i was wondering if it is really necessary to put on winter rims. i have 18" chrome rims. would there still be problems if i kept them clean and what would i have to watch out for during the winter. thanks

 

Depends on what rubber you're runnin' on the rims and potentially the side effects of that.

 

Yes, the main point of switching sets during the winter usually has nothing at all to do with the wheels themselves, but with just changing tires.

If you currently have summer-only tires on those wheels you really should change to your spare set with all season (infrequent snow) or winter/snow tires (more frequent snow). Doesn't it snow pretty heavily in NY?

 

do you really want to leave your chrome out in the cold? wheel shop told me that the magnesium in the salt on the roads is bad for chrome(dont know if thats really true). i switched my chrome 18's off and got new tires on my stock rims. be sure to get your tires siped, its like $10 a tire and helps a lot.

 

There's no magnesium in salt. Salt is NaCl which is potasium chloride. Magnesium would be Mg. Now, I realize that some places don't actually use salt anymore, and there could potentially be Mg in it. I can't speak if Mg actually will damage chrome, but it seems unlikely to me.

 

Eh.... this opens up a whole new can of worms. Personally I think tire siping is something best left behind in the days of bias ply tires....