new rims=disappointed, any help?

[Mark'06TRD]

Back in Nov. of 2006 I bought 5 new rims off of ebay from Rusty Wallace Toyota in Morristown, TN. I spent $850. The best way I can describe these wheels is as follows: They are the 5 spoke aluminum wheels those "Ivan Stewart" Edition Tundras came with a few yrs. ago. They are factory TRD wheels. They have center caps with "TRD" written on them. I think they look real cool on my truck. I am going to try to find a pic of them in here.

Here's a pic of the wheels and oddly enough still sold at Rusty Wallace Toyota, wasn't too hard for me to locate I guess:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/IVAN-STEWART-TOYOTA-TRD-WHEELS-FOR-TUNDRA-TACOMA_W0QQitemZ380051809771QQcmdZViewItem

Anyway, maybe 8 months ago the clear plastic coating on them started coming off or peeling off and its only getting worse. The aluminum is getting pitted and soon enough I know these wheels are gonna to look pretty bad.

Today, I called Rusty Wallace Toyota and the parts guy told me the wheels had a 12month warranty and that was about it, nothing he could or was gonna do for me. I am kinda pissed. He told me if the wheels came on the truck originally they would have a 3yr. 36K warranty like the rest of the truck, but sorry all I got is 12 months on these wheels.

Anyone else have a problem with the plastic coating coming off, or does anyone know any other recourse I might have to make this right? I doubt I'll get any Dealer/Factory Toyota support here, they will probably tell me to go pound salt, too bad, sorry, we don't care....

[maxama10]

do a search, this happens with the factory rims too occasionally good luck

[eyedoc]

get them powdercoated for about $150-200 for all four and pick the color powder you want to make them unique. powder doesn't peel....it is as hard as the metal underneath.

[Jredneck480]

nice eyedoc, glad to see you finally got them powdercoated.

[Mark'06TRD]

I like the powder coat idea, they do look good. I checked with two places already- one guy said $110+ per wheel! The second guy told me $47 per wheel. I might go with the second guy, maybe do a dark grey on the outside, lt. grey on the inside color combo. Both guys told me a two tone combo does cost more, thats understandable, just don't see why there is such a big difference in price between two shops claiming to do the same thing??? Either the more expensive guy is a ripoff or the cheaper guy does a lousy job, I dunno?

[humanoid]

I'd get some references and/or samples of their work to compare. As with most cases, you get what you pay for.

[Zembonez]

Originally Posted by humanoid

I'd get some references and/or samples of their work to compare. As with most cases, you get what you pay for.

This sounds like very good advice... The cheapest deal is rarely a deal.

[eyedoc]

I got references for my guy from people that restore cars as a hobby...and those guys are perfectionists.

my guy said that a simple powder job that he didn't have to sandblast would cost 25-30/rim.

Our TRD offroad tims are powdercoated aluminum....if they are in good shape, they can just be acid washed, hand sanded, and then powdercoated over top. So, maybe those prices are with sandblasting which can cost upwards of $90/hour?