U.S. Wheel cracked on the way home from the Road Zombies BBQ

Went into the garage noticed a flat on the left rear, poped the wheel off. Looking for a screw or nail, nothing. Soap & water shows a crack right in the middle of the rim. I called U.S. Wheel they told me since I didn't buy the wheels,(they were on the car when I bought it) there is no warranty. I'm screwed. They lost a customer for life, I'm gonna buy some Cragers.

 

You should buy some Cragars instead of Cragers.

 

Mine did the exact same thing but were Pacers. Probably the same wheel...

I bought Cragars too, never looked back.

 

Thanks for the spell check professor smart ***.

 

There's plenty of them on here. Better get used to it... The professor smart *** comment is funny though...

 

Am I missing something here ? Dismount the tire and weld up the crack from the inside of the rim---lay a bead of silicone over the weld. Mount tire. Bolt wheel back on. Done. Beats buying a whole set of different wheels
Sure, it ****s cause they won't do anything about it, but.....should they? Or are they "almost new, less than a couple hundred miles"? In that case, yeah---they should.
If it was a broke spoke, or rim breaking away from the center---hell yeah, what's my lawyer's phone number??

Don't read me wrong---I ain't exactly taking up for them---I'm just walkin a mile in THEIR shoes. They don't know if their wheels have been dragged, autocrossed, hopped, jumped like Dukes of Hazzard, etc

"I" would try to fix it were it mine.....and remember where to spend my money NEXT time.

 

Did they ever have a customer, or did you just buy a car with their wheels on it?

Pretty ballsy on your part to expect em to replace it. That's not how the parts biz works, it's why second-hand-new is cheaper than store-new.

 

You want a warranty on old parts you did not purchase new? Sheesh

 

They did not sell you a defective product.

 

Perhaps used ones off a Camero

Then maybe start a thread about how cragar is a ripoff and won't replate peeling rims scored from craigslist.

 

Thats an answer I appreciate, and actually it is the route I was going. I don't have the money for a whole new set of Cragars, so were gonna weld em up and run em for now. I was wondering if U.S. Wheel should take responsibility for the problem or if this **** just happens. I don't know the history of the wheels so maybe they do have rock crawler miles on em. I dunno, but I appreciate your honest answer. I'll just weld em & run em until I get money down the road, for the new set-up.

 

Seriously, remove the other three from the car and inspect them REAL close for the beginnings of the same condition. Personally if I did find a second rim with a problem, the whole set would get removed permanently & immediately. good luck

 

I was'nt expecting them to just replace a wheel for free, I just wanted to know whats the norm of procedure for a good wheel company when something like this happens? They did'nt have any advice for me. I don't know the history of the rim so I don't know if they have hard miles on them. So now I know it's not there problem if I was'nt the original guy who p[urchased the rims. I'm sure U.S. Wheel company is a good company, I have'nt read anything bad about them, I should'nt have said they lost a customer for life.

 

If you're wondering what rule of thumb is on manufacturers replacing parts, "buyer beware" is a safe ***umption. You'll never be disappointed and will occasionally get a pleasant suprise.

 

Around here, the bodyshops get our aluminum wheels repaired, with chunks knocked off of them for 125.00. They look brand new when done too.

 

If there was a Warranty on those wheels,it has long since expired.

Unless it was a Transferable Lifetime Warranty.
Not very likely.

I'd be curious as to why it cracked in the first place.

 

Well that depends on how their customer service treated you, if they politely said they understand your position but they unfortunately cant do anything for you, well then you perhaps you shouldn't have said it. However is they are anything like the customer service I usually receive...

I called the Holley Tech line last week, the guy answered the phone "Yeah?" and treated me like I was a pain in the ***.

 

What about a Mfg defect. Has this happened to others?
???

 

No matter your retraction, you said what you said...ridiculous!!! Think before you bark!!!

 

Cut the man some slack.... This is a message board on your laptop, not real life... He took "it" back, man'd up. We need more people like him.
Wil
www.sakowskimotors.com

 

If they were fresh wheels on a freshly built car (Built and sold by an individual, not a shop with no miles on it) I could see where you could expect to have some warranty even as the second owner of the wheels.
If the car had been driven, even a few months before you bought it, they are second hand wheels and expecting a warranty would be expecting a lot.

 

agreed, he listened to the advice of others and it changed his mindset. good stuff, no need to *** **** him verbally

 

I'd be a bit wary of just welding up the crack. Are they cast or forged rims? I have welded up the occasional curb-chip in a wheel's outer rim edge, but personally wouldn't want to use a cast rim with structural weld repairs.

 

I agree, let it go guys.

 

Here is a pic of what the wheel looks like brand new, has anyone else had this problem with these wheels. Did you weld yours? Were gonna weld em up as a temp. fix I don't plan on putting many miles on the car until I get a new set-up. I'll post pics when I take the tire off the rim. Also please forward all negative comments to my PM Department any issues will gladly be resolved in a positive & timely manner. haha. This thread wasn't meant to piss anyone off, just looking for a lil help, advice, similar experiences. Oh I almost forgot here is a pic of the rims on the car, she sits pretty low, so you would be an idiot to drive it hard. It likes to go slow, and you're constantly reminded when you drive it.

 

It cracked right where one of the 5-stars meets the rim.

 

Car looks good, dude. I'm a ****er for 59s....got two Elkys here myself

 

Like I said....I had one do the same thing. Thought the tire was bad but could never find a leak. I was spraying windex all around the lip, inside and out, to try and find a leak in the bead. I was surprised as hell when some excess windex ran around one of the spokes, and the air was oozing out.

Pulled the tire and found a crack around where the spoke had been welded. I cleaned the area up and welded all over the crack, followed by a nice slathering of JB weld. Thinking back, silicone might have worked better and would have been flexible....but either way, it didn't work. The wheel still leaked down.

There might have been another crack in it, but instead of screwing with it more I just bought new wheels. I got about 3-4 years out of the set. The car they were on sat outside more often than not so the wheels had some very slight hints of pitting too. The car needed a new look, so I bought Cragars.

My Supremes were the Pacer brand - the area behind each spoke was wide open. The better-quality Supremes have a reinforcement plate welded to the backside of the spoke and to the rim, which is much stronger. Do your wheels have that plate?

 

No they do not have that plate, and it's a real heavy car, all that weight coming down on one plate that ****s up to the rim, bad news.The ones with that back plate spread all that weight over a greater area. That makes more sense Fidgeter. I was just talking to the previous owner, I told him what happened, and told him that the front right tire slowly leaks. He confirmed that it did the same to him. The leak is so slow that I can't figure out where it is neiter did he. Could it possible be a hairline split in the rim? U.S. Wheels had no advice on how or where I could get it fixed. It would be cool if I could get a discount on another set, but not gonna happen.

 

after we weld em. Were gonna clean up the weld and put Some enhanced chest goo on the weld, hopefully that *****'ll seal.