I bought four replica wheels online for my LS430 a few years ago. I noticed the other day that there were small cracks in what I thought was the enamel or paint. I was changing my brake pads today and see that the cracks are on the backside of the wheel as well. Is this something I should be concerned about?

 

Those appear to be stress cracks. Very dangerous.

 

Def get those off the car asap. A wheel failure is not pretty when it happens. Those look pretty bad. Wheels are definitely one of the get what you pay for item and the Chinese ones are famous for cheap castings that are weak.

 

Replica wheels are known for cracking. This is the reason why you should do it once and do it right: you save a few pennies to begin with, but now you need to get rid of those and buy some quality wheels.

 

If in doubt, or you need any incentive to act immediately ...

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busin...91a7ef9c4e9815

http://www.ebay.com/gds/The-truth-ab...7814191/g.html

http://www.caradvice.com.au/391150/d...ays-peak-body/

 

Could you post or PM me the mfg of those?

 

I couldn't agree more.
Long time ago I had an old drag racer tell me "Buy the best and you cry once"

So true...

 

Definitely stop driving the car and replace the wheels ASAP..... Not worth getting hurt (or worse).

 

Wow. I can't imagine seeing that and then driving the freeway in traffic at 70mph.

Thanks for sharing though!!!! You're doing a great service by posting this!

 

Wow I had no idea. Glad I drove 2 hours to Chicago to pick up some used oem chromes when I decided to use snows. Thanks again

 

Looks like China.

 

IT should be illegal to sell these.

Steve

 

As others have said, stop using them ASAP...

 

Just an update on this issue.

I have stopped driving the car. I contacted the company to get a resolution late Friday the 15th. I was told that the warranty department would look at the pictures and contact me asap.

I was contacted this morning(Monday the 18th) by a representative letting me know that they would replace the wheels free of charge. They also recommended that I change wheels to the original style that was stock on the LS430. I wanted to change to that style anyway so that was a welcome surprise as well.

I understand the pros and cons to purchasing replica wheels and that they may not be up to the standards of OEM. Just wanted to relay the info that they were standing behind their product and making it right.

I wont post the company or website but if you want to know you can PM me and I will respond.

 

Thats great they are making it right...but an inferior quality product is still an inferior quality product...its not a piece of trim or something that can fail and be of no safety consequence...these are the cars wheels...

This does happen:





I could never feel confident the wheels wouldn't crack and fail again. Has nothing to do with the style of the wheels...their wheels are just junk.