Limited Chrome Wheels

[naiku]

Does anyone know if the chrome on the Limited 18" wheels is some sort of a cover? or is it actually part of the wheel itself? The previous owner of our Explorer must have taken it to the worst tire shop in town, as they used hammer on weights on the outside of the wheels. In a couple places it looks like it has bent what appears to be a chrome cover over the wheel.

I am having new tires put on soon, and am getting these awful weights removed, but I am wondering if it is possible to remove the chrome cover (if it even is a cover) if they look really bad on the edges.

<-- This was me when I noticed hammered on wheel weights.

 

[Flag Gibby]

The 18" limited rims are not steel they are chromed aluminum rims so I am thinking that they damaged the aluminum lip of the rim and that is what you see "peeling" up. Doesn't sound good to me.

 

[naiku]

The 18" limited rims are not steel they are chromed aluminum rims so I am thinking that they damaged the aluminum lip of the rim and that is what you see "peeling" up. Doesn't sound good to me.

You are probably right, I may try to take a photo to post on here just to show how completely moronic some tire shops really are.

 

[Boomyal]

You are probably right, I may try to take a photo to post on here just to show how completely moronic some tire shops really are.

You sure you don't live in West Virginia?

 

[naiku]

You sure you don't live in West Virginia?

Pretty sure! I am close though, only about 30 miles from the state line.

 

[vipersinu2]

I tried to have discount tire put the weights on the inside. their tech said there was no lip on the back side of the rim to attach the weight to. So it has to be in the front.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I have same 18" wheels on my EB and I thought they are steel rims with a plastic cover glued to it. In one place the chrome plating is coming off and I can see plastic I believe.

 

[naiku]

Added some pictures, the one is not too bad and the weights can likely be removed easily enough. But you can see in another picture a chunk of the wheel is gone as a result (I assume) of a weight being removed, and then another one where the weight has bent the lip of the wheel.

 

[Tech By Trade]

On my boss rims they just used stick on weights on the inside of the rim. A lot of places wont do that unless you ask though.

 

[DavidEBSmith]

The last two places I got tires used the hammer-on weights on the outside also. Living in the city, mine are all chewed up from parking next to curbs, to the point that Costco refused to install tires on two of them, saying there was a chance it would tear the bead. (So why not mount them from the inside???) One wheel looks like your first photo, except instead of the plastic edge being torn and missing, it was a piece of that metal lip on the rim that they're attaching the weights to, that was missing.

 

[Trac Marks]

No typical wheel is perfect and neither is an average tire. So counterweights are a good solution. There is one place, rather one guy, in my town who takes the extra time doing this:

Dismounts the tire and spin tests the bare wheel. Marks the wheel where its off balance with a clay marker.

He'll then mount the tire, air it up, and spin test it. Marks where its off balance.

INSTEAD of hammering on a lead weight, he'll deflate the tire and move it a little on the rim, air it back up and spin test again. Might do this 3-4 times. Have had a few instances where NO weight was needed. Most instances though only a small amount of counterweight was needed. And he used the stick-on type on the backside of the rim, never on the face of the wheel.