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Damn aftermarket wheels lol


fourseventeen

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fourseventeen

Here goes another 200 post topic :facepalm: So I leave my house today to go vote and run to the bank. About 2 miles from my house my tire pressure light kicks on, i look at the pressure and it says 17psi...needless to say im like WTF, before I could pull into the nearest side street it says 11psi, then 5psi, then says "tire flat"....all in about 30 seconds! So I get out to see whats up and sure enough...drivers tire is flat! So now im thinking...damn I got a nail! So I search for a nail in the tire and dont see anything. I get my air compressor out and try filling up the tire...."Hsssssss" I cant find where its coming from so I get out the dreaded slime tire goo and put it inside....hook the compressor back up and same response....hsssssss. So now im baffled! So I start feeling around trying to see where air is escaping without any luck until I notice a loose wheel bolt (the bolts that hold the 3 piece wheels together) so I check and sure enough ALL of the bolts on the back of the wheel are loose...as in I can see the threads and spin the bolts by hand. So I tighten them as much as I can by hand and hook the compressor back up...sure enough, tire fills with air. I get the car home and take all the wheels off and low and behold...ALL of the bolts on the backside of ALL rims are loose! Talk about being pissed off! over 7k for wheels and the f*ckers obviously forgot to tighten all the bolts! So I contact the owner of 360 forged and tell him what happened. He appologizes and says one of his old employees (a trainee) must have assembled my wheels & says he will cover to ship them back so they can inspect everything and send them back or I can take it somewhere locally. GREAATTTTT!!! So now that I think I torqued all the bolts to spec and think I resolved the issue I am still taking the car to Wheel Specialists tomorrow in Tempe to have them give all the wheels a once over just to be sure. I guess needless to say im not a very happy camper today lol. :banghead

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7,000 in headaches!!! Real stand-up company to blame there crappy product on a SO CALLED trainee employee. I would just ask for my money back and tell them to keep them! Sometimes looks arent everything. YOU CAN PAINT A TURD ORANGE.....it's still a turd. Good luck and I hope everything works out for you in the long run!

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That may not be a huge mistake on the manufacturers part. While it should not happen, and could be because they weren't assembled correctly... As new wheels heat and cool they can change shape, and bolts can loosen. That's why you're supposed to re-torque new wheels after the first 100 miles. But I'd have them checked all the same. At the very least the wheel that was leaking needs to be re-siliconed.

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Quicksilver98

Hmmmmmmm...I wonder if those bolts should have a little thread lock put on them? Seems like a good place to use it and hopefully eliminate the problem.

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I wish I'd have known you when you ordered those rims. I could have smacked you upside the head and given you a bigger headache for a lot less than $7k. Welcome to the word of modded Vettes!

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fourseventeen

LOL Eddie..gotta love ya! Yup unfortunately I have learned one to many times the "luxury" of having a modded vette. I have modded cars and motorcycles all of my life and never have I had issues like I have had with a Vette lol. Anyway I asked the manufacture as well as Wheel Specialist about the need to re torque the bolts after break in and both told me no...i was told these bolts do not ever come loose on their own SO that tells me it was an error by whomever put the wheel together...and the manufacture seemed to back up that idea. I asked if the wheel that leaked needed to be siliconed again and they said only if its leaking after being tightened. It hasnt leaked at all so we will see what Wheel Specialist have to say tomorrow. Either way 360 forged says they will cover the bill to get it taken care of if it needs to be sealed...so we will see on Wends.

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Thats funny Jay I recall my Stock Chrome Wheels from the factory have no issues and they were only a $2000 option. Sorry you are having problems with your aftermarket bling bling.

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fourseventeen

You can't go wrong with Wheel Specialists :2cents

Yup those guys know their sh*t thats for sure. They were extremely helpful with the TPMS issue I had.

Did LPM ever get your tire machines running? If so maybe ill just swing by there tomorrow. I just need to pull the front 2 wheels off and swap them and while they are off check the runout and check the balance on them to make sure its ok. I can pull the wheels off but I obviously dont have the machines to test the wheels.

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fourseventeen

Thats funny Jay I recall my Stock Chrome Wheels from the factory have no issues and they were only a $2000 option. Sorry you are having problems with your aftermarket bling bling.

Yup it sucks but at least it happened close to home and not on a road trip or something lol. I am pretty sure after this I wont be having any other issues with them...and if I do, they are GONE! Guess sometimes this is the price you pay for trying to make your car different from the others.

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Did LPM ever get your tire machines running?

Oh yeah, they have been for a while now. If you are having issues with the structural bolts on the rim though, I would refer you to them anyway.
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fourseventeen

OK Dave, I appreciate you being upfront. All of the bolts are torqued now and seem to be ok. Just wanted a wheel shop to double check them and then make sure they are balanced since I read online that if you tighten these bolts you should check to make sure the wheel is properly balanced.

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Think about what we were doing a couple of weeks ago, and what you were probably going to be doing this saturday.... I wouldn't want to be running those speeds with rims coming apart :eek Tell the dealer you drive your vette like it's supposed to be driven and you no longer trust these rims, he should either replace them or refund your bucks.

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fourseventeen

Think about what we were doing a couple of weeks ago, and what you were probably going to be doing this saturday....

I wouldn't want to be running those speeds with rims coming apart :eek

Tell the dealer you drive your vette like it's supposed to be driven and you no longer trust these rims, he should either replace them or refund your bucks.

Exactly my thoughts...I told him how I drive my car and the speeds we were driving last week. When I talk to WSI tomorrow if they cant 100% assure me the wheels are ok then yes I will be calling the owner of 360 forged and telling him to make me a new set and swap them out. I trust my car and my driving...and until today I trusted the wheels integrity as well. I am hoping WSI can build the confidence in me with these wheels...otherwise I will be pitching a b*tch again.

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I thought of my aftermarket tires and rims while you and I were doing that high speed shiz from Laughlin and how one thing going wrong could end my existence on this planet, or make the rest of my time here way fucked up. F that! I would be one pissed off mofo that's for sure. In fact, I'm one pissed of mofo that this happened to you.

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Guest LOUDMIKE

While I believe it is a great idea to get them checked I also believe that once they are checked I would not worry. Mistakes happen and in the end the fix is all that matters. Lets step back a second and think about this. Once they are repaired/checked/safe which wheels would you rather have. HMMMM a factory wheel that is made in bulk and cost 1/20th of your wheels. Your wheels are made for speed. Their tolerances are much tighter! From a mechanic's standpoint take your rim and spin it on a balancer and then spin a factory rim on the balancer and tell me which one you want spinning on your car at a 140 mph? Although unfortunate get them fixed and enjoy the car. p.s. my only problem with this whole ordeal is with the owner/manufacturer. You never blame a certain employee for anything. You take the blame as a "we" and make a point of making it right and then make sure it never happen again. EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. To me its how the company reacts/fixes those mistakes that makes them great!!!

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I know, but fact is the wheel could very well have separated or went flat at any time, last week on the mine road as it could have yesterday or last month and Jay is very fortunate it happened when did

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I'd say the jury is still out on whether more expensive means better in this case. One front wheel wouldn't come off before because it was machined differently than the other and had an interference fit. Then the bolts holding them together came loose. Stock wheels would sound better to me. Just ask Malcolm how his stock rims work while road racing at 150+.

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Guest LOUDMIKE

Didnt say they didnt work just saying from my experience that I will stick with the aftermarket wheels. I am just curious how many rims GM warranties every year for out of round, going flat, pourous, out of balance, finish issues or just plain sucking? I am will to bet that the percentage is worse than with Jay's company. I think the biggest issue is that his manufacturer was way behind and cut corners to make money. Thats when mistakes happen.

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:rant My issue with this company is that they knew in advance of you calling them that there had been assembly issues with these wheels. Yet no notice is sent out to customers saying go have your wheels checked before they fall apart? Classic case of reactive management versus proactive management practices. The fact that there is a former employee does nothing to limit their responsibility in this matter if anything it makes it worse due the fact they already knew about the situation. This company's wheels will never be on any of my rides. Good luck on your fix Jay
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