Had my wheels off and was giving them a real
good cleaning and noticed a ton on small white chips all over the wheels. The wheels only have 1400 miles of smooth clean road driving. So far they are prominent on the front. You can barely feel them but see them just fine. Is this normal or is there something wrong with the powdercoat or is it simply they are just cheap as hell?!?

It just doesn't seem right to me for that to be normal wear and tear. I'd HATE to see the wheels after like 15,000 miles. Here's some pics....

 

I don't think you realize how much sheet you're driving over.

 

Is it possible you might have done some damage while cleaning the wheels? I know you have to use a very soft brush while cleaning painted wheels. Stiff brushes can scratch them up. Other than that, I don't know much else.

 

I use all safe stuff for the most delicate wheels.

Do your SVT wheels get like that?! Or do they have a different finish?! If so I'd switch to those in a heartbeat.

 

I don't look, because it will **** me off.

 

Good philosophy, I need to follow it cause it's driving me crazy.

What finish are the SVTPPs? Powdercoated? Cause I'll never buy another set of PC wheels again. It's so delicate and chips brite white

 

would black chrome do that?

 

I don't have the PP's

 

Sorry to hear brother. My silver one's are holding up pretty good, minus the one I curbed...fml. Don't these have like a 1 yr warranty?

 

I've drive 60 miles a day going 85 for the past 5k miles and not a single chip.. If you were really driving easy roads like you said then that seems a bit fragile imo

 

I really dont know. Is there a corporate place you can call?? It seems the place that manufactures these is imaginary and RTR doesn't seem to have customer service.

Anyone know what finish the SVTPP's are? Is a painted finish just as delicate...

 

Wow that's bad. I have some of the first RTR wheels shipped and mine are not doing this, yet. CDC was the supplier of the wheels to RTR. Try CDC (Classic Design Concepts).

 

Thanks, I figured they were probably the ones. We shall see...

 

Painted wheels are the delicate ones. Just like the paint on your car, if a rock hits it, it will most likely chip.

I've send power coated wheels hit with a hammer and not marr. It all depends on how the wheels are prepped, how the powdercoating is applied, and the quality of the materials used.

Powdercoated wheels are bullet proof compared to painted wheels in my experience. Thats typically the trade off for coated vs. painted. You can typically get better color matching with pained wheels but it's not as durable....conversely, it's harder to color match powdercoated wheels but it's substantially more durable.

Will powdercoated wheels chip? Sure. Should they look like that? IMHO, no.

 

Where did you buy yours from? See if they can assist with getting some sort of help. I do have to say the PC is fragile because a slip of the wrench will knock a chip out. I have a couple from that myself. But after seeing yours again I would say that's gotta be a defect.

 

Something's not right with this. I know the SVTPP wheels on my Shelby didn't chip up to this extent.

 

Here's a link to some info on powder coating: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coating

Here's a couple excerpts from the link...

"It is usually used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint."

"Removal of oil, soil, lubrication greases, metal oxides, welding scales etc. is essential prior to the powder coating process."

"In many high end applications, the part is electrocoated following the pretreatment process, and subsequent to the powder coating application. This has been particularly useful in automotive and other applications requiring high end performance characteristics."

"Methylene chloride is generally effective at removing powder coating, however most other organic solvents (acetone, thinners, etc.) are completely ineffective."

"Certain low grade powder coats can be removed with steel wool, though this might be a more labor-intensive process than desired."

So, if potent chemicals and even steel wool have a hard time removing powder coating I would say the stuff is pretty tough. What would acetone and and steel wool do to a painted surface?

It looks like it might even be a painted wheel. If it is in fact powder coating I would guess that it was applied improperly. Either not being prepped properly, being applied to thinly, or not curing at the right temp or not long enough. Again, PC'd wheels should not look like that.

 

That's NOT normal. Are all 4 the same?

See if you can contact RTR for direct feedback- http://www.mustangrtr.com/contact.php

 

Thanks for the link and thanks for all the feedback and info. I had contacted both RTR and CDC via email earlier today and hopefully I will get a reply tomorrow.

I got so annoyed I didn't look at all the wheels. Both of the fronts are like that. I haven't looked at the rears. Going to pull them out tomorrow and take a look once the rain stops.

I'm already looking into new wheels. Unless someone makes it right I may go with the American Muscle version (although I thought they had 19x10 and they dont), F14s, or SVTPPs. so frustrating, the wheels look so good.

 

Well, as an update, Nate from CDC emailed me back requesting some pictures to get the ball moving. Ill have to go snap some better ones with my digital camera.

+ for customer service so far....