To those with 20 inch chrome clads...

Heber Perez · Oct 21, 2019

Fast69Mopar said:
I have seen a total of 2 cracked chrome claddings in the 15 years they have been released for Ram Trucks.

Your "mechanic" is full of sh*t and should be honest and cover the cost.

If it were me, I'd remove the chrome cladding from the rest of the wheels. Clean the paint up under the cladding and run with the satin silver wheels. Then I would Plasti Dip the covers.

Can the chrome cladding be removed? hum....Did not know, I think I will do that and then Plasti-Dip them, regardless this was my original idea, but would've Plasti-Dip the cladding instead. Thanks !!

tomb · Oct 21, 2019

Ryan51993 said:
Hi guys this is my first post but definitely won't be my last, I'm the owner of a 2016 ram 1500 with the 20 inch chrome clad wheels. Up until now my wheels have been holding up really well and I've had zero issues with them. Well I had my trusted mechanic do a brake job and tire rotation and it came back with one hub cap cracked almost all the way around the bolts. I mentioned it immediately and he tried telling me its a well known issue and happens to everyone with these wheels. So my question for you guys who have these wheels is whether or not this is really a common occurrence or if he actually wrecked my wheels and is just trying to avoid paying? I've looked and looked and found absolutely nothing online about the chrome clads randomly cracking apart. If they really are that fragile and all my wheels are going to end up this way I won't push it with the guy and I'll just go aftermarket. Otherwise its going to cost me around 200$ just for a used wheel because as far as I can tell the hub caps aren't replaceable so I really want to know if I should be going after this guy for the money.. Any input is appreciated, thanks!!

I have a 2012 with the chrome clads and believe it or not they still look like new--I also believe yours were over -torqued and that would surely crack them-that is assuming that the crack runs from one of the lug-nut holes and not the outer rim area. It really sucks that they are not replacable without buying a new wheel though.

Casper · Oct 22, 2019

The only issue I've had with those rims is they don't like potholes or grease-gorillas.
The chrome clad does fine, the rims can go out of true way too easy.
Mounting a tire incorrectly can also bend the aluminum alloy rim and grease-gorillas are sneaky. I had a TPMS sensor changed. The knucklehead didn't say anything, just let it sit on their lot leaking air until I went to pick it ---manager tried to deny his gorillas did it. He believed their lie that that wasn't the rim they worked on until I showed him gorilla prints in the dirt and dust---busted.

Wahrsuul · Oct 23, 2019

I've got the chrome-clads on my '09. Three still look great and the fourth looks good but has a crack on the outer rim. Not sure how it happened. The cladding can be removed, but to me, what's underneath doesn't look as good. I have a full set of the claddings that someone painted black, but they didn't remove the chrome beforehand, so they don't look great. If I could get them sandblasted I could repaint them, but at the moment it's not worth the $ to get that done.

chrisbh17 · Oct 23, 2019

You can buy black cladding on Ebay, etc. I think its factory since they do have black versions of the chrome cladded wheels on some trucks.

My only worry would be installing them so that they dont cause a balance issue. "Close enough" might work, you just might need the wheels re-balanced after you do it (a little more adhesive ends up over there, a little less over here, etc....at 60mph it could make a difference)

Wahrsuul · Oct 24, 2019

Can't get the black ones like that for the rims I have, unless they've showed up recently. I've looked for them.

slacadjuster · Oct 25, 2019

Ryan51993 said:
Hi guys this is my first post but definitely won't be my last, I'm the owner of a 2016 ram 1500 with the 20 inch chrome clad wheels. Up until now my wheels have been holding up really well and I've had zero issues with them. Well I had my trusted mechanic do a brake job and tire rotation and it came back with one hub cap cracked almost all the way around the bolts. I mentioned it immediately and he tried telling me its a well known issue and happens to everyone with these wheels. So my question for you guys who have these wheels is whether or not this is really a common occurrence or if he actually wrecked my wheels and is just trying to avoid paying? I've looked and looked and found absolutely nothing online about the chrome clads randomly cracking apart. If they really are that fragile and all my wheels are going to end up this way I won't push it with the guy and I'll just go aftermarket. Otherwise its going to cost me around 200$ just for a used wheel because as far as I can tell the hub caps aren't replaceable so I really want to know if I should be going after this guy for the money.. Any input is appreciated, thanks!!

I had the same 5 spoke, chrome clad rims off a 2012, on my 2005 Hemi. Held up amazingly well. never an issue. Looked fab on a red truck too boot.

Yes it's true, they are NOT replaceable. They may be just "cladding", but they are meant not to come off, or come apart form the "spokes".

The dude broke them, and he's cheaping out cause he doesn't wanna pay.

Mister 4x4 · Oct 28, 2019

I've seen some naked chrome clads before, and they don't look that bad. Granted, I'm not a satin finish kind of guy, so I think if my 2012's chrome clads ever go to crap, I'll just pull the plastic off and polish up what's underneath - they're aluminum, after all, so the should be able to be polished up with awesome results.

KnurledNut · Oct 28, 2019

One of my wheels cracked or should I say 'spidered' around 2 of the lug nuts. My truck was in for a balance/rotation. The tire guys caught it when they improperly balanced the wheel. They apologized and replace the wheel. If they hadn't been honest I wouldn't have caught it.

tomb · Oct 30, 2019

Mister 4x4 said:
I've seen some naked chrome clads before, and they don't look that bad. Granted, I'm not a satin finish kind of guy, so I think if my 2012's chrome clads ever go to crap, I'll just pull the plastic off and polish up what's underneath - they're aluminum, after all, so the should be able to be polished up with awesome results.

are you sure the rims are aluminum-i always assumed they were steel

BOWERSFJ · Oct 30, 2019

tomb said:
are you sure the rims are aluminum-i always assumed they were steel

Put a magnet on em ...

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Mister 4x4 · Oct 31, 2019

tomb said:
are you sure the rims are aluminum-i always assumed they were steel

I ain't gonna lie - I haven't actually checked with a magnet or anything. I'm going on the premise that cast wheels are typically aluminum, and stamped wheels are steel - these are definitely cast wheels.

This guy pulled the chrome and powder coated his (I would polish mine instead):

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/4th-gen-ram-tech/397372-20-inch-chome-clad-wheels.html

meathead177 · Oct 31, 2019

Late to the party......I had a 2007 2500 with chrome clads.......I put on 35x12.5" Toyo muds (which measure even wider) and the extra width of the tires cracked the outer lip of all 4 of my wheels. I could hear them popping every so often with the windows down. I ended up popping the chrome off, sanding, priming, and rattle canning them hammertone black.

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To those with 20 inch chrome clads...

Heber Perez

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tomb

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Casper

U.S. Navy (Ret.)

Wahrsuul

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chrisbh17

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Wahrsuul

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slacadjuster

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Mister 4x4

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KnurledNut

SemperFi

tomb

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BOWERSFJ

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Mister 4x4

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meathead177

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