R35 Rims Cracking!

[GTR-N1]

As soon as I can get the rim back from the dealer I will take a full rim pic and you will see the rim is perfectly round! and never been hit. NOT EVEN A GUTTER SCRATCH!

I personally watched the tyre place from start to end, even made sure they did not use a rattle gun (hand wheel braces used all round) and very good condition tyre fitting machine used VERY gently. Because I was very concerned about them bumping into the low tyre pressure warning modules.

Put the wheel on the balancing machine and slowly rotate it using a dial gauge to measure radial runout. Then do the same for face runout. Video both of these (including showing the crack clearly in both videos so they can't accuse you of faking the vid) and send to Nissan proving that the wheel is within factory specs.

Note this may also prove that the wheel is bent (if it actually is). At least you'll know either way, and if the wheel is OK, you'll have some proof that Nissan will be hard pressed to refute.

The rim itself will need to go back to NISSAN

By takings pics + vid as per above, I'd also sign/initial the rim on vid for recording purposes and burn a copy of the vid before it and the rim get sent in.

[nisskid]

ok, a few things to take into consideration, barrel cracks aren't very dangerous. they very rarely lead to catastrophic failure, at most they leak air and you might get a flat tyre over a few days. so before you get too worried, don't.

barrel cracks can be welded up, not that i am recommending this, but it's quite common, and if done right are just as strong as new.

where cracks in rims get dangerous, is when they are in real load bearing places such as spokes, and mounting disk, these cannot be welded, and are basically write off wheels which are as good as paper weights.

barrel cracks are quite common, although less common in good quality wheels, it does happen. i know of a certain tyre shop which has multiple wheels come in per week they sell (cheap crap) that have cracks and bends in them, i know this because i know the dude that gets all their cashie jobs to weld the cracks up lol

how you managed to crack it, i dont know. as far as "there was no other evidence of a hit", well wheels, especially good quality wheels, can flex quite an amazing distance, while still bouncing back to original form, and not denting or warping, they flex a small amounts all the time as they are subject to different loads, especially at the barrel. if you hit something big enough, hard enough, with tyres like RE070R RFT's, they are going to keep the solid object you hit off the wheel, and abosrb a bunch of the blunt energy, but a lot of the energy will still make it into the wheel, and deform the wheel quite a lot. this means you may not have say a dent from where the object you have hit, directly hits the wheel, but the wheel will have deformed a long way.

if the wheel deforms far enough, the metal will crack, then bounce back into it's original form, or possibly slightly out, showing no evidence of a hit, and leaving a crack in the wheel.

btw, so people can visualise what i talk about with how far these wheels can deform, i put a jack inside a R33 GTR wheel, and from the time the jack was touching both sides of the inner barrel, i jacked it up around 3 inches until the jack ran out, the wheel was no longer a circle, it was a proper oval, and when i released it, it went straight back to it's original form, i dont know how far i could have gone, wasnt really keen to find out however lol

[MrStabby]

AFAIK the law states that goods must be "fit for purpose". Call Fair Trading to see what they say. You may need to pay to get an expert opinion (mechanical engineer? metallurgist?) for comment, but FT will instruct you. Nissan are probably just trying to make you go away so they dont have the replace the wheel for free. Consumer protections are quite strong so dont just accept what they say.

[simpletool]

I agree with most posters here that:

A) That crack doesn't look new (so the tyre fitters didn't do it)

B) That crack is a barrel crack and has formed from high loads

C) The runflat tyres (factory fitment!) imparted the loads into the wheel and didn't fail themselves, nor did any suspension parts.

I see this as a clear cut warranty claim. What is the explanation from Nissan?

Looks to me to be a metallurgical issue or wheel unfit for purpose (weight and load considering local conditions). I'd hate to drive an R35 up Parramatta Rd.

[kymbo]

LATEST NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AFTER HOLDING MY CAR AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR OVER A WEEK, NISSAN FLAT OUT REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE CRACKED RIM AS A WARRANTY CLAIM.

THEY STAND BY THEIR BELIEF IT IS MY FAULT!

I have a simple plan, I told the dealer, get the new $2,000 rim, fit it, give me my car back, and put the cracked wheel in the boot.

I then intend to photo and video the entire rim to show its condition. Then I am taking it to a local engineering company that specialises in checking and repairing damaged rims. I will pay them to do a written independent report on the rim.

Once I have that, I will be loading this BLATANT NISSAN 'RIP OFF' AND REFUSAL TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAULTY AND DANGEROUS GOODS onto every GTR & Nissan enthusiast website throughout the World.

Following that I will be loading it onto every BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Audi, Jaguar and sports car enthusiast website throughout the World explaining the NISSAN METHOD OF CUSTOMER SERVICE and why they should NEVER BUY A GTR, unless they are happy to buy a car with A BOGUS WARRANTY PLAN. This will be my new hobby for the next few months.

Lets not forget all the other 'Nissan smoke and mirrors' no warranty cover issues. Why give a car the means to be launched, then say, if you use it your screwed??

If the bastards at Nissan are so cheap and petty to screw me on one rim, what next?

My past cars include late model Corvette convertibles, an E36 BMW M3, and E46 BMW M3 and a V10 BMW M5 prior to my GTR purchase. BMW never hesitated to honour their warranty obligations. In fact, to the credit of BMW they did warranty work on my last M3 and M5 even when they were a few months out of warranty.

Nissan have got a lot to learn. The GTR is NOT A TIIDA shit box. So stop giving shit box customer service and attitude to GTR owners!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I can loose them just one sale in the World and put a dent into the side of their arrogance, they might think again before screwing some other GTR owner.

As I said before, HAVE YOUR RIMS CHECKED. Mine has cracked, maybe yours have as well??????

My issue is with Nissan, not the dealer. My Gold Coast dealer has always done the right thing and on this matter, has tried on multiple occasions to convince Nissan HQ in Melbourne to provide warranty cover on this issue.

[domino_z]

why is the wheel silver on the inside? or is it the camera flash making them look silver?

ive since taken my oem wheels off for aftermarkets and they are painted grey inside the barrels - no cracks that i can see with the oem tyres still mounted

agreed the warranty is very up in the air, but then alot of manufacturers are doing same in recent years with the gfc, slumping sales, loss of profit etc

re the launch control, you have a 2010, you can use with VDC-R, so technically if the box falls to bits off the line it should be covered under warranty...... technically

it's dissappointing to hear about this denial when at the end of the day it is a relatively cheap part to replace. I would have thought nissan would bend over backwards to accomodate such an expensive car purchase given their largest market for a new model are existing owners ..... see you guys at PI for the free and catered 2011 drive day

Edited March 21, 2011 by domino_z

[nisskid]

yeh, nissan should replace every one's parts every time they hit stuff. go smash your car into a tree, it should be covered under warranty.

im standing behind nissan on this one.

[Adelaideprosound]

I dont recall the OP saying that he actually hit anything with it. Sooooooo

You can stand behind Nissan, but unfortunately the only thing you can afford is banged up R32's so unless those are gonna keep Nissan in business then pretty much you can stand behind your own pile of shit if u want in front on top left or right, it still doesnt make a jack all difference .

Its people like the OP who can afford this car, and expects the accessories on it to last its warranty period and therefore keeps Nissan in business.

[3LGODZILA]

[Mohsen]

yeh, nissan should replace every one's parts every time they hit stuff. go smash your car into a tree, it should be covered under warranty.

im standing behind nissan on this one.

agreed

maybe op hit something and didnt want to admit it?

I dont recall the OP saying that he actually hit anything with it. Sooooooo

You can stand behind Nissan, but unfortunately the only thing you can afford is banged up R32's so unless those are gonna keep Nissan in business then pretty much you can stand behind your own pile of shit if u want in front on top left or right, it still doesnt make a jack all difference .

Its people like the OP who can afford this car, and expects the accessories on it to last its warranty period and therefore keeps Nissan in business.

im sorry but who the f**k are you to pay out another persons car?

sounds like op hit something to me and wont admit it. fair enough. would have thought if someone had the cash for an r35 they had cash for a spare rim.

[Daleo]

agreed

maybe op hit something and didnt want to admit it?

im sorry but who the f**k are you to pay out another persons car?

sounds like op hit something to me and wont admit it. fair enough. would have thought if someone had the cash for an r35 they had cash for a spare rim.

Look at the pictures of the rim. Where is the evidence of an impact?

As for the "if someone had the cash for an r35 they had cash for a spare rim." comment; Just because you have $2000, doesn't mean you want to spend it fixing someone elses stuff up. If the wheel on your new performance car failed; what would you be expecting?

If he can afford a GTR; then presumably he could've chosen one of the many other performance cars in and around this price bracket (and no doubt will, in future).

If he didn't do anything wrong, why shouldn't it be covered? The GTR is Nissan's Halo model, the jewel in their crown.

Surely it would be worth it's weight in gold just in goodwill to replace an aparrently defective part.

Plenty of manufacturers have quietly replaced defective parts over the years, where would be the harm in this case?

Edited March 22, 2011 by Daleo

[LSX-438]

Where do people get off on the personal judgements? FFS. This is probably more about how Nissan reacted/responded. Clearly there is some doubt about the situation, who kows what caused the crack; if Nissan dismissed it out of hand entirely straight up, or without offering a cler reason as to why warranty was denied, then i would back the OP.

[MattR]

why not fly to nissan head office yourself with the rim and walk through the doors and make a big fuss and not leave until someone behind a big desk see's you?

worth a try

[PIG747]

To the OP

Call up nissan customer service, tell them your situation and that you are disguested that it isn't covered under warranty when it wasn't your fault that it cracked and have a rant while you are at it. I work at a Honda dealership and have had many customers ring the customer service department when Honda wont cover things under warranty and they qucikly change their mind and allow it to be replaced at no cost to the customer or at worst the customer pays for labour and Honda for the part. We have even done a V6 Legend bottom end because the customer complained and even transmisions for cars that are out of warranty all because customer have taken it upon themselves to winge

[180JDM]

11,000kms with a crack that big which looks like its been there for over 1000kms!

You think Nissan would replace it with no questions asked!

Maybe if you lived in Japan it would be a different sorry...

[nisskid]

im sorry but who the f**k are you to pay out another persons car?

sounds like op hit something to me and wont admit it. fair enough. would have thought if someone had the cash for an r35 they had cash for a spare rim.

George spends a lot of money on his cars, and not a tonne of time driving them. He thinks this is how everyone should own cars.

Someone like me who spends a lot of money driving their cars, a lot of time working on their own car, and as little money on the car itself, is a mystery to him.

Thankfully i am more than content with what i do and how i do it, so getting people like George's approval is the last on my list of things to do.

[nisskid]

Look at the pictures of the rim. Where is the evidence of an impact?

go back to my last few posts, i explained it very clearly there.

[nisskid]

double post

[Daleo]

go back to my last few posts, i explained it very clearly there.

Yeah, I read your post about the jack; very interesting! It was more aimed at the post about the OP hiding the truth.

Cheers, Dale.

[Adelaideprosound]

George spends a lot of money on his cars, and not a tonne of time driving them. He thinks this is how everyone should own cars.

Someone like me who spends a lot of money driving their cars, a lot of time working on their own car, and as little money on the car itself, is a mystery to him.

Thankfully i am more than content with what i do and how i do it, so getting people like George's approval is the last on my list of things to do.

An internet troll never needs anyones approval.

As i said banged up R32'S with so called your inventive modifications, which basically are just a tight ass way to refurbish stock items as your not inventing anything nor do you have the trillion dollar research and development facilities doesnt make Nissan money.

Also your talking to me about driving cars? Dude everyone sees my cars driven out on the road, i remember you riding a bike to shows because your car is never in running order:).

Anyway this is not approval or dissaproval, what shits me is the way you think you know everything, and basically are putting words in peoples mouth. You dont know why this rim cracked, your just trying to be a hard ass by adding your 2c worth where its not wanted.

The OP clearly stated he hasnt hit a pothole UNTILL he or we find out different shut your mouth, and go waste your time on using a jack to see how flexible a wheel is.