Aluminum wheel corrosion - Spidering | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Aluminum wheel corrosion - Spidering

nitzer51

Well-Known Member
Joined
March 4, 2012
Messages
172
Reaction score
0
City, State
seattle
Year, Model & Trim Level
2013 Explorer LTD
I have a 2013 ex limited with the aluminum polished wheels. The car has been babied since purchased new and I never use abrasive cleaners on the wheels. I've recently noticed several corrosion lines on them. It seems like three years old is too soon for this to be happening. Has anyone else had this issue?

9K9FG
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Its hard to tell anything without pics when it comes to the polished wheels.
They are clear coated, scratches or any rash at all and the clear coat at the scratched edges can take on a slight yellowish tint.

Can you post pics?
Need to upload them to a free service like Photobucket then place the link here in a post.

See this post;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=363303
 






This the main reason I specified that I did not want any polished wheels! They are all clearcoated from the factory and cannot be polished without screwing up the clearcoat. After a few years the clear coat starts to separate, either from a small scratch or nick and water gets underneath the coating and starts the slow process of destroying your wheels. At least with the painted wheels they can be maintained easier. Been there, done that, never again!
 






I have a 2013 ex limited with the aluminum polished wheels. The car has been babied since purchased new and I never use abrasive cleaners on the wheels. I've recently noticed several corrosion lines on them. It seems like three years old is too soon for this to be happening...

Hi nitzer51,

Have you been to your dealer so they can check out the wheels? I'd recommend that as a next step. What's the current mileage on your Explorer?

Crystal
 






All 4 of my wheels have exactly what you are talking about. these have never seen snow /salt and look like hell. took to dealer and basically been told ford will not do anything about since it is normal use. what bs. have a 2014 fusion with black chrome wheels, clearcoat peeled on all 4, dealer tried to use line again that ford will not cover but car has only 9k miles hard to deny covering. dealer called me letting me know they will replace under warranty as such but told me the replacement wheel are on a 6 month back order ( must be having lot of issues) I asked for the sport wheel which they did get me but only after 7 trips to dealer since the techs damaged 4 replacement wheels because he did not know how to use machine plus got 3 new tires out of deal since those were damaged as well
 






My wheels are in bad shape as well..... Can we repair at home?

Thx
 












I had the same issue on my 2013 Limited. Ford replaced all four wheels. The service guy at my dealership was surprised Ford did that. But I was happy.
 






corroding wheels

I too am having corrosion on all four wheels of my 2013 Limited Explorer. Took it to the dealer who submitted pictures to Ford 3 weeks ago. Now Ford wants me to take it back to the dealer next week to clean the wheels and retake pictures. Problem is Ford "engineers" you did not clear coat the inside of the rims. Now corrosion is coming under the clearcoat from the back.
 






it's common on many other cars. and yes manufacturers are figuring out to update/modify their coat process.

if ford replaces for free because you're within the corrosion warranty on the car - good on them - but wheels are oft excluded from corrosion warranties.

if they don't - because wheels - it's a simpler fix. but re polishing wheels other than minor work - isn't hard.


now for the other bit - other than cosmetic - there is nothing structurally wrong with your wheel - and it will not continue to corrode down below that surface. Cast and machined AL alloys don't behave that way. so your wheel will not fail on you because of some minor surface corrosion. deeper corrosion in AL is rare in cast alloys and easily found because it begins to dust or flake off.

so other than cosmetic cleaning - it's not a safety issue - or well - shouldn't be. If you have actual cracking of the wheel - that's a whole other issue.
 






it's common on many other cars. and yes manufacturers are figuring out to update/modify their coat process.

if ford replaces for free because you're within the corrosion warranty on the car - good on them - but wheels are oft excluded from corrosion warranties.

if they don't - because wheels - it's a simpler fix. but re polishing wheels other than minor work - isn't hard.


now for the other bit - other than cosmetic - there is nothing structurally wrong with your wheel - and it will not continue to corrode down below that surface. Cast and machined AL alloys don't behave that way. so your wheel will not fail on you because of some minor surface corrosion. deeper corrosion in AL is rare in cast alloys and easily found because it begins to dust or flake off.

so other than cosmetic cleaning - it's not a safety issue - or well - shouldn't be. If you have actual cracking of the wheel - that's a whole other issue.
Not all true. If the corrosion goes under the bead your tires go flat. I've had that happen. Besides we paid thousands for those wheels now the donuts look better.
 






My '13 is starting to do the same on all the wheels and you can see it's starting from the back of the wheel. I'm gonna mention it at my next service appointment.
 






The wheels on my '11 Limited have been doing it for a couple of years....
 






Not all true. If the corrosion goes under the bead your tires go flat. I've had that happen. Besides we paid thousands for those wheels now the donuts look better.

all that needed to be done was clean the corrosion and blend the AL smooth again and your tires would have kept a bead.

Did you go to a tire shop or a dealer
 






all that needed to be done was clean the corrosion and blend the AL smooth again and your tires would have kept a bead.

Did you go to a tire shop or a dealer

Sure it's an easy fix but I think the point is that we are talking about wheels, that in my case, are 2.5 years old. It took the alloys on my Bronco 16 years to start to peel. This shouldn't be happening on 3-5 year old wheels.
 






Sure it's an easy fix but I think the point is that we are talking about wheels, that in my case, are 2.5 years old. It took the alloys on my Bronco 16 years to start to peel. This shouldn't be happening on 3-5 year old wheels.

I went to the Dealer today for a second set of pictures for Ford, this time wheels off the Explorer and cleaned. Ford should clearly state that the rims will corrode in a year when we buy these $40000+ vehicles.
 






all that needed to be done was clean the corrosion and blend the AL smooth again and your tires would have kept a bead.

Did you go to a tire shop or a dealer

Have you been paying attention? You can't do that with these wheels as they are clear coated. All Ford "polished aluminum" wheels are clear coated. They have to be stripped polished , cleaned and repainted!
 






Yes this is a clear coat problem not a polish problem. No way an easy fix.
 






Have you been paying attention? You can't do that with these wheels as they are clear coated. All Ford "polished aluminum" wheels are clear coated. They have to be stripped polished , cleaned and repainted!

yes I am well aware of that - did you know they make a nifty clear coat stripper? any paint shop worth their salt can do the job in about no time.

and yes Ford apparently has issues the other makers don't seem to have. My AL wheels on my G8 are 5 years old and clean as day one.

so yes ford should fix. but the fix it easy and should take less than 2 days for any competent shop to do.

this is my point.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Most refinishing shops charge a MINIMUM of $150 PER wheel. Very messy and labor intensive job for the DIY. I found the Klean Strip Aircraft® Paint Remover the most effective at around $15 per quart. Very nasty stuff, use all precautions on the label. I've seen wheel clear coat issues regardless of location, environment, etc. Once corrosion under the clear coat starts, it deteriorates very quickly and nothing will prevent it from getting worse. Royal PITA.

http://www.kleanstrip.com/product/aircraft-paint-remover

DSC04856.jpg
DSC04860.jpg
 






Back
Top