love how the red Wheel Bands give my Honda Fit a sporty look: sets it apart from the rest. Just today a guy noticed and commented on 'what a great accent' they were to my car."

Rachel (Hawthorne, CA)




"Heading into their second Hot Rod Power Tour, my Wheel Bands are in great shape. People notice them and I am happy to have them installed. They really add to the look of the Mustang GT, plus they are functional!"

Austin (Parkland, FL)


200

"It's because I'm Irish!"

Bill (Rochester, MI)





"The install on my 2011 Golf TDI went very easily and the results are really great. I get a lot of compliments on the appearance of my wheels."

Greg (Torrance, CA)







"Here are pictures of my Audi A4 with the rim protectors on! Thanks! I love them!"

Kenneth (Singapore)











Like What You See So Far? Pick a Perk Now...

Each Wheel Bands kit contains one 27.3 foot (8.3 m) continuous coil of mounting track (black or silver) and one color insert of your choice.  Customers cut the coils to length for their individual wheels.  There is enough material to outfit up to four 22" wheels, five 19" wheels, or six 16" wheels. 

Pick a perk now.  After our Indiegogo campaign closes, we'll be getting back to supporters on which color combinations they want for their perks.

In the meantime, we're standing by to cover everyone's questions.

Thanks for your interest in RimPro-Tec® Wheel Bands™!




Why We're Doing an Indiegogo Campaign

Rolling forward with our new Wheel Bands EZ product...

Our current Wheel Bands product has served the vehicle personalization market well.  However, within the first year of rolling out into the marketplace, we recognized that there was an opportunity to take Wheel Bands to the killer app level by doing one thing better:

Take care of customers who know they are going to hit a curb sooner or later and want the easiest way to clean up and get their Wheel Bands looking new again.  

One of our customer's summed it up recently this way in the teslamotors.com forum:

Have had my p85 since May. When I got it, searched for rim protection, because my personal history is that clearly I like kissing curbs.

Found Wheel Bands and bought a black+black set. Since then I have hit 3 tires on curbs, zero damage to the rims. The rear wheel band was actually removed from the rim, the other two tires still have theirs.

This is the worst damage done. It's just tape residue and will come off with goo-gone.  I've never used rim protection before. These things have worked awesomely for me. So I'm sharing.

Now, some customers who just saved a few hundred dollars per event to recondition a curb scuff on a $1,000 wheel don't mind getting out the goo-gone or a hair dryer to help remove the residual foam tape before freshening up their Wheel Bands.  But, how many people would use a screen protector on their smart phone or tablet PC if removing and replacing a used scuffed up protector was viewed as a chore?  Right.  That's what we thought.

Getting a Wheel Bands design that would remove quickly is easier said than done, however.  Wheel Bands use the same highly engineered foam tape technology that keeps tape-on wheel weights attached to wheels. Installed to a properly cleaned wheel surface, Wheel Bands can be immediately driven off down the highway at any speed.  They perform for years in all common road conditions of heat and cold.  They are not coming off.

However, when hitting curbs, Wheel Bands are not an indestructible product.  They're a sacrificial product that helps avoid or reduce damage to the more expensive alloy rims underneath.  Habitual curb kissers do have to service Wheel Bands to keep them looking as good as new.  But, the same foam tape technology that keeps Wheel Bands attached to the wheel in regular service also leaves behind a sticky, gummy residue when removing standard Wheel Bands for repair.

The time required to clean up residual foam tape from the wheel surface can be as much or more than the 10 to 15 minutes per wheel that it takes to initially install Wheel Bands.  Think about the time and care required to remove a double stick foam tape from a wall hanging when moving out of an apartment or repainting a wall.  Same hassle.

Fortunately, some foam tape manufacturers are sensitive to the residual tape issue and have developed specialty grades that can reduce or eliminate its occurrence in certain applications.  After two years of testing and performance evaluations we have identified an "anisotropic" foam tape that gets is what we want: excellent bonding strength in the direction of wheel rotation and curb impacts, but releasability from the wheel surface when pulling straight up off the wheel during repairs or removal.

There are tradeoffs though.  The new anisotropic tape requires an adjustment in the plastic material we use as well requiring an upgrade to our production tooling.
These are costs that make sense for us to absorb, but double checking market demand for an "EZ" service product is why were doing an Indiegogo campaign.

Raising Indiegogo funding with perks supported by our existing Wheel Bands product, will help defray the costs of upgrading to our Wheel Bands EZ product.  At the same time we'll be verifying the interest we believe exists for an easy to service version of Wheel Bands.  The $7,500 funding target we've set covers 10% of the costs involved with upgrading our tooling and development and performance validation testing on our new EZ tape version. 

If the funding target is not met, we will still be going forward with the production upgrades, just at a slower pace.  We do have the ability to produce Wheel Bands EZ product under pilot production conditions same as we've done to generate product we've generated for field testing.  In the event of under funding on our target, contributors, who choose the $59 Wheel Bands EZ perk will be given the option to wait an additional month or so for pilot build product, or take immediate delivery of our standard product which has an MSRP of $119.  Either way a good deal.

Our Team's Story

RimPro-Tec® Wheel Bands™ manufactured in Michigan were introduced to the North American market at the SEMA 2011 automotive accessories trade show.  We were awarded three prestigious Global Media Awards in 2011 for our new product introduction and one more Media award at SEMA 2012 for a up to 26" wheel size version of the product.   Our Indiegogo campaign is part of gearing up for more awards at SEMA 2014 for our new Wheel Bands EZ product.   

Debbie and Chris Chester lead our visioneering team.  They're a couple of transplanted entrepreneurial Brits who have been busy launching companies and great new ideas in New Zealand for over 12 years.  Be on the look out for their next up and coming product...It includes peanut flavored vitamin water from New Zealand.  (Hint: If you think that might be only something a dog would love you are on the right track.)

Steve Aiello is our marketing and operations top dog and not just because he's experienced in keeping law and order in a house with two golden retrievers.  Steve has over a decade of experience as an advertising executive handling accounts with divisions of General Motors. 

Jim Capo oversees engineering development and production of Wheel Bands in a manufacturing plant certified to ISO 16949 automotive quality and management standards.  Jim has over 15 years experience running plastic parts factories supplying components for Toyota, Honda and Ford vehicles.  He and his wife Machiko enjoy visiting other people's dogs. 

Greg Aylesworth is our design and packaging tsar though his preferred title is "Admaster".  That's the moniker he goes by running his daytime company assuring that Chrysler/Fiat's Mopar and Magneti Marelli parts divisions are using packaging that meets international packaging and distribution requirements.  Greg says he's never needed a dog because, "Aye, that's what me staff is fer."  (Greg sometimes wears an eye patch to work and has been know to fly the Jolly Roger on the roof of his design studio.)

We're all happy to take your questions and comments below.  Thanks for reading this far or at least scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Don't forget.  If you are excited about RimPro-Tec Wheel Bands be sure to use the Indiegogo share tools.  We appreciate your efforts on our behalf.

Cheers!

Debbie, Chris, Steve, Jim and Greg

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Choose your Perk

$50 Online Store Discount

$25 USD
Add $25 to our campaign and receive a promo code for $50 off in our online store. Use it to buy a standard kit of Wheel Bands or pass it on to a friend as a gift.
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 100 of claimed

Wheel Bands EZ - Kit

$59 USD
What our indiegogo campaign is all about: testing market interest in our new version of Wheel Bands. Wheel Bands EZ are for customers who know they are going to hit a curb sooner or later and want the easiest way to clean up and get their Wheel Bands looking new. Fits all wheels from 13" to 22" that have a 1/4 wide flat on rim face for tape to mount to. Price includes free delivery within USA. Launch MSRP for this product is $99 to $119/kit. (Add $20 for shipments outside USA)
Estimated Shipping
June 2014
2 out of 100 of claimed

Wheel Band EZ (NOW!)

$79 USD
Can't wait? Get one of our remaining pilot production Wheel Band EZ kits as soon as our indiegogo campaign closes. The rest are already out on the road. Some have already gone through their second winter of field testing which now also includes surviving the Polar Vortex of 2014. (Add $20 for shipments outside USA)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
1 out of 15 of claimed

Standard Kit: 2 for 1

$119 USD
Get two of our current in-stock Standard Kits at our $119 MSRP for one kit. Fits all wheels from 13" to 22" that have a 1/4 wide flat on rim face for tape to mount to. Available for immediate delivery as soon as fundraising campaign finishes. Price includes free delivery within USA. (Add $20 for shipments outside of USA.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 50 of claimed

Buddy Club 4 Pack

$219 USD
Have some car tuning enthusiast friends or car club members you want to share with? Get 4 Standard Kit of our current in-stock product for 55% off our MAP! Mix and match your colors. (Add $30 for shipments outside of USA.)
Estimated Shipping
March 2014
0 out of 25 of claimed

Custom Color Exclusive

$3,999 USD
Have a corporate or school color you want a custom insert color match to for a fleet of vehicles? $3,999 will get you enough bulk mounting track and color insert material to outfit up to 50 vehicles.
Estimated Shipping
June 2014
0 out of 4 of claimed

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