Well some weird shit happened to me on Friday. Here's the story:
On my way to Wimberley (Austin area) to my friend's ranch to hunt and drink and eat. Had my 5 month old son in the car as well as my wife. Everything went well for the most part. Cruised at 80. Right before getting to Bastrop I heard a weird creaking sound, looked behind me and saw something in the road...I wasn't sure if I hit it however this thing looked like a loose reflector so it was very small and low. Then I noticed my steering wheel was slightly out of balance. I figured I threw a weight off of a wheel. So we kept driving until we got to Cabelas in Buda. Shopped, and as I was pulling and turning out of the parking lot I heard a very strange noise. My steering wheel became very lose. I went ahead and pulled over. I was thinking one of my HD Sway Bar Links had failed. Looked under the Jeep and all around, couldn't find anything wrong. As I stepped back I saw it. Clean breaks in a few of the spokes on my front driver's side wheel center. HOLY CRAP. My whole family and I could have died.
Talked to the distributor I purchased from. He was professional although he did not sound legitimately concerned about my plight. That's another issue however as he has done at minimum what should be done. He contacted IForged and they agreed to rush build me a new wheel at no charge. However I have to send my old wheel back to confirm it's no road hazard.
So I had my Jeep towed to an Austin Jeep dealership, my friend took my wife and son, and I went to go rent a car. Obviously no spare tire fits and my stock wheels are in Houston. I also run different front and rear offsets so no dice there. Fortunately Enterprise had a pimped out 2015 Suburban so I used that all weekend. Drove back SUnday night, Monday morning came to my office, picked up my stock wheels, and drove back to Jeep in Austin stopping at customers along the way. Got everything mounted up and drove home. Today I dismounted the tire/wheel and shipped it off 2nd day air to IForged.
Now I wait. I've put in writing that I am very concerned about the integrity of the other 3 centers. IForged and my distributor are confident it's a manufacturing defect. I know HRE, IForged, ADV.1, etc. all get their barrels and forging blanks from the same places. This is obviously a forging issue, not a machining issue. I've also confirmed all of the other top wheel companies have had these QC problems. I have experience in manufacturing and understand even the best quality products have issues. Regardless, I'd still prefer all the centers be replaced. I'm going to have them ultra sounded locally to look for weaknesses, if they are solid then I'll let it rest. However, if I find defects and my distributor and IForged do not honor the replacement, I will pursue litigation. I'm hoping they do the right thing and set it straight. Up to this point it looks like they will.
I've never hit any pot holes and all of my wheels are non-bent. What's strange is I've heard a creaking from the left front of my vehicle off and on since I've had the wheels. I never thought anything of it and never made the association. I also noticed that they went out of balance quickly on two occasions after hearing the noise. That's why I thought I had thrown weights. After the last balancing everything has been great. Looking back and knowing what I know now those centers have been weak from the beginning. The reason they went out of balance is because the centers had bent some due to a structural flaw.
A few bits of advice for those going the custom wheel route, talk to distributors and make sure they cover this type of catastrophe. Mine only had a 30 day warranty and seems very disinterested in stepping up if IForged doesn't. IMHO a good company would offer to refund the wheels and take them back in the situation was serious enough. My other advice is DO NOT purchase custom wheels if you cannot afford them. I.e. if you have to sell your stockers to finance the purchase. Keep your stock wheels!!!
One clarification. The barrels were inspected by Discount as well as myself and videod. No bends or any issues. Tire was holding air fine.
Hopefully I'll have a replacement in a few weeks and be rolling clean yet again.
On my way to Wimberley (Austin area) to my friend's ranch to hunt and drink and eat. Had my 5 month old son in the car as well as my wife. Everything went well for the most part. Cruised at 80. Right before getting to Bastrop I heard a weird creaking sound, looked behind me and saw something in the road...I wasn't sure if I hit it however this thing looked like a loose reflector so it was very small and low. Then I noticed my steering wheel was slightly out of balance. I figured I threw a weight off of a wheel. So we kept driving until we got to Cabelas in Buda. Shopped, and as I was pulling and turning out of the parking lot I heard a very strange noise. My steering wheel became very lose. I went ahead and pulled over. I was thinking one of my HD Sway Bar Links had failed. Looked under the Jeep and all around, couldn't find anything wrong. As I stepped back I saw it. Clean breaks in a few of the spokes on my front driver's side wheel center. HOLY CRAP. My whole family and I could have died.
Talked to the distributor I purchased from. He was professional although he did not sound legitimately concerned about my plight. That's another issue however as he has done at minimum what should be done. He contacted IForged and they agreed to rush build me a new wheel at no charge. However I have to send my old wheel back to confirm it's no road hazard.
So I had my Jeep towed to an Austin Jeep dealership, my friend took my wife and son, and I went to go rent a car. Obviously no spare tire fits and my stock wheels are in Houston. I also run different front and rear offsets so no dice there. Fortunately Enterprise had a pimped out 2015 Suburban so I used that all weekend. Drove back SUnday night, Monday morning came to my office, picked up my stock wheels, and drove back to Jeep in Austin stopping at customers along the way. Got everything mounted up and drove home. Today I dismounted the tire/wheel and shipped it off 2nd day air to IForged.
Now I wait. I've put in writing that I am very concerned about the integrity of the other 3 centers. IForged and my distributor are confident it's a manufacturing defect. I know HRE, IForged, ADV.1, etc. all get their barrels and forging blanks from the same places. This is obviously a forging issue, not a machining issue. I've also confirmed all of the other top wheel companies have had these QC problems. I have experience in manufacturing and understand even the best quality products have issues. Regardless, I'd still prefer all the centers be replaced. I'm going to have them ultra sounded locally to look for weaknesses, if they are solid then I'll let it rest. However, if I find defects and my distributor and IForged do not honor the replacement, I will pursue litigation. I'm hoping they do the right thing and set it straight. Up to this point it looks like they will.
I've never hit any pot holes and all of my wheels are non-bent. What's strange is I've heard a creaking from the left front of my vehicle off and on since I've had the wheels. I never thought anything of it and never made the association. I also noticed that they went out of balance quickly on two occasions after hearing the noise. That's why I thought I had thrown weights. After the last balancing everything has been great. Looking back and knowing what I know now those centers have been weak from the beginning. The reason they went out of balance is because the centers had bent some due to a structural flaw.
A few bits of advice for those going the custom wheel route, talk to distributors and make sure they cover this type of catastrophe. Mine only had a 30 day warranty and seems very disinterested in stepping up if IForged doesn't. IMHO a good company would offer to refund the wheels and take them back in the situation was serious enough. My other advice is DO NOT purchase custom wheels if you cannot afford them. I.e. if you have to sell your stockers to finance the purchase. Keep your stock wheels!!!
One clarification. The barrels were inspected by Discount as well as myself and videod. No bends or any issues. Tire was holding air fine.
Hopefully I'll have a replacement in a few weeks and be rolling clean yet again.