Warning on replica wheels - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 04-27-2002, 03:36 AM

Folks, bet you haven't heard this one before. I replaced the original 14" wheels on my 85 380 SE with 15" new look replica wheels and along with new Micheline Pilots it looked and performed great until.......the car went into the oven following a paint job. Drove out of the shop thinking what a bad pavement on this road, EXCEPT, no matter where I went, my car rode like a carriage. Making a long story short, the replica wheels warped in the oven and according to the dealer, they put the car in there for 2 hours at 80 degrees Centigrade - standard Mercedes body shop procedure. Now I am waiting for 4 used OE rims and have a fight ahead with the "well known" company who sold me these wheels. While waiting, I just hope this is not damaging my suspension or tires as I have to drive every day. My advice...stick with the original parts, always.

stevebfl · #2 04-27-2002, 10:16 AM

Boy do I have trouble believing that story.

I realize that its been almost thirty years since I received my degree in Metallurgical Engineering and who knows maybe they have found a way to make a cheap alloy of Mercury that would be get soft at 80 deg C (and hold up a car at room temp). I don't think even solder softens that low.

I would sooner believe that they dented the wheels running over the garden hose.

JimSmith · #3 04-27-2002, 11:05 AM

I would sooner believe the weights got knocked off and you should go see if the tire/wheel combo can be rebalanced. There was an interesting thread about a very thorough balancing process that uses a pretty sophisticated machine that I cannot remember the name of right now, but it checks balance with a simulated weight load on the tire/wheel combination and it can tell wheel and tire defects apart. Great tool.

On a hot summer day in some of the warmer parts of the country, I am sure the pavement and tire temps approach 80 degrees C, so the idea that such a temperature can damage an aluminum casting is hard to take as factual.

Good luck, Jim

jbaj007 · #4 04-27-2002, 12:04 PM

Dealer is "fibbing"; impossible to warp at that temp. Why was car in body shop? Look there for cause.

suginami · #5 04-27-2002, 01:12 PM

I started the thread about the wheel balance problem, and the link to the site that has the incredible wheel balance machine - the Hunter GSP 9700 - is on page 2 of the thread.

Bad tires or bad wheel balance

I would agree that a weight probably fell off, and you need to get your tires rebalanced.

I've found that it's hard to get normal weights to stick on MB wheels for some reason. It takes a particular kind, and of course, the dealers carry them.

On the website, there is a link where you can find a shop that uses this machine. Enter your zip code, and a whole list of shops should come up. You'll notice that nearly all dealers and many independent tire shops have this machine.

I called many shops and was quoted between $10 - $25 / wheel. I paid $55.00 for all four wheels at the local MB dealer.

#6 04-27-2002, 09:15 PM

I don't blame anyone for not beleiving this, hey, I couldn't beleive it myself until they showed me the rims (without tires) rotating on a balancing machine. I too am an engineer and don't understand how this could have happened but it did. The ultimate test will be when I install the new rims and I'll update you on the result. Meanwhile, the only other possibility is that the actual temperature was set more than 80 C (176F) by mistake and they are not telling the truth. One thing is for sure, all the 4 wheels where exposed to the same condition at the same time and the car was not driven during the 2 days in body shop. I know that this kind of mistake may not happen in a Mercedes Dealer in the U.S. but I am with the military currently stationed in Korea. Lovely country, but things are done differently here and quality control is compromised all the time.

jsmith · #7 04-28-2002, 08:23 AM

well, why don't you help us out and tell us what brand wheels these are so they can be avoided. one of the site sponsors is tirerack and all the aftermarket wheels they sell are SAE certified. that's not where you bought them is it? i know for a fact that they will back their products 100%. does your warped set have this certification?

#8 04-28-2002, 08:50 AM

I bought mine from Performance Products for $169 each. In all fairness, I am happy with everything else I bought from them and they also seem to back up their products. They told me to send the wheels back to them and if it turns out to be a manufacturing defect they would refund my purchase. As far as the certificate, I don't recall any such certification mentioned in the catalog.

#9 04-28-2002, 11:03 AM

Mehr,

Is it possible that someone took the opportunity to "exchange"
your new wheels with some damaged/bent wheels while the car was out of your control?
Steve

190D22 · #10 04-28-2002, 06:29 PM

Yeah that seems perfectly logical what bribenz said... If the metal wheels warped and the plastic tail light lenses weren't affected at all... there is something extremely fishy! I think there is something that happened and they used that as a reason. 80 C is not near hot enough for those to warp.

jbaj007 · #11 04-28-2002, 06:56 PM

Are you at Osan AFB by chance? It sounds like our allies stole (I mean "exchanged") your rims and swapped out their old ones. Easy enough to check manufacturers marks on inside of rims for provinance. Aluminum alloy is heat treated usually by "solid solution" at 450 oF. to 1050 oF. "Aging" is carried out at 90 oC to 350 oC. These figures are not exact, but give you an idea of the temps. used in non-ferrous industry for heat treat. Take a piece of Reynolds wrap and throw it in the oven at 175 oF. and I think you'll see that some job, other than a paint job, was performed on your wheels. ( "snow job" comes to mind, but I'm sure others know more colorful expressions)

jsmith · #12 04-28-2002, 08:57 PM

this is an interesting turn of events. it could get really messy if you tried to return the wheels to Performance Products and it turns out they are not the ones you purchased from them...

#13 04-29-2002, 08:02 AM

I appreciate all you guys' inputs. It actually feels great to talk to people about this problem, in ENGLISH. The wheels have not been swaped, I am sure of that. They are the wheels that I bought and trying to clean the break dust from those holes, I have come to know these wheels really well. Your points about the temperature make sense, and it just makes this puzzle even more frustrating. Micheline strongly denies that this could be from their tires. All I can say is that I can't wait to get the OE wheels on and hopefully confirm the defective rims, never mind how it happened. Someone asked if I was at Osan AFB, No, I am at Yongsan Army base in Seoul, about 40 miles North of Osan.
Cheers.
Fred

mplafleur · #14 04-29-2002, 12:24 PM

Many parts on vehicles go through a thorough design verification sweet of tests. These include testing for prolonged periods at temperatures of -40 and +85 degrees C. There shouldn't be a part on the car (OEM part, that is) that can't take those range of temperatures. I would expect all the exterior lenses to conform to those specifications as well.

Jerry Hudson · #15 04-29-2002, 01:12 PM

One thing that could cause all 4 wheels to warp at the same time is if they were sprayed with cold water while they wrere still hot. I warped a front brake roter once by washing my wheels when the brakes were hot. just a thought.