2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Cracked Aluminum Factory Rims

[John Boy]

My 01 came with Aluminum rims from the factory. Less than a year ago I had trouble with a slow leak on one of my tires. Upon further inspection we found that the rim had a small crack on the backside along the bead seal, it wasn't near a wheel weight. I had been having trouble with wheel weights coroding and causing a slow leak along the bead. When we pulled the tire off the rim this crack was about an inch long and headed towards the front edge. Got a used rim from a salvage yard $170 and was back in business. Last night I took my truck in for a small slow leak again. Imagine my surprise when again I have a cracked rim. Right front if it makes a difference. Has anyone else experienced any trouble with these rims? Its a pretty scary thought to think that the tire may not just go flat but that the rim might disintegrate at highway speed. Also the friendly Dodge folks say the rims are only warrantied for 36K miles and of course at the first problem I was at 40K and now I'm at 57K. I've ordered new aftermarket rims with a lifetime guarantee.

 

[DISPATCH]

i also had a cracked factory rim on my 2000 but at 150k miles i asked how much for a remanufactuered factory and they said 180 then i asked how much for 4 new rims they said buy 3 get one free for a total of 360. so i now have 4 16x10 mbmotoring rims.

 

[TMitch]

I found this thread while searching for info on cracked factory aluminum rims.

My neighbour has a 2001 2500 4x4 CTD. It's his 3rd Cummins in a Dodge and all three are still alive except this one really doesn't like him. He had the cracked block thing and then a bunch of trouble with front wheel bearings. He called me yesterday to ask what I knew about defective aluminum wheels. His wife noticed a bulge on one of the front tires so she popped into the local tire shop where they found both front tires worn down to the belts. the tire guy said he sees it all the time on the Cummins with alum wheels and proceeded to to take the tires off the rim and show her that the edge of the rim was cracked on both rims. I couldn't believe it when I saw it. You could grab the edge of the rim and bend it back and forth with your hand. She's got 2 steel wheels on the front now, the old ones are junk. Check your wheels!

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Several years ago I got Alcoa forged aluminum wheels for my 97 from southwest wheels in Texas, only about $110 each.

You might check with NHTSA and see if there is a requirement for wheels to last a certain number of years or miles.

 

[TboneMan]

Yup! I had a crack in the same place on one of my rims. I luckly was able to get a "savage yard" rim for $120. You can routinely pick up used sets of 4 rims on ebay for $300-$400 but I didn't want to have three rims laying around. Now that I see how common this is, I guess I should have bought a complete set to have around when others fail.

 

[rkressg]

I had one break on my truck when it was new (Less than 36,000) and the dealer told me to pound salt. They said it was the tire shop's fault when they mounted the tires. I went to the tire shop and explained to them what the dealer said, and they said BS. Ended up getting a new rim for less than $200 (I can't remember the exact amount, that was over 3 yrs ago). Needless to say, that Dealer has since gone out of business.

-Rich

 

[DGStrate]

Me Too!

My 01. 5 (now sold) came with Aluminum rims from the factory. I also had a crack on the inside of a front rim at around 40k miles. I took it to the Dealer. They inspected and had to run the approval by the regional rep. but due to no scuffing or other "trauma" marks on the wheel, I got a new rim from Dodge for FREE. No problems... took about 4 days from time I took it in until the new one was mounted and on the truck. I was running BFG 285s at the time and had a full size spare, so the only inconvenience to me was running without a spare for a few days.



Good luck to all of you having this problem!

 

[CWebster]

Another one hear. All 4 factory rims off a 2000 3/4 ctd. We kept welding them up for a long time, but eventually ran out of space to put wheel weights! It is a material defect issue. .

 

[Jim Norton]

hi, guys I had two wheels broke on my 01 when I got it, had new tires put on and dealer told me about it. They were so small that they didn't leak for over a year. I found replacements at a tire shop (new take offs). They told me they see a lot of this, as wheels have became wider when you hit a hole,ect the inside bead flexes and starts a crack. It's from the inside bead haveing little support (if you look at a bare rim it's obviuos). They said no one name rim seems worse, but wider is more likley. Also if you find one check the other on same side, It hit whatever broke the other one. Jim