Konigs wheels are garbage....

[Keith Tinari]

I just got a set of Konig ReTrack wheels about a month ago. I've never bought a set of cheap wheels in my life....

Yesterday I was washing my car out front of my house with my bottle of simple green, soft wheel brush and a garden hose and to my suprise in the water I saw white chunks of powdercoating floating down my street! All around the hub has flaked off, and has gone into my spokes now too. Its just falling off.

I've never used an impact gun on my wheels and have always torqued by hand with a torque wrench.

Anyone else experienced this?:thumbdown:

[AND189]

mate take them back one month and they are flaking ... they may have a bad batch are all the wheels doing this ?? or just one

[Keith Tinari]

Its just one wheel sofar. I cant get in touch with the shop I bought the wheels from either. I dont know how to go straight to Konig.

[WeeYari]

Yeah, gotta be a production problem. Konig wheels are everywhere and I've never seen one go like you've described.

[AND189]

yeh mate take it back and take note incase other wheels have a problem they pump out so many there is bound to be some that are duds i would not poo poo them just jet they may replace it no problems

[severous01]

i wouldnt use simple green on wheels. they make specific cleaners for that stuff...and it may be more expensive but you'll definitely have less problems.

[Keith Tinari]

I use simple green because its safe to use on pretty much everything. I'm a 7 year detailing vet. I wouldnt use it if it wasnt safe.

[RUFFSTUFF]

I use simple green because its safe to use on pretty much everything. I'm a 7 year detailing vet. I wouldnt use it if it wasnt safe.


Apparently not on Konig wheels... :eek:

[tomato]

OP: did you take pictures? Could be real useful if you end up having to deal with them online.

I'd be pissed if my new wheels started to come apart only a month later! You should definitely talk to them.


Look there is a phone number (bottom of the page)

http://konigwheels.com/contact.cfm

[ozmdd]

I suspect they will take care of you. Companies like Konig have everything to gain and not much to lose by making sure you are happy. If they do you right, you'll probably tell everyone you knwo how great it is to buy konig's since they stand behind their product. It'll probably cost them more in freight than their actual cost on the wheel to replace it. That's a small price to pay to avoid having people post things like "konig wheels are garbage..."
:laughabove:

[yarisugi]

I bet you're missing your advans now.

edit: I miss them, too.

[counterfiend]

Sorry about your luck with the wheel. Just take it back to the place you bought it from, make a complaint and they should handle it.
What probably happened (if it started from the hub), the pressure of the lugs pulling the wheel against the hub put alot of stress on the layer of paint/powder coating and caused the crack, which will eventually get moisture under it and flake and move.

[Kioshi]

A bucket with clean water and A LOT of elbow grease takes the dirt and grime off my Enkei RS7s. And I clean my wheels far less than I do the car itself. Dont really have to use soap. I used the dirty Turtle Wax car soap once or twice and that cleaned them pretty good.

[coffiend]

Sorry to hear about the wheels bro, I had actually read on a Honda forum about another guy who had the white retracks and the clearcoat on his lip started chipping off...

Maybe it's something with the clear coat?

Either way I really hope you get shit figured out man, those wheels look real nice on your car.

[yaris-me]

Environmental tip: use dish washing liquid. It will remove grease and road tar, but more importantly, it is environmentally friendly. Many car cleaning products contain hash chemicals that may be toxic to the environment. Yes, I am environmentally friendly!:smile:

[Bob Dog]

Dishwashing liquid will also take off your wax, and is rather hard on paint. I have used it in the past but no longer do. Sorry to hear about your wheels but I have a set of Konigs that I've been running for over two years and they are doing fine. iwould say they are cheap, I wouldn't say they are garbage.

[coffiend]

I dont think it has a whole lot to do with his choice of cleaning chemicals.

something like simple green shouldn't be stripping paint from a wheel, seems a bit silly to try to attribute his wheel problems to that.

http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?p=39741483

^ scroll to mid-page.

[thebarber]

i use simple green degreaser on my engine bay, thats it.

soap/water for the wheels

sorry about your luck though

[lilredrocket]

I thought is said on the simple green label that it is enviro. friendly but I may be wrong. I used to use a Mr. Clean magic eraser to clean white wheels and it makes them looked like they are bleached

[ozmdd]

Environmental tip: use dish washing liquid. It will remove grease and road tar, but more importantly, it is environmentally friendly. Many car cleaning products contain hash chemicals that may be toxic to the environment. Yes, I am environmentally friendly!:smile:

Bad choice. Both for your paint,a nd for the environment. Phosphates in many dishwashing liquids cause algae to bloom. Best to buy a product that's intended to be used outdoors and run-off into storm drains, like most car wash liquids. There are several "green" products available at most Wally-Worlds and auto parts stores.

[cali yaris]

I dont know how to go straight to Konig.

www.konigwheels.com

[Tamago]

www.konigwheels.com

i almost did this 2 hours ago and decided not to. you grow more like me every day

[YaYa1320]

Like 7 or 8 years ago this happened to a set of Konig Toxxins I had on my old Civic, I had the wheels for a week or two and the clearcoat started peeling off of them and never stopped. I def wont buy konigs again unless I find a good deal on a used set. I only used car soap on them and wax, so Im not sure if the cleaner is the culprit in your case or not, prolly not

[Kaotic Lazagna]

I use the left over Meguiar's soap in the bucket to clean my rims. They do a good job.

[marlondog]

All I got to say is that Konig wheels are manufactured at 3 or 4 different factories. If yours is from Communist China, then that explains everything. I have had 4 or 5 sets of Konig's, and I have been able to clean them with all types of cleaners. All were manufactured in Taiwan, and I did not have any problems with them. Konig should be able to replace your wheels. Good Luck!

[anonymous user]

Simple green is a no dice on wheels, I don't care if you're a 7 year vet.
Clean them well with soap and water. Get some rejex, apply following directions on package. Done.

[YarisSedan]

Simple green is a no dice on wheels, I don't care if you're a 7 year vet.
Clean them well with soap and water. Get some rejex, apply following directions on package. Done.


Yeah i had some cheap rims before i forget the brand it was a wheel works house brand. But never had issues when using store bought cleaners designed to clean rims. I did use some generic cleaner once which was equivalent to simple green and ever since then the clear coat started to flake off my rims.

Wheel paint and clear coat is simular to the paint on our cars. No one would ever use simple green to clean thier cars? It strips the finish and removes nutrients from the paint.

[Keith Tinari]

Simple green is a no dice on wheels, I don't care if you're a 7 year vet.
Clean them well with soap and water. Get some rejex, apply following directions on package. Done.


Ive been using diluted degreasers on wheels for as long as I can remember. I no way will it break down the finish on paint. Not a chance in hell. You give me proof and I will retrack my statement. As a detailer when a corvette would come in with the alloys that was the product of choice over wheel acid. I have used it on all my wheels, my Advans, Team Dynamics, Gram Lights, even a set of rattlecanned Rotas. There is nothing unsafe about using simple green. You don't unload a whole bottle of undiluted cleaner on the wheels though either.

[Keith Tinari]

i almost did this 2 hours ago and decided not to. you grow more like me every day


LOL youre such a jerk haha. I did call but it didnt get me to someone who could help me. I need to get past their customer service to someone who can actually do something.

[tomato]

LOL youre such a jerk haha. I did call but it didnt get me to someone who could help me. I need to get past their customer service to someone who can actually do something.

ask for a supervisor? worth a try.

[Shroomster]

IBTL....

[anonymous user]

Ive been using diluted degreasers on wheels for as long as I can remember. I no way will it break down the finish on paint. Not a chance in hell. You give me proof and I will retrack my statement. As a detailer when a corvette would come in with the alloys that was the product of choice over wheel acid. I have used it on all my wheels, my Advans, Team Dynamics, Gram Lights, even a set of rattlecanned Rotas. There is nothing unsafe about using simple green. You don't unload a whole bottle of undiluted cleaner on the wheels though either.

If it were completely safe, why can't you use it at 100% strength, undiluted then? That was what i was referring to. Why even take a chance? I mean it costs us $500 in shipping to get wheels to my location, then on top of that another $700-$900 per wheel, you do the math. Why would one EVEN bother to take a chance with the product? That was my point.

[anonymous user]

Then again, i have seen and heard a lot of really crazy stuff on this site.
And BTW, no i don't put thousand dollar wheels on my yaris.

[Tamago]

they all suck.

[PETERPOOP]

i got $1000 + wheels on my yaris and have used simple green once, nothing happened. I usually clean them with soap and water.

[RUFFSTUFF]

And BTW, no i don't put thousand dollar wheels on my yaris.


Finally, we have a winner! :thumbup:

[Keith Tinari]

If it were completely safe, why can't you use it at 100% strength, undiluted then? That was what i was referring to. Why even take a chance? I mean it costs us $500 in shipping to get wheels to my location, then on top of that another $700-$900 per wheel, you do the math. Why would one EVEN bother to take a chance with the product? That was my point.


because its made to be used on anything, thats why you get to dilute it to what you need it for. Seriously, at the rate my bottles are diluted to, you could drink it and probably not get the shits lol. Just dont forget I have white wheels with alot of spokes, I'm just trying to clean them as easily as possible.

[eijikikimaru]

www.konigwheels.com


LoL not to be bashing on only CaliYaris, it's to all(even me :p) but I hate when there's a problem and the help given is in a half-@$$ attempt . I'm sure the OP try the website but couldn't find an answer. Either the OP miss the info or the info the OP is looking for is in tiny font( less distracting for online visitors)

As for the OP:
There's no need to bash so harshly on a well known company who have been helping the automotive community with an alternate set of wheels.

I had my set of Konig Feathers for over 2yrs now and I haven't had any problems with the clear coat/paint flaking. Like someone said earlier it's probably a bad batch since you're not the only one with the same Make and model with this problem.


Now just a theory, but I know in California and other places in the US nation, the paint on cars are different now a days. Something about being more eco-friendly. My reference are from the tv shows about restoring/fixing/pimping cars. Anyways could it be possible that wheel manufacturers are also painting their newer rims with the same eco-friendly paint. If so could the degreaser, Simple Green, has something in it to break up the paint in the new wheels? Could it be possible that the degrease company hasn't upgraded their product to compensate these new paints?

Someone else mention something about the stress and stuff. I'm don't know too much about it but I get the concept. That could have been the problem or a contributor.