2 cracked alloys and 6 damaged tyres in 15 months

2 cracked alloys and 6 damaged tyres in 15 months

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Discussion

hooblah

539 posts

86 months

Wednesday 18th July 2018
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mighty kitten said:
95% of the cracked alloys I repair are 18” and above . Always the inner edge and Audi /bmw the most common . Rarely actually deformed at all at the crack point .
So what's causing the cracking?

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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KungFuPanda said:
It’s the roads that aren’t fit for purpose not the wheels.
Nope, the roads are what the wheels should be designed for. Proper forged wheels are expensive, but don't get damaged except in extreme circumstances. AMG wheels are expensive, but not particularly well made hence the issue.

tight fart

2,868 posts

272 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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Ride a motorbike for a few months, might teach you to keep an eye on the road surface a bit more.

alorotom

11,907 posts

186 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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Evanivitch said:
keelbyfish said:
Can anyone suggest what my next step should be?
Drive around pot holes.
Beat me to it!

keelbyfish

Original Poster:

21 posts

72 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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The wheels were an optional extra I paid for, but I was obviously unaware id be having all these problems. I had previously an Msport 3 series and rdesign Volvo,both with low profile tyres and never had any problems.

My local National Tyres depot are quite happy to carry on supplying me with replacement tyres but have stated they are far too low profile for our roads.

I suspect if id taken the car to the dealership for its first service they may have been a little more sympathetic

Oilchange

8,421 posts

259 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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I'm a bit cynical, I think the whole situation revolves around two things

1st the obsession with alloys that are really too big, shod with tyres that are too thin and don't have the impact absorption a higher profile tyre would have. Couple that with stiff suspension and a road system that is at best, below average and you have a recipe for broken wheels. Anything bigger than 17" is imo too big really.

2nd the manufacturers awareness of this ^ and their absolute delight to provide the customer with what they want (fashion?) safe in the knowledge that there will be a decent profit from selling replacement oem alloys. And they can sidestep any blame by pointing at the roads.

A win win for the manufacturers.

Having said that, I've seen quite a few Jags wearing what look like average sized wheels (maybe 16"?) with fatter tyres, perhaps they are concerned about ruining the legendary Jaguar ride.


Edited by Oilchange on Thursday 19th July 08:34

keelbyfish

Original Poster:

21 posts

72 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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Oilchange said:
I'm a bit cynical, I think the whole situation revolves around two things

1st the obsession with alloys that are really too big, shod with tyres that are possibly too thin and subsequently don't have the impact absorption a fatter tyre would have. Couple that with stiff suspension and a road system that is at best, below average and you have a recipe for broken wheels. Anything bigger than 17" is imo too big really.

2nd the manufacturers awareness of this ^ and their absolute delight to provide the customer with what they want (fashion?) safe in the knowledge that there will be a decent profit from selling replacement oem alloys. And they can sidestep any blame by pointing at the roads.

A win win for the manufacturers.

Having said that, I've seen quite a few Jags wearing what look like average sized wheels (maybe 16"?) with fatter tyres, perhaps they are concerned about ruining the legendary Jaguar ride.
Couldn't agree with you more. They look nice, but with hindsight, they shouldn't really be selling them in the UK

Baldchap

7,507 posts

91 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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That's two wheels and five tyres more than I've ever done...

I think this is a case of 'If it smells of dog muck everywhere you walk, you should check your own shoes'...

Oilchange

8,421 posts

259 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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I do sympathise btw. They (Merc) really should have provided more sturdy wheels imo. I get the impression they are aware of how bloody awful British roads are and play up to it...

Just remembered I had to repair a hairline crack on an inner edge of an 18" alloy, caused a rather disconcerting situation...




Edited by Oilchange on Thursday 19th July 08:46

T5R+

1,225 posts

208 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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keelbyfish said:
......rdesign Volvo,both with low profile tyres and never had any problems.
Herein lies the rub. We all have different experiences......

"My" Volvos suffered more punctures and wear issues than any other marque I have owned.

Run MB cars with 18, 19 and 21" rims with some of the best tyre wear on the E Class that I have experienced. Never buckled/cracked an alloy nor blowouts on any of the MB cars. Roads around here are not the best eg Jaguar neighbour compensation claim pending (his car was trailered away by the dealership as it had cracked 2 nearside wheels).

Read your thread on the MB Forum and gutted for you. Nearly £4K over a year is no laughing matter.



Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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One of the risks of choosing style, although that's subjective, over substance and ability to do the job.

Ninja59

3,691 posts

111 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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I have lost a few fronts due to tyre bulges (mine are low profile 35 on the front, 30 on the rear).

The fronts suffer more than the rears though. I went through 2 fronts due to bulges (and had 2 rears, but they were due to punctures). Lucky for me tyre insurance sorted all the issues.

Before my Summers went back on I deliberately reported all the potholes and more so the drains that had sunk to the council. All fitted before my 20's were back on.

With these RF's and low profiles you need to check pressures regularly to make sure they work as they should.

As for Winter much easier to run around on my 17's.

bungz

1,960 posts

119 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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Roads are pretty terrible at the moment, not ideal for fragile wheels with no sidewall in the tyre.

But that's obvious so why try blame anyone else?

Some 16/17s with a nice sidewall and you are unlikely to ever have a problem.





keelbyfish

Original Poster:

21 posts

72 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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[quote=bungz]
Roads are pretty terrible at the moment, not ideal for fragile wheels with no sidewall in the tyre.

But that's obvious so why try blame anyone else?

Some 16/17s with a nice sidewall and you are unlikely to ever have a problem.




[/quote

My point is why do they supply them if its obvious? Im a middle aged fish merchant and to me it wasn't obvious or I wouldn't have opted for them.

Riley Blue

20,915 posts

225 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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If you have larger diameter wheels with very low profile tyres, the alloy rim is going to be nearer the road surface and thus more susceptible to damage. It's that obvious, isn't it?

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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keelbyfish]ungz said:
My point is why do they supply them if its obvious? Im a middle aged fish merchant and to me it wasn't obvious or I wouldn't have opted for them.
I'm sure you're right that it's not clear to a lot of people quite how unsuitable some of these huge wheels are for some roads. I think part of the problem is that most of the UKs roads are pretty good so people don't think about it, but some of them are bad enough to cause damage... if you go somewhere with really bad roads (try central Bulgaria) you'll never see anything lower than about 80 profile and even then alloys are very rare because people know full well that they'll get destroyed.

In terms of legality, for Mercedes to be liable you'd have to explicitly prove the car was "not fit for the purpose for which it was sold", which would be difficult. I'm pretty sure Mercedes would successfully argue that the car wasn't designed to be driven into large pot-holes at speed (it's worth noting that large swathes of the UK have pretty decent roads where hitting a significant pot-hole is very much not normal). I think you'd have more luck chasing whoever maintains the roads.

bungz

1,960 posts

119 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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keelbyfish]ungz said:
Roads are pretty terrible at the moment, not ideal for fragile wheels with no sidewall in the tyre.

But that's obvious so why try blame anyone else?

Some 16/17s with a nice sidewall and you are unlikely to ever have a problem.




[/quote

My point is why do they supply them if its obvious? Im a middle aged fish merchant and to me it wasn't obvious or I wouldn't have opted for them.
Because the potholes are not Mercedes problem I guess.

Being devils advocate maybe its a particularly poor / weak 20" rim design? Maybe another design would cope a bit better?

However the fact you are destroying tyres makes me think you are hitting some real belting holes in the road which if your council is anything like mine will stay there for ages.

Either become adept at driving round them or swap the wheels, that's the choice really.

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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keelbyfish]ungz said:
My point is why do they supply them if its obvious? Im a middle aged fish merchant and to me it wasn't obvious or I wouldn't have opted for them.
Because there are people like you who buy them. They offer them as an option, it is up to you to decide whether they are suitable for your use, and it provides them with the returns they probably struggle to get on a base car.

Not sure what being a fish merchant has to do with your wheel choice hehe

swagmeister

382 posts

91 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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Why on earth do you think Mercedes should pay ? I cant even begin to try and see why you would even consider that option.

I've been driving for 31 years all over the UK - I do an average 20k miles a year on all roads in all weathers. I live in Scotland and a lot of travelling is on rural roads so never the best.

I would say that for at least the past 8-10 years of this, I have always ran 18, 19 and 20" alloys with the usual rubber band tyres, and in 31 years I have never cracked an alloy nor damaged a tyre as a result of poor roads. Yes they are in a mess I agree.

I think you need to re-evaluate something.


7795

1,070 posts

180 months

Thursday 19th July 2018
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What sort of thought process leads you to conclude that potholes are the dealer's responsibility for lthe ow profile tyres they sold you?!?! Are they also responsible for the damage to a lip spoiler hitting a speed bump as they sold you a low car!!!!

Potholes are your problem and not the dealers.

If you chose to, make it the local authorities problem and claim for the wheels/tyres. People do this week in week out successfully (including me 2 years ago).

If it is too much hassle to claim for the damaged wheels, don't. Suck it up...

Edited by 7795 on Thursday 19th July 11:01