Rim Warrenty

[Benjamin Smith]

Hey what do you guys think about getting Warrenty on a cracked rim, the tyre has no damage and I haven't hit a pot hole since I last check it which was Thursday just gone?

[mik]

do you think it is a manufacture fault in the rim? is it a ford rim or after market?

[Silver Ghia]

To get anywhere warranty wise you'd probably need to prove it was a manufacturing fault by doing a metallurgical examination of the crack fracture surfaces. otherwise I think you have fat chance. Unless the manufacturer admits there are problems with those rims.

A metallurgical examination consists of cutting out the crack area, splitting the cracked parts apart without damaging the fracture surfaces, and looking under a microscope for fatigue striations (lines on the crack surface perpendicular to the crack direction through the thickness) propagating from a crack initiation point such as some porosity in the casting, machining mark etc. On the other hand, an overload caused by a pothole etc. would show that on the crack surface (lack of striations).

You could then show this to the manufacturer for proof of faulty manufacture. Not sure about these days but years ago some aftermarket rims used to be prone for having casting or other manufacturing problems.

[Benjamin Smith]

It's a XR50 18 inch rim, once I get photo bucket app to work on my ipad I will post it

[Benjamin Smith]

[uniacidz]

I think these days you have a low chance of getting anywhere especially on a rim

And could be old damage from a pot hole in the past causing it to deteriorate



Sent from my HTC ARIA using Tapatalk II.IV.X

[GasoLane]

Take it back to the place you bought it from and see what they say.

[hoodedaxeman]

Take it back and ask.
I don't like your chances of a favorable outcome though.

[eyes87]

What's the white stuff that is on the rim and tire?

[IceValk85]

Originally Posted by eyes87

What's the white stuff that is on the rim and tire?

bird ploop lol

[mik]

I,d put money on it it's copped a wack even if the tyre was,nt damaged, if they don't want to come to the party, you might be able to get it repaired.

[DJR-351]

*Spell Check* WARRANTY!

......

[Benjamin Smith]

Yer just noticed that warranty because a rant is what's going to happen if it doesn't go under warranty, the white stuff is the chalk stuff Bridgestone put on it after I was getting a slow leak checked

[b2tf]

Assuming you bought the car new with those wheels on it I dont see why it wouldnt be covered?

[Benjamin Smith]

Yer the same wheels with the colour that made me buy the car, sunburst and the darker rims

[svo supporter]

No hope for warranty....

It's a common problem caused through low profile tyres and our wonderful roads.

IMA, I see at least 1 every couple of months and the only option is have the wheel repaired at your own expense...

[Silver Ghia]

The photo shows the crack has opened up, which means the rim has been distorted due to impact damage. Therefore no hope of warranty.

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

The photo shows the crack has opened up, which means the rim has been distorted due to impact damage. Therefore no hope of warranty.

so a rim under warranty is allowed to fall to bits from a pothole?

i know Bob Jane Tmarts have a warranty clause that their rim will be covered under warranty from pothole damage only if your took every precaution to avoid it.

It all comes down to common sense.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

only if your took every precaution to avoid it.

.

Here is their out from that clause....You can swear black and blue you tried to avoid, but there is no way you can avoid every single pothole....

[AU Mont]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Here is their out from that clause....You can swear black and blue you tried to avoid, but there is no way you can avoid every single pothole....

here is the actual wording of the clause same thing i wrote but written the other way around -

5. Reasons for Refusal of a Claim for Warranty

B. The damage, defect or fault in the wheel, or the protective finish of the wheel, has been caused, or, in the opinion of Bob Jane T-Marts, reasonably appears to have been caused, by the purposeful or inadvertent act of the customer or any third party, including, but not limited to, damage caused to the alloy wheel by collision with another vehicle, collision with roadside kerbs, collision with pot holes or by the wheel being struck or otherwise dealt with in an inappropriate manner.

So if you purposefully drive into a pot hole, your claim is refused. And if you "inadvertently" drive into the pot hole the claim is refused as well. "Inadvertent" is defined as - 1. Not duly attentive. 2. Marked by unintentional lack of care

So what has that got to do with this thread? Basically a legit Australian company cant make/sell an approved standards rim that buckles at the sight of a pothole and deny a warranty claim. So Bob Jane has made a clause that it can be denied only if you were negligent when driving through the pothole.

Use your head, dont let yourself be brushed off with a one liner "sorry we dont cover that"...........

[fonfe]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

here is the actual wording of the clause same thing i wrote but written the other way around -



So if you purposefully drive into a pot hole, your claim is refused. And if you "inadvertently" drive into the pot hole the claim is refused as well. "Inadvertent" is defined as - 1. Not duly attentive. 2. Marked by unintentional lack of care

So what has that got to do with this thread? Basically a legit Australian company cant make/sell an approved standards rim that buckles at the sight of a pothole and deny a warranty claim. So Bob Jane has made a clause that it can be denied only if you were negligent when driving through the pothole.

Use your head, dont let yourself be brushed off with a one liner "sorry we dont cover that"...........

BUT it is "you" that chooses to drive on a road or surface that is not faultlessly smooth and flat. (Not the case for any 4x4 vehicle like a jeep or land rover obviously as they are marketed as being both smooth and rough going vehicles)

Ultimately a manufacturer can not be held responsible for where you chose to drive the car. They will take the attitude that any pothole in the road should been seen in advance and one should be able to slow to avoid or if necessary because of other road restrictions to slowly go in and out of it.
Fiesta, focus and Mondeo models for instance are designed in germany where roads are incredibly smooth and almost perfect in most places. The fact that it is an Aussie only ford model doesn't change that same principal of it was designed to only be driven on a smooth surface at the correct speeds.

Saying all of that though doesn't mean I agree with it but its they way it is.

BUT The road quality isn't down to the manufacturer it's down to your roads authority.
In the uk several people I know have buckled their wheels on potholes in the road where there was no signed warning of the conditions and they have then gone back to the particular pothole, photographed and sent the repair bill to their local council and received a refund for their costs. Not sure how that would fly with the Aussie local road council but maybe worth a go. Nothing to lose after all.

Larger profile tyres will always save your rims, 4x4 rims are only made a tad stronger due to the weight they carry, they take a beating due to the huge profile tyres they run. I hammer the hell out of my range rover whilst offroad but the wheels take it as its got fat *** muddies on it that absorb big shocks. 40 profile tyres would kill my rims in no time at all

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by AU Mont

here is the actual wording of the clause same thing i wrote but written the other way around -



So if you purposefully drive into a pot hole, your claim is refused. And if you "inadvertently" drive into the pot hole the claim is refused as well. "Inadvertent" is defined as - 1. Not duly attentive. 2. Marked by unintentional lack of care

So what has that got to do with this thread? Basically a legit Australian company cant make/sell an approved standards rim that buckles at the sight of a pothole and deny a warranty claim. So Bob Jane has made a clause that it can be denied only if you were negligent when driving through the pothole.

Use your head, dont let yourself be brushed off with a one liner "sorry we dont cover that"...........

The wording of the clause is how they get out of it.....It is extremely difficult (or should I say impossible) to avoid every single pothole....So they'll use the reasoning you weren't paying due attention, hence the reason the damage occurred.


The other issue you have (as previous mentioned) is firstly, the tyre profile is extremely low, so the tyre doesn't give when hitting a pot hole....2ndly, there is no support on the inside edge of the rim....This is why alot of new cars, fitted with alloys buckle or split rims on the inside edge.....They never split on the outer edge, as there is support there.

So yes, I am using my head and yes I work in the industry and yes, I know how manufacturers operate and avoid paying out on claims and yes this is the reason rims split....

Anymore information required?

[greenfoam]

All us guys with WS Fiesta Zetecs bent all four rims within a year of buying the cars. It's a well known problem with the Fiesta's and Ford will hear nothing of it... So no, you have no chance in hell . One of mine was bent (wobble) about two inches. So been there done that, even with a rim design that's known to be faulty they turn deaf real fast whenever it comes to money :p. I guess if they pay for one they have to pay for all of them and there's hundreds of thousands of bent Fiesta wheels around.

I just ended up buying some better wheels and haven't had a problem again.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by greenfoam

All us guys with WS Fiesta Zetecs bent all four rims within a year of buying the cars. It's a well known problem with the Fiesta's and Ford will hear nothing of it... So no, you have no chance in hell . One of mine was bent (wobble) about two inches. So been there done that, even with a rim design that's known to be faulty they turn deaf real fast whenever it comes to money :p. I guess if they pay for one they have to pay for all of them and there's hundreds of thousands of bent Fiesta wheels around.

I just ended up buying some better wheels and haven't had a problem again.

This problem isn't confined to just Fords.....Nor is it just confined to factory rims.....So you don't have to feel hard done by....Not too many wheel manufacturers warranty this sort of damage

The white chalk is tyre chalk....Us tyre monkeys use it to mark causes of leaks.....Marking the spot on the rim makes it easier to find it a hurry

[Smoke Pursuit]

Something's hit it. The white marks don't look like bird poop to me.

[greenfoam]

The tyre shops mark bent wheels with that white stuff . Any rim that bends or cracks before a tyre blows is a bad rim imho.

[mik]

looking at that rim close up, if i did`nt know better i would think someone has tried to straighten the rim with a rubber mallet???

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by mik

looking at that rim close up, if i did`nt know better i would think someone has tried to straighten the rim with a rubber mallet???

What has probably happened is, the tyre monkey has wiped the road grime away from the area in the water with his hand and then marked the crack with the tyre chalk.....Rubbing the road grime leaves a dark smear like this..

Tyre chalk doesn't seem to write too well on road grime and having to make it easier to find the damage makes this process a necessary evil....

[greenfoam]

I live in a small town and even my local tyre shop say they average one cracked or buckled wheel per day that's bad enough to not be . In the end our roads are too weak to hold the heavy loads we need on them because of a lack of a rail network. But you'd hope the car companies would use a strengthend rim to compensate for the roads. I buckled one rim more than an inch sideways on a whole no more than 3 inches deep and I was doing only 70kmh.

[mik]

only 3 inches deep , i`m thinking that is a decent old wack , i think the problem is less about the rim and more about the profile of the tyre fitted, before all these low profile tyres came out rim damage was much less heard of.