Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

stock wheels back on....

12K views 88 replies 24 participants last post by  A-kon 
#1 · (Edited)
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.
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#5 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

When they went out of balance before, nobody noticed anything funny as they rebalanced the wheels?

I probably wouldn't run the other 3 wheels without X-ray or similar non-destructive fault inspection on them.
No. I clean the crap out of the Jeep twice a week on average. I get down and dirty with the wheels. There were no imperfections or anything to indicate a problem. The first two times they were balanced standard techs did it. The last time I started using their touchless tire machine specialist/tech. He said + wheels are more difficult to balance and sometimes you have to use a more thorough method with more steps. He balanced it properly and it drove great for 2 months. It's worth noting that the first two times the wheels were never perfectly balanced so that is another reason no red flags were raised.

An X-ray would also be great although I'm not sure where to find an industrial grade capable of doing so. I know the oil field uses ultra sound to inspect welds so given my contacts that's the direction I'm planning.

I'm not overly angry it happened, as you can search the net and see no explanation HRE cracked centers etc. I don't think this is an IForged problem. My only issue is how concerned they are about my safety. We'll see how they handle this and then I'll pass judgment.
 
#4 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

Very glad you and the family are ok. That type of failure on a wheel would have me extremely worried. Hope everything works out the replacement and 3 other wheels.
 
#9 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

2nd SRT Ive seen this happen to recently. The other was a 14 with similarly designed wheels from forgiato. I just don't think these thin spoke wheels everybody is buying nowadays can take the weight and force needed.
 
#10 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

@scott I've been wondering the exact same thing. I raised that issue in my concerned email to the distributor and iForged. As a matter of fact, before I even ordered these wheels I questioned the suitability of these wheels for an SUV application. Their response "all of our wheels are load rated individually for each custom fitment". If I find issues with the other wheels then it's probably safe to say they are not suitable. I do have 7 spokes however and with my limited engineering knowledge they should be strong enough
 
#11 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

@scott I've been wondering the exact same thing. I raised that issue in my concerned email to the distributor and iForged. As a matter of fact, before I even ordered these wheels I questioned the suitability of these wheels for an SUV application. Their response "all of our wheels are load rated individually for each custom fitment". If I find issues with the other wheels then it's probably safe to say they are not suitable. I do have 7 spokes however and with my limited engineering knowledge they should be strong enough

I would think that with as much as these things cost they would run an FEA on the design as part of the engineering process but that may just be wishful thinking. Just my 02.




Sent from my iPhone using JeepGarage
 
#12 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

Man, that is some scary stuff. I've always had that fear in the back of my mind concerning thin-spoke wheels. Also, I wonder how much engineering and FEA some of these wheel companies really do. I'm not saying iForged is to blame or even speaking about them...just thin-spoked wheels in general. Regardless, glad you and your family are ok and that you caught it when you did!
 
  • Like
Reactions: A-kon
#13 · (Edited)
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

This is exactly why I'm hear preching about the way we FEA all our wheel to the vehicle us and HRE are the only ones doing it to my knowledge.
Honestly I knew this would happen and even told Scott your spokes scare me I think Scott will recall.

All I know is I'm glad your O.K. get your money back and let me build you a set bro feel free to text me if you have any issues with the MFG too k?

Glad your Safe Bro I almost feel bad I dint email you when I saw them I just don't want to offend people and say you should have bought from me as most would see that as not cool and me just trying to earn business.



Had to come back and Edit this because I just gotta bring attention to TOM's wheels they are also scary. Please be careful buddy!!
I may be able FEA them for him if he wants to be proactive at no cost (well I'll pay) noting is free these days LOL.
 
#15 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

Damn!!! Glad your family is safe.. That's the most important thing..
 
  • Like
Reactions: A-kon
#19 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

The plot thickens, it is worth noting however that's once the wheel is warrantied the owners never report an additional problem, so maybe it is a manufacturing defect:
ANOTHER 4 PIECE CRACKED WHEEL - COR Product
This thread has a bunch of things sprinkled into it throughout
This is why I will only buy JWL certified wheels.
Wow!!!
That is scary stuff. Wheel makers may be "cheaping out" on the materials while playing life and death with their customers/families. Not good at all. :mad:
 
#17 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

holy hell Akon!!!!first off im glad that you and the family are ok!!! secondly i wouldnt even think about putting those wheels back on my car for a minute... peace of mind would be huge for me... man a rim just cracked... like really...i would contact the company and tell them you want a complete refund and youll send them the rims back...i think scott is right about the rim spoke size... ive seen that before. either way thank god your ok! keep us updated!
 
  • Like
Reactions: A-kon
#20 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

Well, I've decided to ask for a full refund tomorrow. That or store credit equal towards my purchase price for another set of wheels. I feel this is a reasonable request and hope the distributor does the right thing. I am in wholesale manufacturing and eat things like this daily. It's part of the business. Often a replacement product is offered to our customer, but they insist they don't want it and ask for credit. I always give them credit.

The distributor will remain unnamed until the verdict is reached tomorrow. If he makes good I will sing praise and promote him. If he refuses then my real campaign starts. Facebook, Instagram, and every forum I can think of.
 
#22 ·
Well, I've decided to ask for a full refund tomorrow. That or store credit equal towards my purchase price for another set of wheels. I feel this is a reasonable request and hope the distributor does the right thing. I am in wholesale manufacturing and eat things like this daily. It's part of the business. Often a replacement product is offered to our customer, but they insist they don't want it and ask for credit. I always give them credit.

The distributor will remain unnamed until the verdict is reached tomorrow. If he makes good I will sing praise and promote him. If he refuses then my real campaign starts. Facebook, Instagram, and every forum I can think of.
Best of luck with the refund and glad your family is safe.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

A-Kon, you are truly blessed so glad everyone is safe!!

It's crazy I was going to buy a set of Niche wheels an after speaking with the manufacturer and the dealer they both told me that I could only get a Monotec/Monoblock wheel cause of this exact reason and they both stressed to me that these jeeps make so much torque that I cannot take that kind of chance. Now this is the kicker, once they told me how much the wheels were I had to do some more saving a lot more saving! Then my boy sold his jeep and got his wheels on a bit of a discount.

Please keep us up to date. I hope the full refund is what you get you just can't trush these wheels at all especially with the family riding around in it!! Best of luck to you...
 
#24 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

^ Niche monoblock is what I originally wanted. I had the money but $6k sounded a lot more outrageous than $5k. Instead I purchased out of state and used cash (paypal) to save about $600-700. Biggest regret of my life. Had I paid with my Amex I'd simply send the wheels back and dispute the charges.

The distributor has a no return on custom wheels policy clearly printed on his website. It will be up to him to decide whether or not he wants to do the right thing. I'll start my marketing war and if all else fails I'll put the wheels for sale on ebay with full disclosure, and then purchase a proper set of monoblocks.
 
#25 ·
Re: Stock Wheels Back On :(

Refund was refused by Howie Industries in Illinois. In Paul Howie's defense he is stuck in the middle, however a great distributor IMO would do the right thing and offer to do a refund if the manufacturer did not step up.

He has passed the request along to IForged but expects it to be denied.
 
#27 ·
Re: BEWARE*** IForged and Forgestar wheels :(

The lawyer is an option I don't want to take. I want iforged to acknowledge this is not a proper design for an SUV and refund my purchase price. I'm not asking for any of my additional expenses. I simply want to purchase a proper set of wheels suitable for a performance SUV.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top