AZA Z-1 Peeling Issue STEP INSIDE>>>

[Snafu]

Ok, if you are one of the few who purchased a set of 18" Z-1's from us last year that was part of the bad batch, and the clearcoat is peeling. Post up here!!!

If you are a customer waiting for the new Z-1's to come in, THIS IS AN ISOLATED ISSUE AND WILL NOT EFFECT THE NEW WHEELS OR ANY OTHERS OF THE AZA LINEUP!!!

We are putting together a list of all of those who were affected and we are afraid that maybe some of you have the issue and have not been in touch with us, or perhaps didn't know that a mfr. warranty would cover it.

I know that you're probably not thrilled that this is classified as a warranty issue, but that is a mfr. decision that we have to accept. Now this doesn't mean we are going to leave you out in the cold, though...

The policy on mfr. warranties is replacement of wheels upon return of customer's wheels at customer's expense for shipping. We realize that shipping can be quite costly if you don't have an account that provides discount. So what we are doing to help is organizing shipping at a discount to you. In addition, we are working with AZA to press them to do the tire transfer and mounting/balancing on the new wheels free of charge to you--this was not made clear before so we are pushing it in your favor. I don't have exact details yet, as we are currently working this out, but I want to gather everyone's info so we can get this prepared by the time the wheels arrive. This will save you time and money, and get your goat looking brand new again with its new shoes!

So post up and we'll get the ball...err, wheels rolling!!!

:gears:

Thanks guys,

-Sean

[AlphaEden]

Holy crap back from the dead! Welcome back dude

[chaseg08]

I have a slight clear coat peel on a couple if not all of my wheels. I no longer have my stockers and I cannot be without wheels. I have also been thinking of trading for a set of 18s since I have a 57' chevy I'm dumping money into and these 19" tires cost so much more than 18s.

[Snafu]

Holy crap back from the dead! Welcome back dude

Haha, yeah things got tough there for a bit and I just didn't have the time to get on here like I wanted to. Thanks for the welcome back! :D

Chase, the clearcoat issue we are referring to was limited to a run of 18's where the coating on the lips began peeling shortly after exposure to the elements (we're not talking salt or chems, just sun, rain, dirt, etc.) This is not to say that you don't have a warrantied problem, we would just have to look at it as an individual case and get the warranty replacement approved. I don't know if the mfr will go for a 19/18 swap, but since the 18's are a bit cheaper it'd save them some money so it may be feasible. Email me some pics of the peeling and we can go from there...just click on the sig pic for email!

[bleek]

Emailed :)

[CaliGTO]

yeah mine has that exact problem. on all tires the clear coat is coming off. Ill try to take some pictures of it. the only problem is that I dont have spare tires and my goat is my daily driver...

[shawnz28]

Well here I am..... As you probably remember I shipped my wheels and tires back to Wheelmax in late November when they were dimounted for the winter so I have already shipped them to them at my expense.

Shawn

[NicD]

email sent.

[CJ0920]

I have the problem on a couple of my wheels. Also the center cap hard plastic is peeling off. My GTO is my daily driver, and I don't have the stock wheels or any other wheels to take it's place.

[jamesbiz]

I have the problem on a couple of my wheels. Also the center cap hard plastic is peeling off. My GTO is my daily driver, and I don't have the stock wheels or any other wheels to take it's place.

I'm going to be coming out with Billet center caps for AZA's with AZA's being one of the main wheels i plan on making them for.

[loudmouthgoat]

Oh yeah, after all of my previous wheel issue's, my Z-1's are peeling clear.

[bill12s]

You guys are lucky!!!

I mean that not to be a smart ass, but really .... you are lucky. You get to deal with Sean..... I get to deal with WheelMax. My wife bought the wheels for me as a gift directly through Wheelmax and I made my complaint about my rear 18X9.5's peeling about 3 weeks after receiving them in June of last year. It's now almost a year later..... still no wheels..... but they have promised every week for the last 50 weeks..... "That they are due in to us NEXT WEEK.... call back next week and we should have you fixed up!" Well... 50 phone calls later.... still no wheels. What I wouldn't give to shove these damn wheels up their arse. I love the wheels, but this issue and their lack of service has been killing me. My demands now are simple.... ship me the new wheels when you receive them.... along with return postage... because I'm not paying a damn thing this late in the game and I'll return the crap wheels when the new ones get mounted.

I was minutes away from buying the wheels from Sean when I found out about the gift from my wife. It was cool at the time..... but what I wouldn't give now to just be dealing with Sean.

[Snafu]

We just want to make sure we got everyone together who has this issue.

While there may be a few issues here and there, this post refers to the batch sold last year that had the clearcoat on the lips peeling after only a few weeks or months once on the car.

bill12s,
I remember that...we just about had you setup and your wife pulled a surprise on you--if she were mine, I'd be thanking her for the wheels! :thumbs: As for the issue, I really appreciate what you had to say--we work hard to provide the best customer service possible. Unfortunately, if you don't buy through us, you are left to deal with wherever you bought them; and I can tell you, NO ONE'S CUSTOMER SERVICE EVEN COMES CLOSE TO OURS! That being said, it sounds like you've stayed on top of it, but I'd be glad to see what I can do for you if you'd like--maybe we can shuffle you in with the others.

Thanks guys!

-Sean

[OneFastGoat]

Please add me to the list..

[bill12s]

Well thanks Sean...... I've been dealing with Dale.... he knows who I am as soon as he answers. If they don't have the wheels.... they don't have the wheels, but it's still been very annoying with having to call them every week just to be told a different story. I would have rather called you and you told me the truth that it's going to be 9 months.... than I wouldn't be so upset.

I just want to see people go with your business so they have somebody to turn to other than wheelmax themselves.

[bleek]

Sean I emailed you some high-res pics that brought the email to >6megs. Not sure if you got it, as I had not heard anything back, just figured you did. (I sent it to sean@TS)

[longhornbsbll15]

I have the problem on a couple of my wheels. Also the center cap hard plastic is peeling off. My GTO is my daily driver, and I don't have the stock wheels or any other wheels to take it's place.

yeah mine has that exact problem. on all tires the clear coat is coming off. Ill try to take some pictures of it. the only problem is that I dont have spare tires and my goat is my daily driver...
I've got the same problem, its my daily driver and no extra wheels...... Serious pain in the a**. Wheel max seriously sucks. They should be paying the shipping. Jus glad i ordered from topshelf to where they are at least trying to help out.

i'm posting up. so ready to get this taken care of. have had the problem for a while and they are lookin BAD, lol. if you need any more pics lemme know

[longhornbsbll15]

bump for some kind of update?

[shawnz28]

bump for some kind of update?

You beat me to the question

[Striped04]

Add me to the list. PM sent.

[longhornbsbll15]

bump

[loudmouthgoat]

I'm still waiting for a response also. My rims are beginning to look like :bootyshak. If ya know what I mean.

[longhornbsbll15]

post up your pics onto this site so every one can compare theirs

[longhornbsbll15]

http://ls1gto.com/forums/attachment.php?attachment id=59801&stc=1&d=1181020550
http://ls1gto.com/forums/attachment.php?attachment id=59802&stc=1&d=1181020550
http://ls1gto.com/forums/attachment.php?attachment id=59803&stc=1&d=1181020550


This was the initial stages, now it looks MUCH worse

[shawnz28]

I wish I would have taken pics before I sent them back the end of November. they were horrid. After washing the car there would be water bubbles all over under the clear coat far from any "open wounds" where the water was just seeping in and then under the clearcoat like the coating never bonded anywhere.

[Sleepy]

Snafu, I hope you can help me. I sent my bad Z 1's to, wheel max for credit on purchased Z 9's and got the new owner/ old owner bs. Please contact me.

[shawnz28]

Any kind of update?

[Sleepy]

Looking for an update. Custormer service.....

[the bandit]

is this just the 18 inch Z1

[Sleepy]

^^..yes

[loudmouthgoat]

Looking for an update. Custormer service.....

+1 please...

[bill12s]

Sorry, this isn't official info from Snafu.... he might have something different to report..... however I spoke with the top dog at Wheelmax today..... he said it would still be another month. Typical response I've gotten for the last year. The wheels will be back in stock when AZA and Hurst finish their respective GTO research.

[shawnz28]

Anyone else getting the feeling these aren't ever coming cause they are trying not to replace all the defective ones from last year since they wont let any of us swap out for anything other than the Z-1's?

[TC2006GTO]

If that were the case then they would never be able to sell Z1s. Seems like they would lose more than they would gain if this is their plan.

[shawnz28]

Yeah I am sure you are right.... just getting frustrated i guess

[TC2006GTO]

Yeah I am sure you are right.... just getting frustrated i guess

I'm frustrated too. Its June and I'm still running snow tires. Last fall I had snows mounted on my stock 18s thinking I would have the AZA Z1s by now.

[shawnz28]

I'm frustrated too. Its June and I'm still running snow tires. Last fall I had snows mounted on my stock 18s thinking I would have the AZA Z1s by now.

Yeah I actually sent mine to Wheelmax in November when they came off for winter so that they would get mine to me asap when they came in. I ended up buying a new set of TSW's with tires(they have my tires too) and am just going to sell the AZAs if and when I get them and prolly take a pretty good beating after selling for a loss and paying all the shipping

[Striped04]

Glad I haven't sent mine anywhere yet. I'll wait until we get something concrete before I send them back. Mine aren't that bad yet either.

[longhornbsbll15]

any type of update or anything here?

[shawnz28]

I have talked to sean at wheelmax(NOTsean at top shelf) a few times the last couple weeks. Keep getting told the ETA date was June 15th in the computer and each time i talk to them they are still updating the system and unpacking more containers so to call back in a few days cause they might show up.... I was supposed to call him back on Friday but didnt so I plan to give him a call on Monday. If I get any good news I will be sure to post but lets say I am not holding my breath....

Hell with these guys even if I get good news I am not going to get my hopes up.... they charged my card last year 800 dollars for a new set to ship to me so I could swap the bad ones and the charge sat there on my card for a few weeks with nothing showing at my doorstep till Sean at Top Shelf go me straight on what Wheelmax was up to as they didnt even have them. Better yet a few months later when i sent them back in late November for them to sit on them till they got the new ones they called and tried to get my CC number to charge me shipping etc.... I had to tell them they were out of stock, and the guy who called me did not believe me :drink:

[longhornbsbll15]

well i'm still drivin around on my peeled ones. i'm needing to trade my gto in but i can't because i have PEELING wheels..... wth. I understand that shipments don't come in, whatever, but this is bull crap to lead the customers to believe they are going to come in 6 months ago and they never do. I don't blame topshelf for it, i know they are trying, but this is just ridiculous.

[Striped04]

Did you sell your stockers? I wouldn't trade it in with aftermarket wheels on it, you'd get more money by selling them off the car. You won't get that with a trade in.

[longhornbsbll15]

yea i sold 2 of my stockers away..... but i think i'm going to sell it privately anyways.

Aside from that, SOME KIND OF UPDATE MAYBE?

[shawnz28]

I wonder if the boat they were coming on has sunk?

[PMD GTO]

I wonder if the boat they were coming on has sunk?

Well......I wouldn't really say it sank, but it made a pit stop on the way.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i110/PMDGTO/p610 0078ot1.jpg

[shawnz28]

If you know where that beach is at i will make a road trip to pick them up :D :p

[longhornbsbll15]

i'll meet ya on the way there....

[shawnz28]

just posting as an fyi for those waiting to hear from Sean for anything

http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1744 67

[NicD]

Any idea what is going on with this? My peeling is getting much worse now.

[longhornbsbll15]

Sean is out of the hospital now so hopefully we'll be gettin some word whenever he can get everything back up and running. Its been tough for him

[shawnz28]

Lets hope so... I got in contact with the "top guy" that bill12s delt with after a few emails back and forth suddenly for the last two weeks he wont reply now either.....

[Willow]

Hey sean, put me on that list. I've spoke with you before about my wheels.. hope you're feeling better physically, and I'm really sorry to read about your recent loss.

[Willow]

Bump. Anyone know how Sean is, or where this is going?

[Sleepy]

My $ (literally) says absolutly nowhere!!! ftmfl

[loudmouthgoat]

I give up, this is only my 5th set of wheels that have gone bad on my car. Not all AZA. Screw it I will just have a body shop re-clear them, the hell with waiting anymore.:rant:

[Striped04]

I give up, this is only my 5th set of wheels that have gone bad on my car. Not all AZA. Screw it I will just have a body shop re-clear them, the hell with waiting anymore.:rant:

Is it really that simple? I can do that myself. Do you just sand the old clear coat off? Any special kind of clear you need to use?

[shawnz28]

I give up, this is only my 5th set of wheels that have gone bad on my car. Not all AZA. Screw it I will just have a body shop re-clear them, the hell with waiting anymore.:rant:

I wish i had looked into this long ago. I am considering it again but now I have to work out getting mine back first and I already have the money "invested" in sending them back to Wheelmax waiting for replacement

[Willow]

Is it really that simple? I can do that myself. Do you just sand the old clear coat off? Any special kind of clear you need to use?

I've done it before on motorcycle and some truck rims. Easiest thing I've done is to use some heavy-duty stripped on the lips (make sure you use some heavy masking on what you don't want stripped--it's not forgiving). The hotter it is outside the better. Then cleanup the mess. Once you're down to the aluminum you can choose to either polish it up and just leave it like that, or use some good enamel clearcoat to cover it back up.

That's a very basic overview, there's many how-to guides out there.

Another thing to consider is Snafu obviously has a lot on his plate. We're all frustrated, and I'm sure he's no less mad than we are.

[bill12s]

Lets hope so... I got in contact with the "top guy" that bill12s delt with after a few emails back and forth suddenly for the last two weeks he wont reply now either.....

Did you get a reply back yet???? That's really pretty disappointing...... but I guess.... given their history with us.... it's not really that surprising. Bad Attitude starts at the top, so I guess we know where the WheelMax customer service team gets their bullshit....

I feel lucky to have gotten what I got..... wish I had the 18's though instead of these bling 19's.

[bnvus]

Be careful with finishing aluminum. Usually it it involves some type of metal prep before you actually top coat it. Which is what I suspect was the original issue in the first place.

[Sleepy]

I've done it before on motorcycle and some truck rims. Easiest thing I've done is to use some heavy-duty stripped on the lips (make sure you use some heavy masking on what you don't want stripped--it's not forgiving). The hotter it is outside the better. Then cleanup the mess. Once you're down to the aluminum you can choose to either polish it up and just leave it like that, or use some good enamel clearcoat to cover it back up.

That's a very basic overview, there's many how-to guides out there.

Another thing to consider is Snafu obviously has a lot on his plate. We're all frustrated, and I'm sure he's no less mad than we are.

Was told by my body shop that the guys that redo rims use a torch to remove, so risky with aluminum.

[Striped04]

Thanks guys. I don't fault Top Shelf here, but rather than paying to have these dismounted, shipped, and then re-mounted; that's why I'm thinking of doing something myself. If I could just get the clear off and then polish the lips, that would be fine with me. More maintenance I'm sure. They would look nice with a highly polished lip rather than the clear coated lip that's on them now.

[Willow]

Was told by my body shop that the guys that redo rims use a torch to remove, so risky with aluminum.

Wow, that would compound the issue I would think. Most of the wheel shops around here, depending on the wheel type, will sandblast the coatings off which also preps the rims for new coatings. Some will use industrial-strength paint stripper.

Never heard of torching. And I agree, I was thinking of simply going to a highly-polished lip. It's a bit more maintenance than just wiping the lip out, but it's not all that hard as long as you keep it up every other day. Only takes like 5 minutes for a quick buff. And you don't have to worry about what type of wheel cleaner to use for fear of ruining the clear coat.

[vegitaGTO]

Those AZA's look real nice, I saw at the beginning that this wouldn't affect new shipments. so if I ordered some would I expect the same results that most of you have been getting from these rims?

[shawnz28]

Those AZA's look real nice, I saw at the beginning that this wouldn't affect new shipments. so if I ordered some would I expect the same results that most of you have been getting from these rims?

Well that would mean that at some point Wheelmax would get more in to even buy. It has been over a year now and we are still waiting for replacements.... seriously as bad ass as they look, I would never buy from them again. No way it is worth the potential hassle of dealing with Wheelmax

[Willow]

Bump. I take it Snafu is out for long-term? Nobody I've talked to has heard from him. What about replacements from other sources?

[shawnz28]

Wheelmax is it, there is no other sources sad to say

[bill12s]

Guys, you don't know for sure what you are going to get with Wheelmax. What if they send three silver and one black one on accident. What YOU are going to do??? They won't help I PROMISE.

The only reason I got taken care of after a whole year is because I got real lucky and got the right person (outside of their call center) on the phone and the right time. And I called him daily, sent emails daily and filed a BBB complaint on them and lastly was seconds away from filing something in small claims court or sending a complaint to the DA.

I wouldn't risk it again..... I know I will not buy anything from them in the furture.

Plus, as far as problems go..... if they (the Z!'s) don't have the peeling problem, that doesn't mean that you won't have some other kind of problem.

[longhornbsbll15]

So no update at all on figuring somethin out about this? Hows Sean doin? Finally healing up?

[PMD GTO]

Things aren't looking to good for Sean and Top Shelf business wise. I don't think anyone has had contact with him in the last month.

http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1861 37
http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1871 01

[longhornbsbll15]

Has anyone heard from Sean?

[shawnz28]

He seems to have fallen off the face of the earth again.

[shawnz28]

longhornbsbll - i sent you an email on myspace with some info

I talked to Wheelmax after reading a different thread that some say they have ordered and recieved the 18" staggered in hyperlight. Sean at Wheelmax who i believe is dales replacement(not Top Shelf Sean) said they still dont have them in silver for the rear and will be maybe still 2 months he is told. BUT they had black so I am supposed to have a set of those coming to me, maybe I will get them by weeksend if lucky. So anyone waiting that wants black as replacement call them!!! they do have the 18" 8.5 in 40 offset in silver though still

[shawnz28]

Yes there was definately a bad batch of the AZAs though it does seem like it was limited to a run which most of us in this thread and some others got them from, I have not read too much negative about the TSWs and I love mine, so far no problems.... for me, cant speak for others

[bill12s]

Anything new for you guys??? Get your wheels fixed or exchanged???

[shawnz28]

I finally got mine swapped out for Z2s was supposed to be black Z1s but they mixed up, but was happy to get something.

BUT - last I talked to longhornbsbll15 he was getting told by wheelmax that they would not help him cause he bought from Top Shelf and he did not have a wheelmax invoice number and had no record of the problem cause he was dealing with Sean at TShelf.... I dont know if he got this done or resolved but this could mean alot of people are gonna be upset if Sean doesnt come back around and own up to this.

I still will never buy from them again and keep warning others

[bill12s]

I try to warn people.... but nobody really believes it.....

The wheels look nice and they are cheap.... and I think people overlook the fact Wheelmax is documented as a ripoff organization.... because there are also people that had no problem with their purchase. Out of the people that have had an issue, I have yet to meet one that felt satisfied....... But there are a decent number of people that never had a problem with their wheels and therefore never had to deal with Wheelmax customer service....

[shawnz28]

But there are a decent number of people that never had a problem with their wheels and therefore never had to deal with Wheelmax customer service....


Wait a minute Wheelmax has customer service??? LOL :gr_jest:

[kmaro]

Sean

This just started happening to my two rear wheels that I bought from you in 2006. It was not a problem last year when you made this post. What's the best way to contact you regarding this?

[shawnz28]

Warranty I believe was only 1 year if I am right

Also I have not been on here in months but unless something changed Sean dissappeared on here late last year

[bill12s]

This last week I discovered a fix for my POS peeling wheels. Well, not exactly discovered, but rather finally decided to do something about it.

First I stripped the remaining clear coat off the lips using Aircraft Paint remover.

Then I wetsanded the wheels using 400, 800, 1000 and finally 2000 grit automotive paper.

Then polished them up with NeverDull and capped them with a protective coat of NanoWax for wheels. They look better then the first day I got them. Now I get to go back to 18's all around instead of the 18/19 combo I was running. Those damn 19's get zero traction.

http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/attachment.php?attach mentid=85474&d=1212377771
85474

[Willow]

Looks good. I have a DIY guide for that (minus the wetsanding, never got around to adding it in).

Check it out in my signature links

[kmaro]

Looks good.

and screw AZA

[Willow]

Yeah, that's pretty much my opinion.

[NicD]

I would like to throw my Z1s through AZA's window. Cheap shitty wheels, live and learn I suppose.

[Willow]

Why're they cheap, etc? Granted the cleacoat sucked, but other than that I love mine.

[kmaro]

Hey guys, I got an email response from Sean at Topshelf. Here is his response:

We’ve been going head-to-head with them about this for the past month and a half…they are hiding behind a few things:



the fact that it has been 2 years (warranty is one year)
the fact that they were bought-out (they screwed me on that) and their system can’t see before they were bought which was fall of 06’
they switched customer service managers and don’t care what was promised by previous mgr because ‘there is no documentation he passed along’


I’m not done fighting though. It’s like talking to a brick wall with the new cs mgr. Since he doesn’t know me from back then, he just stands behind these excuses. The fact is that they sold a product that failed and could not offer any replacement; it took over a year to get replacements shipped in, and now they don’t want to replace their product because its been too long…no, not much logic to that.



We still have dated pictures of the wheels with issue, shortly after they’re purchase.



It IS a warranty issue, and I’m trying to make them take responsibility for that. Unlike a traditional mfr whose business is actually manufacturing, they are a wheel sales company that contracts wheels overseas to be made for them, and they’d rather push you away than help you in many cases (even given the fact that I sold more of their wheels than they did).


If you know of any of my customers that had their wheels replaced under warranty this past fall when the shipment of Z-1’s came in, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! If their wheels were from the same batch as yours, the dates will be the same and I can use it as leverage.



Thanks…



The Team @ Top Shelf



(888)-749-2858 / (919)-341-4530
(919) 341-0199

www.TopShelfPerformance.com

Sales@TopShelfPerformance.com
Please speak up if that applies to you!

[bill12s]

Give it up Kmaro...... it's not gonna happen. I bunch of us have been dealing with Wheelmax for over 2 years. It's just not gonna happen. I did make some inroads with them, but only after a year worth of phone calls. Cancelling my credit card and filing a BBB complaint with the Dade County (FL) office.

Now I own a 18 front 19 rear staggered setup...... looks good, but hate 19's cuz you get ZERO traction.

I finally broke down, did some research, and refinished my old 18's by myself, in two nights, for under $20. I wish I had done that to begin with as the year of stress worrying about it really sucked.

Just trust me when I say it's not gonna happen. The ONLY chance you have is cancelling your credit card payment to them. Odds are though that won't change anything, because it looks like you bought them from TopShelf.

Anyway, I don't want to sound negative, but give up on getting them replaced and just refinish them yourself. They look better then new and it only took $20 and two nights. You are going to spend more then $20 sending them back to Wheelmax... with a high probability that you'll never get the replacement.

Sorry for the bad news...... just get to work with the Aircraft remover and the wet sanding paper and neverdull. You will be much happier in the end.

[OneFastGoat]

I recieved that same E-mail from Sean also, is you name Kevin?