I called American Racing today about my brand new Torque Thrust II polished wheels having cracks. They fully admitted that a four month production line of many many wheels made over in China were welded incorrectly and shipped over here to us. They brushed it off and said when returning my cracked wheels make sure I ask for a later production number than what I have now. That's it-case closed..! I'de bet if the CEO's wife had a flat tire because of a cracked wheel, heads would fly.
So watch it guys when you order any AR wheels from now on. Make sure the production line is after Nov 2008 or you may be getting cracked wheels...

Bob in CT
NOT happy with American Racing Wheels...!

Interesting..... I have AR wheels with a slow leak that I attributed to the fact the the car had not been on the road yet and was just sitting there.... I think I'll remove them and take them down to the tire joint to get checked. The production date for mine would be back in early 2008.

Bob, I hate to be devil's advocate, but here goes. At least the manned up, and are replacing the wheels. More than I can say for Weld. Called them regarding a set of 15x8 ProStars that have a crack in them, and they will do NOTHING. Rather sad. At least yours are getting replaced, mine got trashed.

Macs69: I had a issue with some Weld Wheels a few years ago and they traded my out for the same wheel.

How long ago did that happen?

Maybe they should just go ahead and change the centercaps to a warning:

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/china.jpg

"American Racing wheels.... proudly made in China!"

Guess I'm stupid for thinking they were made in America!

Damn.

American Racing rims-made in china on a Chevelle??????

something wrong with that guys, even if they were not cracked!

www.billetspecialties.com Made right here in the Chicago area.

As I said before,It's just a shame about the brands that we grew up with and trusted are being made so poorly overseas.I would pay the few dollars more to get the quality I except from these wheel manufactors,and keep the jobs and money here in the states.
I was in a high end wheel and tire shop here in Baltimore,they basically sold wheels and tires 20" and up.Tons of chrome,ugly a$$ wheels,and 96% were coming from China.The chrome covered alot of lousey welding and forging.In that particular market,shine and size does matter.
What my point is,In my opinion,Is in the world of Classic Chevelle(and American)cars,it has to be right,or not at all.And thats the shame of it,these American Companies are living on their past reputations and closing their eyes about quality when it comes to turning more profit.Now,it's coming back and biting them in their backsides...Bob

Maybe management has a crack problem also.

Maybe management has a crack problem also.
Gary,That's a nice Chevelle you got there.Good dogs too,I was raised with Shelties...Bob

Maybe management has a crack problem also.

Thats what my first thought was in this post too. Around here, American Racing is more of a generic brand instead of a high end wheel. Every single tire shop has a display with a few of thier wheels on it. Places you dont want to buy custom wheels from. I worked at a custom wheel shop in 01 and AR was junk compaired to wheels from places like Billet specialties. Although the Torque Thrust was about the only style they made that was actually respectible, AR has always been more of an entry level type of quality wheel IMO.

How come you all buy those modern wheels made in riceland and then complain about the non existent quality?Where did all the nice,period correct Cragar s/s, slotmags, Keystone classics,western wheels and all the early USA manufactured wheels go? Are there no more rally steelys, styled steel wheels? Why not put a classic on a classic?
Yes,I know-they are heavy and small diameter.Not made for speed-but honest,how fast are you driving on the freeway?:cool:

Arno: Cragar also has crack issues so beware of them. Mabey we should all boycott mag wheels and just use good ole painted steel wheels. They should call the company Chinese Racing wheels instead..

Bob in CT

There are still some quality wheel manufactors here in the states.You just have to the research before you buy...Bob

Thats sucks that you have a defective wheel, but manufacturing cannot be perfect 100% of the time. I do think thats poor QC if 4 months worth of defective wheels made it to the shelves.

FYI, Chevy Ford and Chrysler all use wheels made in China as do many other manufacturers that never have these types of issues.

As much as I was happy with buying a set of Coys wheels for my Elco. I was very unhappy to see that they too are made in China!! Really......what IS made in the USA anymore??

There are still some quality wheel manufactors here in the states.You just have to the research before you buy...Bob

How about listing those you know, I'm too old and lazy for research!

BOO - CHINA trash :angry:

thanks, Scott

According to this

http://www.savannajones.com/products/product_search.php?c=136&cn=Steel+Wheels

all Cragar wheels are made in the USA......Cragar is pretty much a holding company these days, farming manufacturing out but at least it's here...I hope.

I would def. stop buying a brand that's named American Racing if it's not made in America... That's like finding out USA1 was built in China...

FYI, Chevy Ford and Chrysler all use wheels made in China as do many other manufacturers that never have these types of issues.

Wanna' bet. All three of those have had problems with cracked wheels. Mainly on full size trucks.

I have a set of Aluminum slots on my car straight from 1969...

Yikes.

The cracks alone are worrying... but when did they move production to China?

If they're all made in China now, the wheels on my car now represent my final American Racing purchase. My next set will be good old made in the USA Forged 3-piece deals anyways, but it's sad to see a hotrodding "icon" moving production overseas.

A little backstory of AR's production moving to China here:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263034

Even good wheels can crack-- years ago my Dad had a $4000 set of BBS 3-piece wheels and we accidentally ran the thin "track only" hoops on the streets because the dealer we purchased from neglected to tell us they made 2 different thicknesses of hoops. They all cracked within 3K miles or so. Changing to the thicker "street" hoops took care of the cracking issue but added several pounds per wheel.

As much as I was happy with buying a set of Coys wheels for my Elco. I was very unhappy to see that they too are made in China!! Really......what IS made in the USA anymore??

American Racing wheels are now just a hollow shell of themselves and the quality has been gone for years.Only the high-end race wheels are still being manufactured here in the US.I've since sold off all my off-shore wheels and now just exclusively run wheels forged in the USA on my classics.Here are the contact info on them,they are all made in So Cal:

www.rushforthwheels.com / 18" Rushforth Superspokes (smoked titanium)
www.vintagewheelworks.com / 17" VWW V-40's
www.bonspeedwheels.com / 18" Huntington's (flat grey p/coat)

Friends don't let friends put off-shore wheels on their classic cars...:noway:

to
Gokou:
yes,you're right-the BBS racewheel can develop cracks on highway use. That's why they have ROAD & Racewheels for sale.The race rims are not half as strong than the roadwheel rims.The center is also different (at least it was couple years ago).The race center was made from magnesium,roadwheel center was aluminum.You could unbolt the wheel,keep the center and change inner and outer dishes to alter rim widh and backspacing.;)

As much as I was happy with buying a set of Coys wheels for my Elco. I was very unhappy to see that they too are made in China!! Really......what IS made in the USA anymore??

There is no more America....China owns our national debt, manufaturing, ect... so basically we are all Chinese now....

to
Gokou:
yes,you're right-the BBS racewheel can develop cracks on highway use. That's why they have ROAD & Racewheels for sale.The race rims are not half as strong than the roadwheel rims.The center is also different (at least it was couple years ago).The race center was made from magnesium,roadwheel center was aluminum.You could unbolt the wheel,keep the center and change inner and outer dishes to alter rim widh and backspacing.;)

Yep, they were gold painted magnesium center wheels with polished outers. He had them on the Ferrari. Great looking wheels, and once we put the "road" hoops on them they didn't crack again-- even after lots of track use. He told the dealer they were going on a street car that also did a lot of track days, but the dealer obviously only heard "track use." :p

I just loved how light those wheels were with the track hoops. They would only remain crack free for about 3000 miles or 3 potholes-- whichever came first. :p

If I wanted to buy "vintage" looking wheels today I'd buy Vintage Wheel Works as John suggested or PSE-- both made in the USA.

My next wheels are going to be CCW "Classic" 3-piece in 18 x 10 and 18 x 11.5, but they're not everyone's cup of tea-- especially on older cars. But, they are made in the USA!

PSE is another great choice as Troy mentioned,Phil Schmidt makes some great period-correct vintage looking wheels that are perfect on these cars.:yes:

(213)534-4477 /PSE

According to their website, Budnik wheels are Made In USA in Huntington Beach, CA. http://www.budnik.com/home.asp

Wanna' bet. All three of those have had problems with cracked wheels. Mainly on full size trucks.

Im not surprised by this considering the quantity of wheels that are produced. Do you know exactly what these problems where?

I was really trying to keep this from turning into a "buy american" thread when many components of a modern American car is manufactured offshore.

I do know for a fact that there are Chinese wheels casting facilities that produce high quality products with extremely low spoilage. Numbers way less than .1% and that includes structural and cosmetic defects.

I know it sucks that American Racing wheels are not produced in America, but this could have easily happened here. Thats why Budnik's cost more, they are not built on a budget.

I do know for a fact that there are Chinese wheels casting facilities that produce high quality products with extremely low spoilage. Numbers way less than .1% and that includes structural and cosmetic defects.

Possibly...but most are cheaply made gravity-cast versus the preferred low-pressure castings commonly seen in better US-made wheels.

Im not surprised by this considering the quantity of wheels that are produced. Do you know exactly what these problems where?

Sure. I went looking for a few examples. Found this one on Ebay. I have seen several of these with cracks around the center section between bolt holes.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-Truck-Parts-Accessories__16-Chevy-Silverado-Truck-2500-HD-Alloy-Wheels-Rims_W0QQitemZ270326145377QQadiZ2865QQadnZCarQ20Q2 6Q20TruckQ20PartsQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQcmdZViewIte mQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item 270326145377&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A543%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Ford and Mopar have had simliar issues with similar looking wheels. I can think of a couple passenger cars with alloy wheels with cracks as well.

Since this is becoming more of an issue with all wheels and mfrs, I think I'm going to start taking pictures and keeping better track. I would not be surprised to find out it's an issue with the raw material.

American Racing did the right thing by replacing the rims. I just wish more companies manufactured their products in the United States of America.

Macs69: I had a issue with some Weld Wheels a few years ago and they traded my out for the same wheel.

How long ago did that happen?

John,
Here's a link to the thread where I posted my issue. Sorry for the slow response.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177230

"Really......what IS made in the USA anymore?? "

POLITICIAN'S!! That want to sell us out to the NWO!

pdq67