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Chrome wheel vendor asks about pitting problems

May 19, 2009

My name is Mike,

I work for a large aftermarket wheel manufacturer in the United States; we offer a 1 year warranty on all chrome wheels.

I have been wholesaling customer wheels for approximately 10 years and every year the same things happen.....

Customers purchase wheels, and anywhere from 3 weeks to 8 or 11 months later they call back and say that their chrome is pitting and it should be covered under warranty.

Of course it seems as if everyone that has "pitting" issue has a "SHOW" car that never sees rain and is meticulously maintained, etc, etc, etc....

Personally, I have a set of 20 inch chrome wheels that I purchased from my company in 2002 and put on my daily driver, a 2000 Silverado, I do keep my truck very, very clean, and have never had an issue with any part of the chrome on the wheels, not a single pit, and they have now seen 7 winters and are driven year round!

Our company has no problem warrantying chrome peel, it happens so RARELY that it isn't even a problem.

I am pretty sure we plate using a copper, nickel, chrome procedure.

The chrome pitting I receive complaints about is always located on wheels in the areas where the spoke meets the lip, and also in between spokes at the lip section, presumably because these areas are harder to clean and seem to collect the most amount of moisture and are definitely not designed for run-off, but designed for aesthetic reasons (hence the reason for custom wheels).

My questions are:

1) What causes (in general) a wheel(s)to pit? I have always been told pitting is not a manufacturer's defect and is not covered under warranty, chrome is porous and something was not completely cleaned off the wheels entirely which has started the pitting ... whether it be bake dust, road salt, sea salt, etc... is this the truth? (loaded question!)

2) What can one expect to see as a lifespan for custom chrome wheels?

3) In reference terms, is there a difference between pitting and blistering? Can someone please provide pictures of both if so?

Thanks, I await your responses!

Mike Anthony
custom wheel manufacturer - St. Louis Missouri

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I can't answer all your questions, but a common cause of chrome wheel pitting is brake dust.

James Totter, CEF
- Tallahassee, Florida
May 27, 2009

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September , 2009

Hi, Mike.

1. James is surely right that brake dust is a frequent cause of pitting in service. But if wheels pit in 3 weeks it's hard to believe that they had good plating. Three weeks simply isn't enough ownership time to blame the buyer for not keeping the wheels clean.

2. Your company warranties the wheels for a year, and your own personal ones have lasted seven. Considering all the variables, that's probably as good an estimate of life as you'll get.

3. Pits are tiny holes in or through the plating. Blistering looks just like a blister on your hand or foot, i.e., the plating is pulling away from the substrate. Blistering is the same thing as peeling except the plating hasn't quite broken off yet; as such, it is nearly alway a manufacturing defect.

letters 29693, 35945, and 48729 have pictures of blistering and peeling chrome wheels.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey