Cast wheel dealers and purchasers...Am I being picky?

[Squints2See]

Hi guys,

I have recently purchased a set of custom wheels manufactured by a company that shall remain anonymous for now, as I want to be fair if what I consider to be defects is part for the course regarding cast wheel quality.

The first set that I received had multiple defects on 3 of the 4 wheels I received. After sending pics to the dealer and the manufacturer, they agreed that they were not up to their quality standards. Before the second set was shipped out, I was assured by the owner of the North American distributor that he inspected the wheels and they were good to go.

I will be attaching pictures of the types of defects that I am seeing. If those of you with experience in either buying or selling cast wheels could give me your input as to whether or not I am being unrealistic. I definitely have OCD so it is quite possible. I was told by the dealer that the only way to get a perfect set of wheels was to go forged. Your thoughts? Thanks....

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[Squints2See]

 

[FlowForm_Wheels]

I will be attaching pictures of the types of defects that I am seeing. If those of you with experience in either buying or selling cast wheels could give me your input as to whether or not I am being unrealistic. I definitely have OCD so it is quite possible. I was told by the dealer that the only way to get a perfect set of wheels was to go forged. Your thoughts? Thanks....

The only way to get a perfect set of wheels would be to go forged? Doesn't make any sense since the issues here you're pointing out are issues with the paint/powdercoat process rather than the metallurgic difference between a cast or forged wheel.

That first photo you posted is gas bubbles. Once the wheel has been powdercoated, it's put into an oven to bake the coating on, and gas bubbles can appear under the clear coat and actually pop while in the oven. That's what you see there in the first photo.

Second photo looks like discoloration but it's hard to tell what happened here without more photos.

Third picture looks like excess powdercoat/clearcoat that got stuck in that corner pocket.

Fourth picture just looks like a chip. Obviously had to have been hit hard enough on something to take away some material too.

Before working at HRE I worked for two vendors over a span of 8 years, both of which sold cast wheels on a very regular basis so I'd certainly say I have good experience with cast, and forged wheels.

 

[CarlosMRRDesignWheels]

Yup, ^^^ what he said, in all honesty is all imperfections of the Finishing/ powder coat/ paint etc. at the end of the day these are your wheels, you will be the one with the wheels on your car not me, not any of the other members, in some cases about 99.9% of us will never even notice those imperfections one's on the car, also I mean if you had to zoom in on the cam is usually not visible to a human eye... as for the chip thats another story, could be do to shipping or just not carefully stored or handled during warehousing process etc.

Forged or not it dont matter, if your not satisfied just get a exchange or refund, that is honestly what matters , the customers satisfaction.

 

[Jon|3.7]

i wouldnt complain about these the chip will probably be hidden with the tire anyways, just what i would i think

 

[wildcatgoal]

If they're cheap wheels, yes... accept these flaws.

 

[Paul@PKAUTODESIGN]

If I may step in brotha, as I know we spoke many times about that company and the wheels.

A cast wheel is made from a mold, molds produce what are called cast imperfections seen in the 2nd and 3rd images, now that being said any finish can have flaws there are no ways around that, as for the final picture thats a chip, but the tire will cover over it.

So yes brotha a cast wheel will have flaws there are no way around it unless you go fully forged.

 

[Draklia]

We use powder coated decorative cast parts quite a bit at my work. In all the instances where we've had issues with our vendors the imperfections can be dialed out with process. Heating the aluminum to cook all the gasses out prior to painting is what it takes to get the the bubbles to stop. Also a thorough 5 step wash prior to painting will also significantly reduce/eliminate any surface paint imperfections. Of course this raises the cost as well as there is some fallout I'm sure, but once the shop dials in their process the fallout dwindles to next to nothing. If the manufacturer is just not in it for the quality then that's just too bad. With the mark up on price the wheel manufacturer's get, hopefully you get them replaced. Are the OEM wheels forged, never hear of anyone complaining about their paint, I'm thinking they are powder coated?

 

[Need4SpeedMotors]

We use powder coated decorative cast parts quite a bit at my work. In all the instances where we've had issues with our vendors the imperfections can be dialed out with process. Heating the aluminum to cook all the gasses out prior to painting is what it takes to get the the bubbles to stop. Also a thorough 5 step wash prior to painting will also significantly reduce/eliminate any surface paint imperfections. Of course this raises the cost as well as there is some fallout I'm sure, but once the shop dials in their process the fallout dwindles to next to nothing. If the manufacturer is just not in it for the quality then that's just too bad. With the mark up on price the wheel manufacturer's get, hopefully you get them replaced. Are the OEM wheels forged, never hear of anyone complaining about their paint, I'm thinking they are powder coated?

Very well said, we would post the same. The key to any beautiful finish is the prep work. If the prep work is done correctly, it will result in a better finish. :cheers:

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