Finish on factory rims blistering/bubbling

[northern_hummer_user]

Has anyone had a problem with the finish on the factory aluminum wheels? When washing my 06 (7000km), I noticed small blisters on all 4 rims + the spare on the back that has never been off the mount.

Would this be covered under warranty? I thought that this might be "regular wear and tear" living in an area that gets salted in the winter.

When browsing in another 4x4 forum, there was a discussion about this same problem with FJ cruiser rims and that some dealers were repainting rims so I thought that Hummer might have the same solution.

NHU

[ChiHummer3]

No problems with my factory rims, and I live in Chicago where we definitely see our share of snow and salt.

How old is your truck? Of course, I guess that shouldn't matter....there shouldn't be "bubbling" on there already regardless of what the wheels are exposed to.

Call your dealership - see if they'll make it right. I my experience, they'll get it fixed for you.

Don't know that I'd accept a repainted rim though. If your 3 is less than a year old, I'd push for new rims. Just my $.02

[Steve - SanJose]

The factory chrome wheels held up fine (07/05-02/07) until I replaced them.

[HummBebe]

Hey Steve - keep me in mind when you do that, I'll take them off your hands:D

[timgco]

The rims on our H3 are trashed from the mag chloride. This was one of the earlier production H3's (don;t know if matters). We'll end up painting or PC'ing them anyhow.

[marin8703]

hey does it look something like this, or different?

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/marin8703/Chipped%20rims/P1010022.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/marin8703/Chipped%20rims/P1010020.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/marin8703/Chipped%20rims/P1010018.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/marin8703/Chipped%20rims/P1010017.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i317/marin8703/Chipped%20rims/P1010016.jpg

mine became like this a couple of months after i bought it. i live in chicago, dont know what it may be caused by.

[f5fstop]

Mine look like yours and the majority of the damage is caused by road debris (such as rocks, salt, other types of sh*t).

[northern_hummer_user]

Hey Marin8703, the damage to my rims looks just like that. If it was limited to the 4 mounted wheels, I'd buy the argument that road debris was the culprit but how do these form on the spare? The spare has been up on the rear door since it was built in Shreveport.

Oh well, its not like it affects how it rides on the backroad...

NHU

[marin8703]

yeah i had the same stuff on the spare, so dont know whats up, and i noticed it the first time i washed it. Might have been like that when I bought it or happened over a month of driving, dont know. the weird thing is that those are not chips or scratches, just discolorations, if you run your finger over it feels smooth.:confused:

But either way my dealer said they will replace them if i wanted to, but decided not to replace them until a little before teh warranty runs out, since it doesnt really effect teh vehicle performance. That way I will get brand new rims at around 40000 miles and most likely get 35s to go with em.:D