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Aluminum wheel corrosion - Toyota response

44K views 63 replies 46 participants last post by  norm356 
#1 ·
I am seeking information from other FJ Cruiser owners who have experienced premature and excessive corrosion of the stock aluminum wheels. The coating that looks like "paint" to me but that the dealer calls "clear coat" on my stock 2007 wheels started to develop a few bubbles a year or so ago but the deterioration has accelerated quickly. Now all four wheels plus the spare have extensive delamination and peeling leaving areas where the surface coating is gone and the bare alloy is exposed.

My dealer says this would only have been covered under the 3/36 warranty (which has expired), however he did admit there have been occasional problems with this.

I think this problem is evidence of unacceptable quality and should not have happened in the lifetime of the wheel. I have driven under ordinary four season conditions and have taken ordinary care of the wheels and vehicle. I have never used any type of wheel cleaner or chemical.

I have been examining wheels on every other make and model vehicle and have seen nothing even remotely close to this kind of deterioration. I believe that it must be a manufacturing defect in the painting/coating process and would like to know what other owners have experienced in order to strengthen my ability to make my case with Toyota and the dealer:

Have you had corrosion damage (blistering, peeling, flaking etc) on Toyota aluminum wheels?

If so, what was your dealer and/or Toyotas response? At what level was the situation resolved?

Were the wheels replaced? Under warranty? How many miles were on the vehicle when replacement was made? Did Toyota pay the entire cost?

Thanks in advance for any information and suggestions that you can share.

Bob
 
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#2 ·
Have you had corrosion damage (blistering, peeling, flaking etc) on Toyota aluminum wheels?

If so, what was your dealer and/or Toyotas response? At what level was the situation resolved?

Were the wheels replaced? Under warranty? How many miles were on the vehicle when replacement was made? Did Toyota pay the entire cost?
Yes, those look like crap if look closely. I bought new ones (XD801), so I don´t need those any more, I gave those to my friend.
Mine FJ is almost 6 years old, so I didn´t asked what mr. Toyota like them. :)
 
#3 ·
Bubbling and peeling on all five, couldn't be bothered to take them in for warranty. My past experience with warranty with Toyota has been piss poor so I don't even try anymore.
 
#4 ·
Same issue here...they traded out just one two yrs. ago. Said I was out of warranty.
 
#5 ·
I've lived in a salty, snowy 4 season area my entire life. This happens to aluminum wheels. I've seen it on Toyotas as well as Ford, Olds, etc. After almost 6 years on the road why would you think the dealer would do anything about it? You can't prove they were cared for properly and there is no stated "life expectancy" for an aluminum wheel because every set will experience a different environment and level of care. What does "ordinary care" mean? Cuz most "ordinary" folks I see driving around just take their car through the auto wash and don't pay any attention to the wheels(front ones always look black from brake dust). You say you "have never used any type of wheel cleaner". So you've never cleaned your wheels? Did you ever waxed them? I have. Every time I've taken them off and swapped with my steelies. There are only a few little individual bubbles here and there. But that also means the alloys have been in the garage the last 2 winters and avoiding the salt.

Point is, even if yours are in worse condition than they should be, they've been in service, in the elements for years and Toyota isn't gonna do anything about it. Explore your other options. Upgrade the look to some cool aftermarket rims. If you want to stay OEM, members sell their factory rims on the forum all the time after an upgrade and they're usually pretty cheap. You could have yours cleaned up and powder coated locally. Sorry to be a d**k, I just think you're wasting your time trying to start a campaign against Toyota. If you wanna fight, I think the fender bulge issue is a more important battle. Sorry your wheels look bad and it's gonna cost you money to fix, but such is life. Best of luck:cheers:
 
#30 ·
I've lived in a salty, snowy 4 season area my entire life. This happens to aluminum wheels. I've seen it on Toyotas as well as Ford, Olds, etc. After almost 6 years on the road why would you think the dealer would do anything about it? You can't prove they were cared for properly and there is no stated "life expectancy" for an aluminum wheel because every set will experience a different environment and level of care. What does "ordinary care" mean? Cuz most "ordinary" folks I see driving around just take their car through the auto wash and don't pay any attention to the wheels(front ones always look black from brake dust). You say you "have never used any type of wheel cleaner". So you've never cleaned your wheels? Did you ever waxed them? I have. Every time I've taken them off and swapped with my steelies. There are only a few little individual bubbles here and there. But that also means the alloys have been in the garage the last 2 winters and avoiding the salt.
If you take that good of care of your wheels (waxing them, and taking them off for the winter) and they are showing signs of bubbling, then that is clearly a crappy coating that toyota is using. I had a 2003 civic that made it through 7 Pennsylvania winters with virtually no corrosion at all to the stock alloy wheels. And I never waxed or washed them. Just took the car through an auto car wash when it got really dirty.
 
#47 ·
BOSA1,
I have had 2 FJ's so far, both with TRD wheels, one set was the silver ones on my '07 TRDSE, the other are the black ones on my '12 RR TT.
The silver ones had 125K on them and were 5 1/2 years old with no blisters.
The '12 TT black ones are good so far after 37K.
In years gone by, I had 7 LC's with stock silver AL wheels and the clear coat on those wheels did blister.
I wash my trucks at least once per week sometimes more, I am pleased with the TRD wheels so far….gm
 
#7 ·
I am also experiencing the same issue on all 5 of my '08wheels. I bought the extended warranty to 60k and was wondering if its still covered. The only chemical that my wheels saw was Dawn ultra. I hand wash my Fj monthly. Not to be a D***k but who has time to wax there rims? I for 1 would be very willing to help the fight against toyota, and feel the wheels are a very inferior product compared to any other truck rim I have ever seen. My wife has a '94 celica and her wheels are in better shape then mine even with all the curb scraping she does. My wheels have never been scratched or hit in any way.
 
#8 ·
All 5 of mine have the corrosion. It started before the warranty expired. Toyota dealer in Toledo said there was nothing they could do. I could not prove I took care of them. I drove my wifes 01 Passat to dealer to show them how the Germans have alloy wheels that don't corrode. They would not do anything about it. Talked to manufacturer rep and he said he would look into it and i never heard from them again. I ended up sand blasting mine and had them painted
 
#10 ·
This has been an ongoing problem with 4runners too. Many have successfully had their wheels replaced by toyota after the 3 yr 36k mile warranty just by being a pita to corporate toyota and their local dealers. Good luck.
 
#11 ·
Have the coating removed and apply a quality PPG clear coat if you like the wheel design. The wheels are 5 plus years old and you did not mention what part of the US you reside or if you were the original owner...
 
#13 ·
It isn't paint, it's powder coating. I took mine in about a month after I bought it (used) and they took mine in exchange for others that they already had re-powder coated locally. They are about 2 years old now and they started to have some corrosion so I plastidipped them and forgot it.
 
#14 ·
PS: Most of those rims are mad by a TPS in the states...they do not ship with the FJ's.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I have the 08 TT wheels... no bubbling or chipping.

Of course I scrape the hell out of them all on my own.... Kane Creek Canyon in Moab was particularly hard on one of them.
:cheers:

 
#16 ·
Mine did it. I bought the truck that way with 51K miles on it.... originally from Ohio.

Never did ask Toyota about them though... just got some TRDs and sold the old on Craigslist!





 
#17 ·
08 driven in Germany since new, lots of winter salting of the roads equaled bubbling on all 4 wheels in rotation (I don't put the spare in rotation so it is fine)

Just last weekend I sanded down the corrosion to clean aluminum, scuffed the rest of the wheel, sprayed em with rust inhibitor and then plastidipped em!

wasn't worth trying to fight the system for warranty coverage at this point...and it gave me an excuse to move forward on the blackout project!
 
#18 ·
Toyota's got a very poor clear cloat. MY body panels pinstripe very easily compared to my Jeep friends. I'd imagine this is the same culprit for Yota rims.
 
#21 ·
I got my FJ this year 2012, I have only 10K miles on them and mine are allready falling apart, I will speak w/the service dept Monday. The service advisor was telling me that due to heat and brake dust it some how baked into the wheel, he even suggested that it might be something on the road that splashed up on them? I am not buying this. I do not agree, if somethig from the road why is the body nat have same defects?
 
#23 ·
I have 07 ... VERY disappointed with this coating on rims, so bad that front right developed a slow leak last winter .. this became a safety issue for me. But like the rest of you maybe I will sandblast and powder coat .. will be flat black.

In passing I run a 16 inch metal rim on my offroad/ mudders in summer, I would just put winters on but still have tones of tread on first winter tires I purchased .. curiously the aftermarket tires have last longer than the OEM rims ? ... well pitiful really.

Not happy camper, so being he shyte disturber I am, a pointed snail mail letter to Toyota Canada, then perhaps Ministry of Transport Canada to report a potential "SAFETY" issue for investigation .. Toyota will like that move eh ?

Will get back with my toyota reply.

cheers

closing note: I just may go with aftermarket metal rims .. good friend made a good point .. if one curbs an aluminium your hooped as in fractured, the cheaper tin rims will bend not break and will limp one out of the bush, without changing it out at minus 35 C.
 
#24 · (Edited)
My 2 cents.

All manufacturers have this issue. My buddy made Ford put three new sets of wheels on his Ford Edge in three years....and the third set started the same deal. He hand washes his vehicle at least once every two weeks and waxes 4+X per year, including the rims (yes....he has spare time). So he complained to Ford and they finally gave him some decent money off a new vehicle.

I worked at a Chrysler / Plymouth / Dodge dealer for many years, they had the same thing, car, truck and mini-van alike. Today, I can walk through our work parking lot and see some form of it on every brand parked there. I have also owned numerous BMW's and Mercedes Benz that eventually experienced the same issue, even on the summer wheel/tire sets that I ran!

I live in WI and deal with massive amounts of road salt every winter. IMO There's nothing that can be done to prevent it...it is just a matter of time, and chemistry 8)

I have a 2012 FJ with 24000 miles on it and have owned it just shy of 3 years. So far the wheels look great, but in the next 12-24 months, I expect to see the dreaded bubbles of lifted clear.
 
#26 ·
I just got off the phone with Toyoya Canada .. duh they stated that they did not know of this "coating" bubbling off .. yeah right would you like to buy a slightly used bridge from me ?

I will be starting a new thread as when I had my "safety belt recall replaced ?" well bottom line the mechanic striped the bottom securement bolt for the belt .. but the dealership denies denies .. oddly when I took my FJ in the seatbelt was fine and securly held a 350 lb friend who regularly goes 4x4ing with me.

no joy AND I cant go hunting now until either the door is replaced as hunting dog owns the back seat.
 
#27 ·
it's just an appearance issue, sand em, prep em, paint em done deal
 
#29 · (Edited)
Sorry to disagree BUT my corrosion extended extensively into the bead causing a slow leak (at -32C) this is a significant problem .. I checked valve stem, did the best I could to locate the leak (spray bottle soap deal) looking for that shigle nail or a screw .. nodda .. took it into Kal Tire and tire technician stated we change out with spare (and change the POS spare OEM Dunlop) ... was informed that sandblast to remove all coatings then powder coat. This to the tune of 200 CND per rim (3 are bad will take pictures when I get a minute) heck, I can purchase a decent set of rims for 200 CND pesos .. so why would I fix a manufacturer / engineering problem on my dime ?

I KNOW this is a safety issue undeniably ... Toyota canada Customer sales rep stated the first time "she" had heard of this ... yeah right.:jester:

I would encourage all that have this concern, please contact customer @ 1 888 869 6828 ask for Jo Anne ... its toll free.:thinkerg:

In closing I use the oem rims only 6 months of the year (my winter tires are mounted on them) so say 45,000 kms I use a different tire and rim set-up for summer, for towing and rock crawling .. so bottom line my 2007 (bought in 08) OEM rims have only been used for 2.5 years if I did the math right.

ps the squeaky rim gets the grease, and informed polite consumers can and do get results !

cheers
 
#28 ·
I expect my truck to last me ten years and have zero issues, cosmetic or otherwise, or else I'm writing a damned letter to Toyota! Not sure it'll do any good though, because I called Toyota the other day complaining about a bird taking a **** all over it and all they did was give me the runaround, telling me to park away from trees or move someplace where it's birdless, yada yada, the bastids!
 
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