Tomster
Beware of idiots
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- #1
Some of you may recall that I wound up getting a pebble lodged between my caliper and the drum of my front carbon fiber wheel. Thankfully, the pebble was not big enough to cause any damage to my carbon fiber, however it did put a .009" (yes that is nine thousandths of an inch) groove in my ceramic coating. That groove went down to, but not into my carbon fiber. I tried to have the wheel replaced under warranty. Denied! Now what?
I reached out to someone at Carbon Revolutions (who cannot be named) and had a long conversation about the issue. It was an interesting discussion because it was explained to me that the ceramic coating was a Ford specification that was derived due to the testing of the brakes to failure. It was explained that Ford would accelerate and use max braking and repeat until the brakes failed due to the heat. That was the reason for the ceramic specification by Ford and that other OEM's do not use the ceramic coating on Carbon Revolutions wheels. I was told that my issue was cosmetic and that I had no reason to be concerned. Furthermore, a potential gouge into the carbon fiber would be acceptable up to a depth of a few millimeters (yes, millimeters). As long as the wheel holds air, it would be fine up to those limits.
I'm thinking, "yea right.... tell that to the guy who may be interested in buying my car". I was told to contact Spyder Composites near Santa Cruz CA. Frank, has worked with Carbon Revolutions employees and engineers and has expertise in carbon fiber repair. His facilities have special equipment, like x-ray inspection, to properly repair carbon fiber structural parts. Although my issue was cosmetic, anybody with any wheel damage should look into repair instead of replacement due to the recent spike in carbon fiber wheel cost (+6,000 MSRP). I texted back and forth with Frank and the repair procedure was explained in detail. I asked if the material being used for repair was ceramic and compatible with the OEM ceramic lining. I was told yes. I was also told that he worked out all the repair procedures and wheel tooling with Carbon Revolutions engineers. That was good enough for me.
So, the good and the bad...….
Anyone who would throw a $6,000 (MSRP) carbon fiber wheel into a cardboard box, ship it across the country UPS ground, and hope for the best probably needs to get their head examined. Below is a photo of the shipping container containing my repaired wheel that came today (complete with someone's footprints who stood on it). I found a suitable shipping container on Ebay that only set me back about a few hundred bucks. I didn't bat an eye buying it because If I ever have to ship a wheel or anything else that is large, this case is IT.
Below is the Pelican 1640 container that I bought on Ebay.
Here is a photo of the case open with the foam cutout.
Frank quoted the repair cost to me as "it could be as little as $200 and as high as $400" and the turnaround time would be one week. Well, 3 weeks after the wheel was received by Spyder Composites and almost $400 later, the wheel was on its way back to me. Shipping time from the west coast to the east coast is about 1 week. The wheel was out of my possession for 1 month and 1 week.
Below is the wheel upon opening of the shipping container once I got it back.
My takeaway from this whole experience is to avoid any damage to your carbon fiber wheels. Repair is costly and by the time you factor in a suitable shipping container, shipping, insurance, repair, down time, etc, you very well may be pushing near $1,000.
JR357 (my newest R) does not have a road hazard/wheel warranty because Ford wont sell me one (surprise!). I don't think its too much of a stretch that carbon fiber wheel damage being replaced under warranty was a heavy liability for the road hazard program.I've learned my lesson and if I don't have a warranty, I would get street wheels for casual use. I recently bought a set of wheels from @50 Deep and I couldn't be happier with them. I don't care who you buy your wheels from, but you may want to have a look at my writeup about the SV902's on JR357.
JR357 sporting Signature SV902's in gloss black
Even though HR871 (one of my other R's) has a road hazard/wheel warranty, the wheel would have to be structurally damaged to be replaced under my wheel warranty. In case the wheels are damaged and it is deemed a cosmetic issue, a warranty would most likely be denied and I will be going through the process that this thread pertains to (AGAIN).
So, any R owners out there that wind up having some kind of wheel damage now have options. Of course, try a warranty claim. Next, repair is an option. Lastly, wheel replacement is an option, however not very practical.
If any of you have any questions, PM me and I'd be happy to help.
I reached out to someone at Carbon Revolutions (who cannot be named) and had a long conversation about the issue. It was an interesting discussion because it was explained to me that the ceramic coating was a Ford specification that was derived due to the testing of the brakes to failure. It was explained that Ford would accelerate and use max braking and repeat until the brakes failed due to the heat. That was the reason for the ceramic specification by Ford and that other OEM's do not use the ceramic coating on Carbon Revolutions wheels. I was told that my issue was cosmetic and that I had no reason to be concerned. Furthermore, a potential gouge into the carbon fiber would be acceptable up to a depth of a few millimeters (yes, millimeters). As long as the wheel holds air, it would be fine up to those limits.
I'm thinking, "yea right.... tell that to the guy who may be interested in buying my car". I was told to contact Spyder Composites near Santa Cruz CA. Frank, has worked with Carbon Revolutions employees and engineers and has expertise in carbon fiber repair. His facilities have special equipment, like x-ray inspection, to properly repair carbon fiber structural parts. Although my issue was cosmetic, anybody with any wheel damage should look into repair instead of replacement due to the recent spike in carbon fiber wheel cost (+6,000 MSRP). I texted back and forth with Frank and the repair procedure was explained in detail. I asked if the material being used for repair was ceramic and compatible with the OEM ceramic lining. I was told yes. I was also told that he worked out all the repair procedures and wheel tooling with Carbon Revolutions engineers. That was good enough for me.
So, the good and the bad...….
Anyone who would throw a $6,000 (MSRP) carbon fiber wheel into a cardboard box, ship it across the country UPS ground, and hope for the best probably needs to get their head examined. Below is a photo of the shipping container containing my repaired wheel that came today (complete with someone's footprints who stood on it). I found a suitable shipping container on Ebay that only set me back about a few hundred bucks. I didn't bat an eye buying it because If I ever have to ship a wheel or anything else that is large, this case is IT.
Below is the Pelican 1640 container that I bought on Ebay.
Here is a photo of the case open with the foam cutout.
Frank quoted the repair cost to me as "it could be as little as $200 and as high as $400" and the turnaround time would be one week. Well, 3 weeks after the wheel was received by Spyder Composites and almost $400 later, the wheel was on its way back to me. Shipping time from the west coast to the east coast is about 1 week. The wheel was out of my possession for 1 month and 1 week.
Below is the wheel upon opening of the shipping container once I got it back.
My takeaway from this whole experience is to avoid any damage to your carbon fiber wheels. Repair is costly and by the time you factor in a suitable shipping container, shipping, insurance, repair, down time, etc, you very well may be pushing near $1,000.
JR357 (my newest R) does not have a road hazard/wheel warranty because Ford wont sell me one (surprise!). I don't think its too much of a stretch that carbon fiber wheel damage being replaced under warranty was a heavy liability for the road hazard program.I've learned my lesson and if I don't have a warranty, I would get street wheels for casual use. I recently bought a set of wheels from @50 Deep and I couldn't be happier with them. I don't care who you buy your wheels from, but you may want to have a look at my writeup about the SV902's on JR357.
JR357 sporting Signature SV902's in gloss black
Even though HR871 (one of my other R's) has a road hazard/wheel warranty, the wheel would have to be structurally damaged to be replaced under my wheel warranty. In case the wheels are damaged and it is deemed a cosmetic issue, a warranty would most likely be denied and I will be going through the process that this thread pertains to (AGAIN).
So, any R owners out there that wind up having some kind of wheel damage now have options. Of course, try a warranty claim. Next, repair is an option. Lastly, wheel replacement is an option, however not very practical.
If any of you have any questions, PM me and I'd be happy to help.
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