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Stock 18" Rims peeling

T.Simon

By T.Simon
in Tires, Wheels & TPMS

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T.Simon Enthusiast

T.Simon

Posted
Posted

Wondering if anyone has had touble with rims peeling?

I have 18,000 on my truck and wheels have been cleaned and waxed at least three times since new. I noticed a spot on one yesterday and started looking a little closer. All four wheels are starting to peel, one a lot worse than the others.

 

I stopped at my dealer and they have no problem ordering me new wheels. They will be delivered friday. They are a great bunch of people to work with. I'm happy I bought where I did.

But now I'm worried about the wheels. Did I get a bad set? Or will the new ones do the same?

Anyone with expeience? Thanks

NoMoreGM4Me Enthusiast

NoMoreGM4Me

Posted
Posted

They are made in China, and they will peel again. It's a common issue. Let the dealer replace them, and when they peel again, get some older OEM rims. The clearcoated aluminum OEMs from the prev gen trucks were awesome, made in the USA!

RyanbabZ71 Senior Enthusiast

RyanbabZ71

Posted
Posted

China? Really I thought it was Mexico??? Buddy of mine worked for a rim mfg in California, they relocated to Mexico in the early 00's because of labor costs

 

 

Ryan

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NoMoreGM4Me Enthusiast

NoMoreGM4Me

Posted
Posted

China? Really I thought it was Mexico??? Buddy of mine worked for a rim mfg in California, they relocated to Mexico in the early 00's because of labor costs

 

 

Ryan

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Can't speak for all of them, but the OEM wheels on my 08 were embossed with "Made in China" on the inside of the rim.

RyanbabZ71 Senior Enthusiast

RyanbabZ71

Posted
Posted

Interesting, doesnt surprise me one bit

 

T - is the peeling occouring where the wheel weights are or in other area's?

NoMoreGM4Me Enthusiast

NoMoreGM4Me

Posted
Posted

Interesting, doesnt surprise me one bit

 

T - is the peeling occouring where the wheel weights are or in other area's?

 

 

Me either. Casting is far cheaper in China than anywhere else. I am sure all of the mfrs are sending most of their cast parts (not just wheels) to China. The quality sucks, so they switched to "chrome clad" (aka glued on plastic) wheels to compensate.

 

Go USA! :bs:

newdude Senior Enthusiast

newdude

Posted
Posted

Have them balance them with stick on weights and if you are worried about them peeling again, GM does have a 18" steel wheel that is standard on 3500hd and

optional on 2500hd trucks that you could run as a winter wheel.

 

Interesting, doesnt surprise me one bit

 

T - is the peeling occouring where the wheel weights are or in other area's?

 

 

Me either. Casting is far cheaper in China than anywhere else. I am sure all of the mfrs are sending most of their cast parts (not just wheels) to China. The quality sucks, so they switched to "chrome clad" (aka glued on plastic) wheels to compensate.

 

Go USA! :bs:

 

 

The 18 and 20 inch aluminum wheels on HD trucks are forged polished, not chrome clad and not cast. If his truck had the 17 aluminum wheels (based on his avatar, its a 3500hd, so no 17"s on them, only 18"s), they are cast aluminum. The clearcoat on the 1999-2010 16" forged aluminum wheels (pyo) used to pit, chip and peel all the time.

T.Simon Enthusiast

T.Simon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

First day home


I have the 18"s. I'll attach a pic. They are peeling in random spots on all wheels. No consistency. I had the wieghts taken off because I run equal balance. But they are not peeling in that area.
It isn't a rock chip issue either I had that on a prvious Ford.
My service rep said this is the first case he has seen. I'm hoping I got a bad set and the new ones will last. I kinda like the wheels and don't care to get a different type.
Thanks for the input guys.

I forgot to add the truck is a Z71. And the peeling looks like if was burned with acid or a chemical gets under what I will call the clear coat. Seems like it's something coming out of the metal and loosening the clear coat.
Gurrzt Enthusiast

Gurrzt

Posted
Posted

The overall quality of the chrome plating on GM rims has ALWAYS been in question, even as early as 1998, people on the Camaro forums were complaining about the stock chrome rims peeling.

 

When I ordered my Yukon Denali from the factory, I did not spring for the upgraded 22" rims, and when the GM salesman asked why, the reasoning I gave him is stated above.

 

The usual problem of the chrome "peeling" is due to a contaminate left on the rim during the plating process.

 

I plan to purchase aftermarket rims for my vehicle.

newdude Senior Enthusiast

newdude

Posted
Posted

The overall quality of the chrome plating on GM rims has ALWAYS been in question, even as early as 1998, people on the Camaro forums were complaining about the stock chrome rims peeling.

 

When I ordered my Yukon Denali from the factory, I did not spring for the upgraded 22" rims, and when the GM salesman asked why, the reasoning I gave him is stated above.

 

The usual problem of the chrome "peeling" is due to a contaminate left on the rim during the plating process.

 

I plan to purchase aftermarket rims for my vehicle.

 

 

The 18 and 20 inch wheels on 2500/3500hd are forged polished aluminum. Not Chrome plated. Forged Polished. Take a look at my other post (#7). Sadly, the new wheels may fall to the same corrosion issues that the PYO wheels had on the 1999-2010 trucks.

 

Sorry for the bad picture below, but if you look, you can see the clearcoat is all messed up in places. It does it the worst around the wheel weights typically. I had hope that GM may have stopped having issues with them but it looks like the issues continue on the new 2500s as well.

post-41978-0-60767100-1328066753_thumb.jpg

post-41978-0-60767100-1328066753_thumb.jpg

post-41978-0-60767100-1328066753_thumb.jpg

post-41978-0-60767100-1328066753_thumb.jpg

T.Simon Enthusiast

T.Simon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

So what causes the forged polished to do this? Is there a way to prevent it?

My new wheels are in and gonna be installed tomorrow or the next day.

I wouldn't think I am the only one having this isssue, what are others doing and what will GM do? What did GM do in the past?

Thanks

newdude Senior Enthusiast

newdude

Posted
Posted

So what causes the forged polished to do this? Is there a way to prevent it?

My new wheels are in and gonna be installed tomorrow or the next day.

I wouldn't think I am the only one having this isssue, what are others doing and what will GM do? What did GM do in the past?

Thanks

 

 

They used to replace them when the vehicle was under warranty. They still do. After warranty, they could be refinished, painted, etc. You could have them powdercoated, clear coated bettter, etc. Atleast on the old wheels, it seems to be that the clearcoat was on the thin side. They corrode all around the weights, and in the crevices, the lip, etc. Salt further escalates the damage as well. Something must get to the clearcoat pretty good, and it just starts messing them up. If your new ones go bad while under warranty, get another set while you can.

 

IMO, getting a brand new set would make me consider some winter wheels, if it were possible to have a second set laying around somewhere. I scored a 99% new set of the old 16" for my truck from Arizona, and the ones that came on the truck are now for winter duty. I will let them rot and save the good ones for the summer. In the case of the new trucks, 3500hd SRW WT models come with 18" steel wheels, so there would be no worries for matching the tire size on the vehicle. A set off of ebay cheap would work perfectly.

T.Simon Enthusiast

T.Simon

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I am giving that option some thought. i just hate the thought of driving around for four months of the year with ugly rims.

Might run these and see what happens. I have my concern noted with my dealer so if they do it again I think they will go to bat for me.

What is the process to refinish them? As I said earlier I really like the wheels design and would like to keep them and mot go aftermarket.

newdude Senior Enthusiast

newdude

Posted
Posted

I am giving that option some thought. i just hate the thought of driving around for four months of the year with ugly rims.

Might run these and see what happens. I have my concern noted with my dealer so if they do it again I think they will go to bat for me.

What is the process to refinish them? As I said earlier I really like the wheels design and would like to keep them and mot go aftermarket.

 

 

You may even be able to score a matching set of wheels for the winter as well haha. If you don't like/want steels.

 

As far as the re-finishing, I think its along the lines of media blasting, possibly re-polishing the wheel, then re-clearcoating. Some DIY'ers have chemically stripped and then just polished the bare aluminum, which shines like crazy.

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