Wheel Corrosion

[Shahpor]

Hey Chaps,

Well, I had an annoying problem yesterday.  I noticed my OSR tyres was sagging, so went to get it filled up.  It read 6psi.  Popped into Kwik Fit, and it turns out that running the tyre flat had damaged the bands on the sidewall and it needs to be replaced.  This is now the 3rd tyre in a year and a half that I have had to change because of damage with plenty of tread still left on it

The car has now had a complete set of tyres replaced without a single one being worn out.  (The NSF was replaced by the dealer because it didn't match the others).  My car hates its tyres.

Anyway, now that I have got that off my chest, back to the reason for this post.

It turns out that the leak was caused by corrosion on the inner lip of the alloy.  I have had the wheel  sanded down once, which helped, but it seems they are now too far gone.

So, here's the thing; Has anyone else who has had the same situation got them re-furbished?  And, more importantly, did it solve the problem?

The reason I ask is that the company I have found to do the wheels states that they cannot guarantee that it won't still leak air afterwards.

The alternative is a set of after market alloys since Lexus seem to have stopped selling new ones at a reasonable price.

Thanks.

[Linas.P]

Any decent wheel refurbishment place would fully acid strip the wheels and if the leak was caused by corrosion should solve that problem...

The question is whenever that is true or not, maybe it is slightly bent (which can as well be fixed) or cracked (which can be fixed, but any honest refurbisher will tell you to replace the wheel instead).

What tires are you using?

[madasahatter]

You can buy a set of original wheels cerca £400.00.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS-220-IS-250-4-X-17-GENUINE-ALLOY-WHEELS-/112212916078?fits=Car+Make%3ALexus&hash=item1a2069376e:g:VIsAAOSwal5YI2HC

[ahmedali44]

Hi you try breakers might be able to get  decent set quite cheap with tyres 

On eBay exchange for £312 x4 but it's in nw London 

[Malc]

...... maybe fit inner tubes !

Malc

[Linas.P]

44 minutes ago, ahmedali44 said:

Hi you try breakers might be able to get  decent set quite cheap with tyres 

On eBay exchange for £312 x4 but it's in nw London 

I doubt from breakers the set would be any better than yours. I am petty sure refurb can fix that, just as guys to check if they are straight to begin with.

[Shahpor]

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

I might pick up those wheels Keith linked if they are as mint as the look.

I have just got back from the alloy wheel refurb company, and they are charging me £280 assuming it doesn't need straightening.  The thing is, they can't get rid of the pitting, so there are going to be some imperfection on the surface.

When you add that to the fact that they can't guarantee it will fix the leaking issue, I am tempted to just get some new wheels.

Another funny thing is, I checked my tyre, which is a Dunlop SP Sport, and it says MO on it.  I spoke to the Lexus dealer that fitted it for me, and it standard for Mercedes Only   Of course, you can fit them to any car, but it is strange that Dunlop would make them as such.

[madasahatter]

6 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Thanks for the suggestions chaps.

I might pick up those wheels Keith linked if they are as mint as the look.

I have just got back from the alloy wheel refurb company, and they are charging me £280 assuming it doesn't need straightening.  The thing is, they can't get rid of the pitting, so there are going to be some imperfection on the surface.

When you add that to the fact that they can't guarantee it will fix the leaking issue, I am tempted to just get some new wheels.

Another funny thing is, I checked my tyre, which is a Dunlop SP Sport, and it says MO on it.  I spoke to the Lexus dealer that fitted it for me, and it standard for Mercedes Only   Of course, you can fit them to any car, but it is strange that Dunlop would make them as such.

Very strage have herd of tyres for Bmw only, they have some very odd sizes. Strange a Lexus dealer saying that, yes them wheels already been refurbed

so will probrably be better than new ones.

[Shahpor]

I have found the advert @ahmedali44 mentioned.  It is this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/R125-EXCHANGE-Yours-for-Ours-LEXUS-IS-220-IS-250-4-X-17-GENUINE-ALLOY-WHEELS/331644310593?_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38661%26meid%3Ddba0523040224088acfa875a2276ad52%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D112212916078

It looks pretty good, and it saves me the hassle of getting rid of my old wheels, which living in a flat I have no room for.

What makes it better is that my family is in NW London, so I travel there regularly.  It is actually on 10 minutes from my mum's house.

So, assuming it is all good, I think I will go for these.

What do you guys think?

[madasahatter]

There could be a problem, if your wheels are as bad as you say. They require yours to refurb, so will be taking your tyres off for the new wheels.

[Shahpor]

You are right Keith, which is why I have just sent them some pictures of mine so that they can confirm they are suitable.

Obviously if they come back with issues, then I will probably go for the ones you linked and then try and get rid of mine somehow.

[Linas.P]

My wheels were badly scratched with pieces of alloy being like bitten away and the guys who refurbished my wheels said it is not problem. Indeed I cannot tell which wheel was previously damaged. Generally, they make them as good as new, just with more durable paint.

Tray asking in few other places... Mine were £260, but I asked for shadow chrome paint so extra £10 per wheel.

[Shahpor]

Well, I have booked my car in tomorrow to get my wheels exchanged at the place I mentioned.

They looked at the pics of my wheels, and because of the heavy corrosion, they charged me an extra £60 surcharge, so the total came to £384.  A bit more than the local place, but these guys guarantee that the replacement set are indistinguishable from a new wheel, so I figured with was worth the extra.

Incidentally, this is how they look at the moment:

This is the leaking one:

You can see the line around the tyre where it is damaged.

You can't make it out very well in the photos, but there are some large areas that have bubbled quite a bit.

[Linas.P]

They are fine, as I said proper refurbishment is acid stripping, so makes no difference. Then they add powder coating which is more durable then Lexus original paint.

I am not trying to persuade you to change your decision, but it seems there were no reason why they cannot be refurbished. Are you replacing them to same style rims (to be honest I am not fan of this style)? 

On side note great choice of front tires... I have put Winter tires for my Continental trip and missing these a lot. Event thought they are summer tires they are 10 times gripper and quieter and more comfortable than current Dunlop WinterSport 3D.

[Shahpor]

I get what your says Linas, but the local company even got me out a picture of a wheel they had done, and it looked terrible.  Also, they told me there would be some pitting after it was refurbed.  So, overall, I don't want to take the wheels there, and this option means I don't have the leave my car with anyone.

I had to pay a £40 deposit to secure the replacement set anyway, so I suppose I am committed now.

Also, since the air leak is the main concern, and it is possible my wheels have gone porous, I am just happier get them changed to make sure I don't have any leaking tyre problems in the future.

Yep, it is a like for like replacement, but I actually like how they look

Funnily enough, while I agree they are good tyres that grip well and are durable, I am getting a front 'scrubbing' on certain surfaces when doing tight turns.  Only happens when it is cold, but strange nonetheless.

[J Henderson]

A good refurb place should be able to restore wheels that are in just about any condition - buckled, kerbed, even chunks missing etc. I had a set of 300h F-Sport wheels done last year that were taken off an accident-damaged car and they were in pretty bad shape prior to refurbishment. They came back looking like new with the OEM black chrome effect finish restored.

I also like how those original 17s look. I prefer them to the later smoothed-out version you get on facelift cars.

Re: that Sportmaxx RT thing. I also experienced that when I had those tyres on the front of my last car and got a proper scare the first time I tried to park my new-to-me car at work. I turned into the empty space like I had been doing in an IS200 for years beforehand and found the car just under-steering massively and heading towards another car instead of going where it should be going... Needless to say I ditched the tyres a few weeks later. Funnily enough, for more Dunlops (Sportmaxx GT though) to match up with what was on the rear. Problem solved.

[Shahpor]

Yeah, I was surprised when she said they couldn't get the finish perfect.  Although she did say that it would take too long to fill all the pitting, so perhaps they are just not that thorough?  Although they still charge £60 per wheel.

Hopefully this will all be settled tomorrow.  They did say that if there is buckling or cracks, it would cost more.  So fingers crossed my bad luck is over.

As for the tyres, I didn't think you could get SP Sports for the fronts?  When I do a search for the 225's, all I get is the Sports Maxx RT's.  Although, apart from the scrubbing thing, I have no complaints about either my fronts or rears.

[NemesisUK]

£60 per wheel? Quite cheap IMHO

[madasahatter]

Well i wish my original wheels were in that condition, they are immaculate compared to how mine were.

[Shahpor]

Well, got it done in the end.  Really nice guys and good service from them.  A bit on the expensive side, but because of my tyre problem, I didn't want to wait.  Also means I don't have to be without my car for a few days.

Anyway, this is how one of my wheels looked when the tyre was taken off:

Those black marks are corrosion.

Anyway, here is how the car looks like now:

Quite pleased with the result in the end.

Expensive though; £363 for the wheels, plus £121 for the tyre.

 

[Linas.P]

I am surprised that you your tire didn't dismount itself considering how dirty was the inside of the rim. So effectively you problem was not crack or buckle, but some sh**hand not cleaning lips of the rim before fitting tires. Your tires problem could be fixed by simply cleaning that dirt, but I guess now you have additional piece of mind.

That is how my rim looked like before refurb, so I said 3 are "ok", but one is "badly kerbed" and the guy at the shop got outside to check and was like ... "oh that's not a big deal":

And after... 

So you rims were easy job... £60 is standard price for 17"... as far as I have looked..

[Shahpor]

Not quite.  What had happened is that the corrosion on the lip has made the surface uneven, thereby letting air escape.  It could probably have been sanded down flat again.

It is not a good picture, but in person I could see the pitting.  Oh, and 1 of them was slightly buckled, but no cracks.

Could they have been repaired?  Probably.  Would there be a guarantee that the refurb would have fixed the leaking problem?  No.  At least with the rims I got, the company will warranty them for a year against leaks/damaged paint, so I am confident it won't be a problem again.

Basically, I took the car to 3 different places, and they all told me my wheels were in bad shape.  Were they just trying to make a sale?  Who knows, but i was getting fed up going round in circles.

If the tyre wasn't dangerously damaged, I could have put up with filling it with air for a few days while investigating my options closer, but I couldn't do without it for the total time it would have taken.

Yours look like straight kerbing.  If mine were just scratched, I am sure they could have been repaired as nicely as yours were.

Incidentally, you got a side on picture of how yours looks?