Fuel Assault wheels pitting after 6 months

[NJ4X4]

bought a set of gloss black Fuel Assault wheels in September of last year. It's been just about 6 months since they've been on the truck and they're already pitting all over the silver machined edges. Needless to say, I'm not too happy with Fuel wheels and I'm sure this will be my last set. Some of the black areas on the wheels already have stains or water marks below the surface that doesn't come off with washing.

I'm in NJ where we see snow and salted roads in the winter, but I'm diligent about getting to a power washer after each storm so the salt never sits on the wheels or my truck for too long.

I took pics of the wheels and sent them to the place I purchased them from and this is the response they sent today:

Corrosion on the milled edges is not covered under warranty, but can be removed with careful polishing with an aluminum polish. We use Eagle One Nevr-dul.



Thanks,

Wheelsforless Tech Department

254-728-3624

Anyone else experience this with their Fuel wheels? I attached some pics of mine. I also attached a stock pic of the wheels for those that aren't familiar with them.

 

[JB1]

damn that's terrible

we had another member here that had trouble with his fuels, they actually cracked by the lugs and they did nothing

 

[stimpy433]

Seems like quite a few people are having trouble with fuel wheels.... someone on here had problems with the lug holes splitting.

 

[Michael Deery]

I would appeal directly to the manufacturer. The retailer is off base in my opinion. The "milled edges" that they reference don't actually appear to be milled. And, they appear to have a clear coat finish, negating any b.s. about milling (i.e. the "milled edges" are finished, not raw milling). I would ask the dealer to advocate for you with the manufacturer.

 

[NJ4X4]

I plan on contacting Fuel about this this.... Just started with the place I purchased them from and then thought I would post here to see if others are experiencing the same thing and get some feedback. Thanks.

 

[Pa.hemi.ram]

My Assults pitted the the black area too. Less than six months old.
Lemme know what Fuel says please.

 

[NJ4X4]

My Assults pitted the the black area too. Less than six months old.
Lemme know what Fuel says please.

Will do! I figured others here had the same problems. Thanks for responding.

 

[JB1]

Good luck with getting Fuel to help

http://www.ramforum.com/threads/fuel-wheels-cracking.109610/

 

[[email protected]]

They won't mine are scratched to hell. My good friend is a manager at discount tire called them directly and told him looked like I went off roading lol. Never seen off roading and refused to do anything for me 2 weeks going back and fourth with them pics and everything.

 

[25002nv]

My RBP wheels are doing the same. I live where they salt the roads. I think its just part of it.

 

[Maligator]

Screw fuel they have some nice looking Wheels but their customer service sucks. Their customer service reps wouldn't even speak to me about my cracking issues that I had on mine I kept having to go through custom offsets to try to get things squared away between them. After about three months of back and forth they still refuse to cover my wheels under warranty swearing that I installed them with the original lock tabs on the wheel studs which I did not they tried to claim that a small dent which was in between the lug holes by the way was caused by the lock tab still being on the studs when I installed the wheels. Their claim was completely asinine and I feel like they simply just did not want to honor their product. I'll never buy anything from them ever again

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[NJ4X4]

My RBP wheels are doing the same. I live where they salt the roads. I think its just part of it.

Not sure I agree with that.... Imagine the paint job on your truck pitted over the first winter. Would that be just part of living where they salt roads too?

 

[NJ4X4]

Screw fuel they have some nice looking Wheels but their customer service sucks. Their customer service reps wouldn't even speak to me about my cracking issues that I had on mine I kept having to go through custom offsets to try to get things squared away between them. After about three months of back and forth they still refuse to cover my wheels under warranty swearing that I installed them with the original lock tabs on the wheel studs which I did not they tried to claim that a small dent which was in between the lug holes by the way was caused by the lock tab still being on the studs when I installed the wheels. Their claim was completely asinine and I feel like they simply just did not want to honor their product. I'll never buy anything from them ever again

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Feel the same way..... NO MORE FUEL WHEELS FOR ME. EVER.

 

[Eestee70]

Road salt is not the only culprit to wheel pitting, I’ve owned numerous sets off aftermarket wheels and they have never seen snow or salt and I still had pitting. Some of it comes from the build up of brake dust. It’s extremely hard to always keep the wheels clean of brake dust and this is one of the outs that some wheel manufacturers use two not warranty their products. You can argue that you don’t drove on salty roads, but you can’t argue my wheels have never had brake dust on them.

 

[NJ4X4]

Road salt is not the only culprit to wheel pitting, I’ve owned numerous sets off aftermarket wheels and they have never seen snow or salt and I still had pitting. Some of it comes from the build up of brake dust. It’s extremely hard to always keep the wheels clean of brake dust and this is one of the outs that some wheel manufacturers use two not warranty their products. You can argue that you don’t drove on salty roads, but you can’t argue my wheels have never had brake dust on them.

Agreed...you can't keep brake dust off of the wheels....no doubt. The problem I have with my wheels is the quality of the wheels and finish on the wheels to repel brake dust and road salt. Let me ask this... did your factory wheels pit after a few months? Mine didn't. Obviously, the aftermarket wheels are not made to the same standards.

 

[Eestee70]

Agreed...you can't keep brake dust off of the wheels....no doubt. The problem I have with my wheels is the quality of the wheels and finish on the wheels to repel brake dust and road salt. Let me ask this... did your factory wheels pit after a few months? Mine didn't. Obviously, the aftermarket wheels are not made to the same standards.

Nope.....that’s by design. Aftermarket wheel makers have the capacity to make the wheel finish more resistant to this kind of problem. To keep cost down some use low grade materials that won’t hold up to repeated everyday use. If they used the same process as the factory then the wheels would cost 3 times as much.

 

[smoothee]

Well this makes me reconsider Fuel. My KMC XD's that I've been running for 6+ years in snow/salt, etc. and haven't been too particular with cleaning are still like new.

 

[SuthrnRAM]

I had chrome moto metals on my old gmc and they pitted like a **** and I'm way down south with no snow or salty roads, although salt from the ocean when I drive out on the beach, but I admit I wasn't real good about cleaning them, guess that's why I like the black rims.

 

[Demon-HeMi]

ive had my fuel wheels for about 3 months now, my neighbor has the same exact wheel on his truck and its been over a year, the only thing i noticed about them is the machined area is raw aluminum, no coating on it, which even leaving crud on it for a day can start the surface breakdown, I honestly believe its part of having these kind of wheels, ive seen american forces less than a year old that are absolutely ruined, that being said, the right polishing application will bring them back to what they should be, to compare them to OEM wheels isnt a fair comparison, OEM wheels are either a clear coated painted surface (black or silver) or chrome, and just like your car the painted surface will hold up stronger than non-coated aluminum, id go as far as saying the black is not clear coated either, mine had a matte black finish that i polished to a gloss, which the black on mine actually will stain if i let them air dry after a wash...

im not defending Fuel in their lack of willingness to help, but IMO this lack of them holding up seems to be the norm for alot of the bigger name brand wheels, that is unless you can 100% verify that they are truly powder-coated and sealed.

After seeing how bad all these big named "off-road" wheels hold up to normal wear and tear, i actually clean and wax my wheels weekly, and thats also why i didnt buy into the big Billet fad on my lowered truck


again im not saying anything against the OP or anyone who has had these problems out of their fuels, but in my body shop i see a ton of these high dollar "forged" wheels coming in pitted up or just terrible looking and its almost always caused by the wheels not having a TRUE protective coating on them from the factory.

also im down here in texas, we dont salt our roads at all, and the wheels pit up down here, i can only imagine what the wheels look like up there where they salt the roads.

 

[Demon-HeMi]

i will say this, after reading over the cracking thread, ill be checking my wheels and keeping an eye on them for sure