Sport Rims Flaking

[Hayn4R]

I have the sport edition rims 2005. From day one it has been bubbling and flaking (i bought it used). Is this normal? Is this covered under warranty? Is there any thing I can do to stop the flaking or even cure it?

Such a shame because they are nice rims. I would hate for it to take over the whole rim.

Any thoughts or experiences???

I live in Hawaii, so it might be the salt air or humidity??? Not sure.


Help!!

 

[T?@\7]

bummer! Im surprised this would happen on an 05......mine have scratches but no bubbles or flaking and im on the beach also....

 

[wolfgang]

Do a search here and you'll find thread on this with pictures of other SE owners. have '03 in VA (miles from beach and salt air). I keep them washed with car wash soap and all mine have it (for last 2 years). I plan to sand off the corrosin and repain the area between spokes with maybe a gun metal grey. I would atleast apply thick coat of wax or clear lacquer to keep it from spreading too fast. Doubt anyone got it covered by warranty as it is an appearance issue. Wonder if it would help if we all sent Yota a letter with pictures?

 

[boston_kevin]

I have the same issue with my SR5 with 17" Rims. These are the same wheels on the Limited, 3 of 4 wheels active on the vehicle are bubbling and show corrosion. Oddly enough, my wife's 2000 GMC Yukon with 150k miles with weekly trips driving on the sand and salt water, has rims that are in perfect shape. This has been a little disappointing from Toyota that something like this would show.

 

[khooper]

You cant, that is the chrome flaking of due to oxidation or rust, either sand it down and paint them or have them re-chromed
_______________________________
Speedy Performance Parts Overwhelm!

 

[wolfgang]

None of these wheels are chrome plated - they have silver paint on spoke and clear coat. My take is they didn't clear coat the back very well if at all and the exposed aluminum is oxidizing.

 

[jamiemac]

Same situation...

I'm in the same situation with my 04 wheels. It looks terrible...what have you guys done to remedy the situation? I've been looking at new rims, but if there are other solutions to fix them, I'll try that first.

 

[Hayn4R]

yeah this is a bummer. I cant believe toyota let this defect go. these rims are not chrome, they look alloy or something. They are really sweet looking stock rims, unfortunatley not finished well. Wolfgang's explanation sounds correct. I am not sure what to do. All that to fix the rims sounds like a lot of work and/or a lot of $$$.

This is just another excuse for me to lift my 4R with new rim/tire combo once my warranty runs out next year.

Good luck

 

[Uneek]

You could have them powdercoated black. The design of the SE wheels are great, love them.

Honestly, Toyota sucks when it comes to warranty claims. They refuse to do anything about my Tacoma wheels which have the same bubbly and peeling problem and blame it on the elements. Well, it is the elements that are causing it, BUT the product wasn't design well enough to withstand the elements. They sent me a survey... haha, I'll be having fun on this one.

 

[Hayn4R]

not too savvy on powdercoating......can you school me on that real quick. What kind of shops do this? Auto body, specialty, etc.

How does the end product look? Is it all black? Does it protect the rim against the elements? How long does it last? If you had to guess, how much are we talking about for all 4 tires?


Any info would be great!

 

[wolfgang]

Here's link to sample price list:

http://powdercoat.biz/Automotive_Powder_Coating_Prices.htm

Looks like about $60-75/wheel to clean, strip, prep, coat and clear coat. Some colors are extra -- red always seems to cost more.

A sand blasting or chrome plating place would probably do it --- hot rod places may too. It takes cleaning tools, chemical bath, electrostatic applier and oven to melt the powder at 400 degrees. Both Sears and Eastwood sell kits suitable for small parts - but you would not want to use your home oven and then cook a turkey in it.

 

[Uneek]

not too savvy on powdercoating......can you school me on that real quick. What kind of shops do this? Auto body, specialty, etc.

How does the end product look? Is it all black? Does it protect the rim against the elements? How long does it last? If you had to guess, how much are we talking about for all 4 tires?


Any info would be great!

It has to be done by a specialty shop with the proper equipment.

Pricing might vary depending on the number of shops that does it in Hawaii. It'll probably be a lot more expensive if you have to ship the wheels over to the mainland to get them done.

There are various finishes, you could have it in a matted finish or gloss. Powdercoat is very durable, a lot of frame off restoration and custom car builders powdercoat the frames and underbodies. Unless something hits the wheels hard or they get curbed, chances of it flaking off if it was properly applied are very very low.

Here's member GYoter's thread with Sequoia wheels PC'ed in black.

 

[Hayn4R]

UNEEK & WOLFGANG,

mahalo for the info. I will look into shops that do this service round these parts.

Another question,

If the flaking is only in the interior part of the rim, would it look weird to just powdercoat the interior regions of the rim and leave the rest that Titanium finish (i think that is the finish I have)?

I cant say that I like the black rims all that much, but then again, I dont like flaking rims much better, so.......I dont know, but will look into it.

Ride on,

 

[wolfgang]

I used a short brissel brass wire brush on the corrosion on one of mine - it took most off without scratching the alloy. I plan to sand rest of corrosion off and then lightly sand to rough up the spokes (not the polished face though). Then I'll get some gun metal color spay paint and after masking the face - spray them a couple coats -- then clear coat the whole wheel. Cost will be less than $10 a wheel (and 2 hours per wheel) and should last 3 years.

 

[Hayn4R]

any pix of the final product??

 

[T?@\7]

I was recently quoted $100/wheel to sandblast and powdercoat,using a gunmetal color....
I guess the sandblast is necessary for wheels w clearcoat....but its an option for you guys that have bubbling and dont want new wheels! I have some scratches and small chips from wheeling, but Id like the change of color

0.02

 

[wolfgang]

Ouch that adds up quickly - I was under impression that $50 a rim was normal - but guess it depends on amount of prep work on wheels (smoothing out knicks and removing corrosion) - then there's demounting/mounting/rebalancing the tires. They probably apply the color coat and a clear coat that both are baked on too.

 

[T?@\7]

then there's demounting/mounting/rebalancing the tires.

yeah, that adds to the equation. I dont know for sure, but I doubt that that PC shop will do that work....im sure they will want you to just bring in the 4 or 5 wheels only..no tires.. So im thinking of the best way to do this, I need to talk to some 'friends' at toyota about maybe leavint the truck there on a lift. IDK ill post as/if when it happens. right now its like lockers + gears or spend $500 on visual bs.

 

[Annoyed]

Yeah, Toyota's aluminum wheels don't seem to stand up to corrosive environments such as the salt-encrusted northeast. My Taco's wheels got eaten up pretty good over 7 winters here, and this 4Runners's wheels have a few spots already.

Put a heavy coat of wax on them today, but I won't be able to do any serious cleaning / protective coating till next summer.

Someone want to tell Toyota that not everyone lives in southern California?