I have a 2022 Suburban with aftermarket, Niche brand, rims. No issues with the rims before this day. The factor tires, Bridgestone Alenza, were fairly worn.

On Friday I had new tires installed at Costco. Michelin Defender LTX M/S 2.

Since Costco does not do alignments I drove pretty much directly to the Chevy dealership for an alignment.

While at the Chevy dealership I received a notice from OnStar that my passenger rear tire pressure was low, 27psi.

I did not think much of it since I had gotten these notifications earlier in the day when Costco was charging the tires as they let out the air and started work and I assumed this notification was one that lagged. But after leaving the dealership and getting home I realized it really was low.

After two return visits to Costco they figured out the rim was cracked. They say there is no way this could have happened there. I watched the tires go onto the rims and I am inclined to agree, pushing a tire on the rim doesn't seem like that much pressure.

I do know that they attach stuff to the rims during an alignment. Is there enough pressure to crack an alloy rim?

In either case, whoever is at fault, do I even stand a chance of them paying for it? I can see deny, deny deny in either one's future.

Whose is more likely to be at fault for cracking my rim?

Photo added in comments below.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: holdem,

Sounds more like a bad wheel to me, especially if it's just one wheel.

Perhaps a metallurgical defect that just happened to finally manifest itself.

Since you said that you were getting a low pressure warning earlier in the day before you got the tires I would say that Costco is in no way responsible and the dealership probably isn’t either…

How long have you had the wheels?
Did anyone hit a pothole etc.?

Several years ago my wife hit a pothole (she said wasn’t bad) but it cracked her magnesium wheels…OUCH!

A rim specialist can weld it right up and ensure it's straight.

The manufacturer is at fault. Putting tires on a wheel shouldn't break the wheel. An alignment shouldn't break the wheel. Driving on tires shouldn't break the wheel unless you hit something you shouldn't have. 100% manufacturer IMO.

quote:

Whose is more likely to be at fault for cracking my rim?

If you were getting the low tire warnings before going to Costco, the cracked rim is your or the rim manufacturer’s fault.

There’s no undue pressure on the rims when an alignment is done.

I highly doubt Costco caused the wheel to crack. If the wheel cracked while they were changing the tire, my guess would be the wheel was defective to begin with since it couldn’t withstand getting a tire changed.

Now, since these are aftermarket wheels getting new tires it’s safe to assume they have 20,000 or more miles on them. If the old tires were also Michelin, then maybe 50,000 miles or more. I think you’re going to have a hard time proving a manufacturer’s defect either way. That leaves you on the hook. If you hit something, maybe your insurance will cover it.

Which Niche wheels and what size? Are they capable of handling the loads the ‘burb puts on them?

A photo of the defect causing the leak would give the answer.
Sometimes it's as simple as a pinhole leak in a casting. If either Costco or the dealership damaged it that would also be obvious.
Since it was leaking before the tire replacement I'd suspect neither caused it and something in the wheel itself.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Since you said that you were getting a low pressure warning earlier in the day before you got the tires I would say that Costco is in no way responsible and the dealership probably isn’t either…

How long have you had the wheels?
Did anyone hit a pothole etc.?

Several years ago my wife hit a pothole (she said wasn’t bad) but it cracked her magnesium wheels…OUCH!

I got the notifications earlier in the day while Costco was changing the tires. It was kind of cool, cause I knew exactly when they started work on the car.

I assume the wheels are two years old. I bought the car used 6 weeks ago. It is a 2022, so assuming they were put on when the car was new, maybe 2.5 years at the most.

I hit nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Whose is more likely to be at fault for cracking my rim?

If you were getting the low tire warnings before going to Costco, the cracked rim is your or the rim manufacturer’s fault.

There’s no undue pressure on the rims when an alignment is done.

I highly doubt Costco caused the wheel to crack. If the wheel cracked while they were changing the tire, my guess would be the wheel was defective to begin with since it couldn’t withstand getting a tire changed.

Now, since these are aftermarket wheels getting new tires it’s safe to assume they have 20,000 or more miles on them. If the old tires were also Michelin, then maybe 50,000 miles or more. I think you’re going to have a hard time proving a manufacturer’s defect either way. That leaves you on the hook. If you hit something, maybe your insurance will cover it.

Which Niche wheels and what size? Are they capable of handling the loads the ‘burb puts on them?

I got the intial warnings when Costco was changing the tires. It was kind of cool, cause I then knew exactly they started work on the car.

The car has less than 31K miles, so the wheels have that amount at most.

Tires are 275/50R22, which is the factory size. Whoever replaced the wheels before me did so with factory sizing.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:

Since it was leaking before the tire replacement I'd suspect neither caused it and something in the wheel itself.

I changed my wording above. It was not leaking before the tire replacement. I got the notifications while Costco was changing the tires. That was when I knew they had started work on the car.

When the other notification came in hours later I assumed it was a notification that had lagged.

Here is a photo of the crack. Look closely at the black near the white marks and the crack is clearly visible.

If the rim shows no sign of abuse, most likely the rim was defective.

That could have been done by Costco if they have the wrong type of 'Rim Clamp' Tire Machine, especially one that's had a long life of hard use. The wrong type, though it's not 'supposed' to touch the rim while mounting/dismounting, has a movable fulcrum, that the Tire Jockey sets in place and uses to lever the tire over the edge of the rim. Coats has such a machine, and low profile large diameter wheels (255/35-ZR20 Tires on 20 x 10" Wheels) do NOT play well with Tire Changers of this design!

Here's a pic of what 'can' happen if the 'Tire Jockey' is an idiot:



The 'right' type of Rim Clamp Tire machine breaks the bead AND dismounts the tire while the rim is mounted on the machine. Done properly, no part of the machine can or will contact the wheel rim. The Hunter Revolution is one such machine:

https://www.hunter.com/tire-changers/revolution/#roi

My criteria for a shop that will be mounting & balancing tires is that they have a Hunter Revolution Tire Machine and Hunter Road Force Elite Balancer (and they the know how to use it properly!) This can and usually does require that they break the bead and index the tire on the wheel (sometimes more than once!) in order to minimize tire/wheel vibration as part of the balancing operation.

You can go here to find Hunter Road Force Elite and Hunter Revolution equipment at a shop near you:

https://www.hunter.com/find-equipment/

In case there's any question, there is NO way that damage happened by attaching the equipment to the wheel when doing the alignment!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

The 'right' type of Rim Clamp Tire machine breaks the bead AND dismounts the tire while the rim is mounted on the machine. Done properly, no part of the machine can or will contact the wheel rim. The Hunter Revolution is one such machine:

https://www.hunter.com/tire-changers/revolution/#roi

There is NO way that damage happened by attaching the equipment to the wheel when doing the alignment!

Yes, very similar to those pics. I watched them mount other tires as I was standing outside the bay doors on the initial install.

I actually thought to myself while watching, and this was before I had any issues, "That is way more gentle than what I pictured happening back here."

I’m glad Nhracecraft posted. My experience with the gorillas at the tire shop here has been such that I drive 150 miles to Midland rather than take a chance on having another wheel screwed up having a tire mounted locally. These guys here have even bent the shit out of a steel tractor wheel.

That's a pretty big crack, one way to tell if it was there previously from an impact on the street vs in the shop is how clean it is inside the crack. If it's full of dirt inside then it's older damage. Of course you'd have to bust it apart to really inspect the crack.

Hard to tell if it was pre-existing and the tire change just exacerbated the situation, or the mounting was done improperly and was a cause. I've had several tires mounted at Costco, they tend to do a good job getting the tire off and on my 20's without damaging them.

Do you have a wheel repair place in your area, someone that can grind it down, re-weld the aluminum and then have it power coated.

I have had a cracked rim (from hitting a pothole and blowing the tire). Took it to a welding shop and had it welded up. This was on an older (85) corvette.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I've had several tires mounted at Costco, they tend to do a good job getting the tire off and on my 20's without damaging them.

Do you have a wheel repair place in your area, someone that can grind it down, re-weld the aluminum and then have it power coated.

I have bought 5-6 sets of tires from Costco over the years. I have never had an issue.

I called a buddy who used to have one of those mobile wheel repair businesses about 15 years ago. He said to throw it away. I probably will look into repair a little further. But I already ordered a new wheel, $438 and it will be delivered tomorrow.

What size are those tires. From what I can see in your picks they appear to be low profile. If you are running less than a 50 profile on your Suburban I expect you will have many more cracked rims in your future. Note if you are running 70 profile tires a big thumbs up and you can ignore that bit about running an under 50 profile.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
I have a 2022 Suburban with aftermarket, Niche brand, rims. No issues with the rims before this day. The factor tires, Bridgestone Alenza, were fairly worn.

On Friday I had new tires installed at Costco. Michelin Defender LTX M/S 2.

Since Costco does not do alignments I drove pretty much directly to the Chevy dealership for an alignment.

While at the Chevy dealership I received a notice from OnStar that my passenger rear tire pressure was low, 27psi.

I did not think much of it since I had gotten these notifications earlier in the day when Costco was charging the tires as they let out the air and started work and I assumed this notification was one that lagged. But after leaving the dealership and getting home I realized it really was low.

After two return visits to Costco they figured out the rim was cracked. They say there is no way this could have happened there. I watched the tires go onto the rims and I am inclined to agree, pushing a tire on the rim doesn't seem like that much pressure.

I do know that they attach stuff to the rims during an alignment. Is there enough pressure to crack an alloy rim?

In either case, whoever is at fault, do I even stand a chance of them paying for it? I can see deny, deny deny in either one's future.

Whose is more likely to be at fault for cracking my rim?

Photo added in comments below.

no, p o bought some cheap wheels!!

i doubt seriously if it was the tire machine....no gouges on other wheels!!