Mickey Thompson wheels are trash!

[John E Davies]

I updated my web page with new pics. I returned my Classic II wheels due to corrosion problems and I think that anyone who drives where corrosive deicer chemicals are used on the roads should avoid these wheels. Read all about it here:

http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/page4h.htm

It ticks me off, because I really liked the look....

I also bailed on the Equal powder - it just did not perform as advertised.

John Davies

 

[AMMO]

John,

I'm surprised you found a dealer that would take them back! It kind of seems like it was not anyone’s fault, just a customer sat issue, and that's good customer service! Anyhow, just a question but why didn't you just take them to an auto body shop and have them shot with clear? Or at least wax the heck out of them knowing what kind of environment you live in?

-Just wondering

Matt

P.S. Seems kinda harsh to be bashing a company because the wheels were not protected with a clear, I'm sure they were not sold that way. I believe they are a polished alum wheel, witch requires polishing... Works fine out here in sunny So Cal, you just need to move! j/k

 

[LX_TREME]

http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/page4h.htm

Hmm...just curious that wheel almost looks the same as AXIS WHEELS:
http://www.axiswheel.com/regulator.html not the warlock thou:
http://www.axiswheel.com/warlock.html

 

[hoser]

Another option would have been to powdercoat the MT wheels.

 

[John E Davies]

The reason that I call them trash is that the alloy is excessively reactive to chemicals. Sure, I would expect to see deterioration over the course of a winter, but not from a light splashing after two days. It wasn't even raining- it was late March and there were some deicer residues in some small puddles on the street. The wheels did have a very heavy coat of wax. I was expecting to have to wax and polish them routinely, but I did not expect them to start to dissolve the first week after driving through some little puddles!

The guys at Discount Tire were dismayed to see the corrosion, and talked to MT, who said that they had no responsibility in the matter. Finish claims would not be warrantied, period.

The shop guys tried to polishout the corrosion without success. The manager agreed to take them back in exchange for different wheels. I am a long time customer and I think he wanted to keep me happy.

It would have cost about $100 per wheel to get them sanded, polished out and clear coated at my local body shop. That was an unacceptable burden to me. I considered clear coating them myself, but painting raw aluminum has its own problems and I had serious doubts that I could do a satsfactory job myself.

I really like the wheels, but there is a serious problem in the alloy type. Maybe my batch was unusual - I can't say. It's really distressing to spend $850 on brand new wheels, only to have them self destruct for no valid reason.

The manufacturer should clearly state in its literature that the wheel will not survive contact with road chemicals. If I had read that, I would never have consered buying them. Most of the states in the NW use these chemicals. It's a horrible situation that does millions in damage to concrete streets and driveways and to car finishes. I hate the stuff. Are you telling me CA doesn't use deicers in the passes?

John

 

[hoser]

At $125/wheel, the price sounded cheap---and from your experience, indeed the wheel was cheap (in quality). FWIW, I have some forged alloy wheels that I've only hand polished twice in the past 10 years and it looks great (though the car is garaged and no de-icers to worry about). Forged wheels seem to hold a polish longer than cast.

 

[Junk]

Isn't this a repost from a long time ago? I thought you posted this gripe about those rims like a year ago on the 80s list, no?

 

[cruiserman]

Rather than complain about the wheels, you should be raving about DT's service. Top notch IMO.

 

[sea2skydad]

"but painting raw aluminum has its own problems and I had serious doubts that I could do a satsfactory job myself."


What problems, specifically, John? I'm going to be replacing my rubber soon and I was planning on clear coating the wheels myself, after getting them blasted with walnut. Thanks, Greg.

 

[neowulf]

Quote:
Originally Posted by John E Davies
http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/page4h.htm


Hmm...just curious that wheel almost looks the same as AXIS WHEELS:
http://www.axiswheel.com/regulator.html not the warlock thou:
http://www.axiswheel.com/warlock.html

and are not the mickey thompson and pro-comp wheels also made at the same factory ?

 

[John E Davies]

Isn't this a repost from a long time ago? I thought you posted this gripe about those rims like a year ago on the 80s list, no?

I posted my opinions both here and on the 80s list when I discovered the corrosion in late March this year. I just finished posting the pics to my website so people could see what I was talking about.

John

 

[John E Davies]

"but painting raw aluminum has its own problems and I had serious doubts that I could do a satsfactory job myself."


What problems, specifically, John? I'm going to be replacing my rubber soon and I was planning on clear coating the wheels myself, after getting them blasted with walnut. Thanks, Greg.

You can certainly try to paint your wheels, and good luck. Raw aluminum starts to oxidize immediately after exposure to the atmosphere. The oxide surface coating prevents conventional automotive primers or paints from sticking very well, and you MAY end up with a paint job that will peel off in sheets when hit with a pressure washer.

To paint aluminum "properly" you must clean the surface with something like AlumiPrep, an acid wash, then _immediately_ follow up with an Alodine coating and a zinc oxide, or better yet, a zinc chromate primer coat. The latter is restricted and harder to get due to its rather toxic nature. If you are clearcoating, you would paint the clear right over the Alodine. The problem with clear coat is that you obviously can't use any sort of colored primer beneath it, nor can you sand the aluminum to get some "teeth", so you are forced to bypass an important step. You can use a two part epoxy primer also - but that gets very expensive and impractical unless you have spray equipment.

A rough walnut- or bead-blasted finish will offer lots of tooth to the clear coat, so you may be fine, but I wouldn't recommend skipping the initial chemical treatments.

I have NO idea what the wheel manufacturers do when they paint or clear coat a wheel, but they know the tricks and do the job under very controlled conditions. I have seen new painted and clear coated alloy wheels lose their coatings big time, so even the manufacturers screw up. I had drop dead gorgeous $600 BBS RKII wheels on a Saab 9-5 Aero that were losing the clear coat in chunks after a year of handwashing only, so even the premium manufacturers make mistakes. This is a main reason cosmetic faults aren't covered under the warranty.

All this stuff is available at aircraft supply stores. I just didn't want the hassle or risks of screwing up the process and having to do it over again. If I had decided to paint my Classic IIs I would have used zinc chromate primer followed by aluminum wheel paint followed by clear coat. I wouldn't have attempted clear over shiney aluminum.... Here are a couple of links - there are a number of "aluminum painting FAQ"s out there somewhere - it's worth researching the process before diving into the job.

http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalo...ml?PHPSESSID=53ebd9a548b4e910f29f26f245bd4f12

http://skygeek.com/coating.html

John

 

[IdahoDoug]

John,

I feel for you, as I used to live at the epicenter of the rust belt where in the spring you'd find literally piles of salt and white powder when the streets cleared. I speak of course, of Michigan (shiver).

Aluminum wheels got trashed in two years, aluminum kickplates or door thresholds would lose a quarter inch of their edges in a few years, and even low grade stainless steel items siezed in place and pitted. For any manufacturer of aftermarket wheels to put a product on the street that reacted poorly to the relatively benign environment you and I enjoy here in the PNW is irresponsible. To my mind, it is THEIR job to know the worst conditions under which their product will be exposed, and to properly protect said product to retain its cosmetic appearance for at least as long as today's technology allows. Hello - people buy aftermarket wheels for, uh....lemme think a minute here, uh......don't rush me.........oh - cosmetic appearance! Yeah, that's it! So an aftermarket wheel that can easily look cosmetically daft in a few weeks of driving would be, uh......don't rush me.......um, lesseee.....oh wait - it would be a ripoff because it's not delivering on the entire reason for purchase which is cosmetic appearance! Yeah, that's it! So, I'm with you 100% on this.

Proper manufacture can get an alloy wheel to last a long time, and they clearly didn't do the basics. Nor did they go out of their way to inform the consumer that their wheel apparently is designed only for use in a hermetically controlled environment - ie not the street.

DougM

 

[White Shark]

Black steel baby! Cheap to replace and never a need to shine!

 

[SGT0311]

Wheels

I have MT's/ Alcoa, and I had the same problem... So I had them sand blasted and powder coated, you can have them clear coated as well. Just a thought, but since you returned them I have Black steel rims for sale if you are interested. I am in Colorado.

 

[John E Davies]

Proper manufacture can get an alloy wheel to last a long time, and they clearly didn't do the basics. Nor did they go out of their way to inform the consumer that their wheel apparently is designed only for use in a hermetically controlled environment - ie not the street.
DougM

Exactly my thoughts! If they weren't suitable for this part of the country, don't sell the !@#$% things here!

What irritates me the most is that I had decided to use my original corroded LX wheels for winter duty. It was already late March, we had had ZERO winter here in Spokane, and I was determined to get the snow tires/ wheels off the truck before I got stuck in some mudbog on a wet fire road. I guess I should have waited another month for the DOT to finish washing off the streets to get the deicer rinsed back into the ecosystem.

Anyway, I am extremeley pleased with Discount Tire. Terrific service, will match just about any price - I buy tires nowhere else.

John

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

Classic 2's are made in CHINA!

REAL Mickey Thompson wheels arent!

Bummer deal.