Question/Help for Work Wheels Owners

reeps

The following may end up to be a little bit to read but I am looking for some help from other forum members with my situation. If you currently own wheels from Work then I would love to hear what you have to say. Please try to keep this thread on topic.

Anyway here is my situation:

Currently I own a set of rims that really should be on a Jeep or some kind of SUV. Since day 1 of owning them I have had nothing but issues. I should of never even put them on the car but at the time I wanted black 20" rims. Since day one the wheels have made the steering wheel shake, at times so bad that the automatic shifter also was shaking. At first it was a bad rim, that I had Rennen replace. Then it was a bad tire, that I had to replace. Then after a year of trying to figure out how come it was still shaking I found out the place that installed them put the wrong size hub centric rings on the car and they didn't even fit the hub of the car.

Currently the car drives pretty good overall but still has some shake around 75MPH. I have had the tires road forced balanced, I have put nitrogen in the tires. I have had them checked by a few different places. Most of the time the answer I received to why it was still shaking was one of the following things:

1) They will never fit like factory because they are not hub centric.
2) They are 20" rims and will never drive like factory.
3) They are big heavy cast rims and they will never drive like factory.
4) Your dumb for putting those on your Z.

So after dealing with this issues I finally decided to pull out some real cash and put some real JDM rims on the car. I looked around a bunch and really fell in love with the Work Gnosis GS2's. I was on the forums a bunch and found a vendor that is a authorized retaliator for Work.

During our phone call I explained to him some of my problems. I explained to him that I was looking for a rim that was a JDM rim that was hub centric without needing a hub ring for the Z. At that time we talked a little about the GS2 and the H203 and I explained that I was to make sure that after spending the kind of money I was about to spend that I wanted the offset to be correct and I wanted a rim that was hub centric without a hub ring. I was very insistent on this fact and he explained to me that the Work rims were hub centric.

So we pick out the finishes and offsets of the rims(which took a few hours). and I leave a pretty big deposit.

Four weeks go by and I had just wanted to see if the wheels made it on the boat so I called work up and talked with a sales person there who said the wheels were finished but not on the boat yet. That they will be here early November. During our phone call I explained to the sales rep about my issues with my Rennen Wheels and how excited I was to have a real set of JDM wheels that were also hub centric.

At that point the sales rep from Work said, these are not hub centric(I think I fell out of my chair). I got so pissed, I was like why did I just spend so much money on these rims if they are not exactly what I wanted? I told the vendor that I wanted rims that are hub centric!

He explained to me the reasons of why they weren't hub centric and that if I had ordered hub centric that it would of taken even longer then 8 to 12 weeks. I am pretty sure at that time my blood started to boil, I was hot. I had to go to the bathroom and put water on my face and if I wasn't at work I think I would of punched a wall.

Anyway I hang up the phone, call the vendor and as nice as possible I explain to him what I was told. After going back and forth a little he does say he is sorry that he didn't even realize they were not hub centric. He did say he would try to help and figure out a solution with me.

We started talking some more a few times during the day on Friday and he really felt that even though the wheels were not hub centric that because Work sends their own rings I would not have any problems. He felt that because 1000's of people run Works on their Z's that I wouldn't have any problems and he even wanted me to put this post up to hear what the Z community had to say.

During Friday I also called another vendor on the forums who explained to me that they could get me a 3 piece wheel custom made that is hub centric to the car for around the same price and in only 4 weeks but it is not JDM.

So now that you have read my wall of text here are some questions I have for everyone:

Please give me any advice if you currently have Works Gnosis series.
Have you had any issues with shake?
Did your rims come with good rings?
What would you want to do if you were in my situation?
Would you want a refund and go with the custom rims that are hub centric?
Would you stick with the works?
Would you want a discount?
Would you want to wait another 3 to 6 months for rims that are hub centric from works?
Would you just keep on the same track and wait for the work wheels to come in Nov?


I am trying to be fair, on one hand I am upset that I am not getting what I asked for but at the same time I am pretty sure there are people out there who love their Work wheels.

I have left out all the vendors name on purpose and please keep it that way. I want to hear from the Z community. I am not looking to throw any company under the bus, car, or train.... yet.

cooltoy

99% of the wheels available in the after market are hub centric.

I have had no problems with my aftermarket wheels. Mine came with manufacturers rings (probably generic rings relabeled with the manufacturer's name). They are not works, but they are not from a n unknown maker like Rennen. Maybe that was your first misstep.

Hope that helps a little.

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Radride

Its actually the other way around. 99% of the wheels are hub centric but require hub rings to make up the gap. Every single wheel I have owned had hub rings installed. I will never own or want to own lug centric wheels. Those types of wheels put too much stain on the lugs. You want the wheel to rest on the hub to take the weight of the car.

So OP, just tell the retailer that you need the right size hub rings and you're set. For a manufacturer to make wheels hub centric without having to use rings would cost you a fortune. To sell them to the masses, they make x amount of different size hub openings and then use rings (which are pennies to them) and send them to you. You're worrying for nothing.

R.K.

cooltoy

Sorry that is what I meant. Typing too fast. Fixed.

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Radride

I figured but just in case, I explained it to the OP.

R.K.

reeps

Hey Rad,

Thanks for that information but no matter what I was going to get rims that are hub centric. My main point was that I did not want to use hub rings to make it hub centric. I was told that the money I was spending on the rims included them to be made to fit the hub without a hub ring. That is my problem and I wanted a rim that fit on like a stock rim which is why I thought I was spending enough money to do so and I was told that the rims were not going to need hub rings.

Presto

I have the work gnosis wheels on my g,I use the plastic hub rings that came with the wheels. I have absolutely no vibrations (tested upto 160mph). There is no reason to worry, enjoy your new wheels.

reeps

Thanks presto,

I am just surprised that no one has said anything about the fact that I was told I was getting what I wanted but then I find out that is not the case.

Radride

That's because your sales rep doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. That was the first problem.

R.K.

aszyd

We can start a discussion if you would like. Ignoring all of the other factors, such as common practice to use a single hub size and your reseller being incorrect...

I find it interesting that the wait time for these wheels is so long and yet they are still manufactured with a generic hub size. Why? If the wheels are made to order, and the forged blanks are CNC'ed to the correct shape, why can they not just input the proper hub size before the cutting starts? Why would that take any longer to produce than a standard wheel with their generic hub? If the wheels are generic, then why does it take a month to build them? Are Work that back logged with orders that they have a wait list? Do they outsource all aspects of production and that's what causes the wait time?

This applies to more than just Work. I am waiting on a set of rims from an American manuf. with a promised 6 to 8 week build time. I've got the tracking numbers now, so it looks like the entire process will have taken 8 weeks from order submittal, to arrival at my house. That being said, these are full custom from color to offset. If someone is ordering off of a spec sheet, like Work's, I would think it would be quite easy to slap together a set of wheels.

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reeps

My main question is how would you all feel as a client who spent around 4000 on a set of wheels without tires only to find out they are not what you want?

After going thru the issues I have would you want to keep on the same track with work or go to another manufacture that promises fully custom rims with custom hub bore?

Do you go with work because it's a jdm name and lots of people have them or do you stick to your guns and go with a wheel that has the correct hub without a hub ring?

Radride

Like I said in my post before, every wheel manufacturer does this. I buy WORK wheels because in my opinion, they are one of the best wheel manufacturers in the world. Their fit and finish is one of the best of have seen and I've seen tons of wheels made by different companies. I'm what you would call a "wheel whore". I am very familiar with all of the wheel brands out there.

Finally, the wait for the wheels is due to having to wait for the boat to leave the docks. It then hits a couple of ports along the way before it heads state side. That usually takes a couple of weeks. They do have an option of sending the wheels over night via air but I'm sure you don't want to hear how much that would cost. I've done it once, never again.

WORK does a lot of custom things for me. They custom mill the back pads for custom fitment (I've done this twice to two sets of VS XX's; you will not find the offset's in their catalog). I've had them make me a custom set of wheels in a 11.5" width when they didn't offer that size in that style. I've had them make my current and previous set in BKB finish even though it was discontinued a couple of years ago. To me, I would never roll on anything other than a set of WORK wheels.

R.K.

Presto

You paid too much,you should have purchased throught ravspec who is a vendor here on this forum. Best prices on work wheels and he usually throws in free goodies like lug nuts etc. also he gives accurate information and not incorrect info like your sales rep.

aszyd

$4000 is the average price for a good set of forged rims, three piece or otherwise, nothing special there.

Most of us are going to tell you to stick with the Works because they are known, high quality rims. Personally, I don't think that you will have a problem with the rims paired with the correct sized hub rings. However, you seem to have grown a distrust over rims that need rings, so you might as well get a refund and buy a set that will make you happy. Of course, if the deposit is not also refundable, I would go through with the purchase.

My deposit was 25%. There's no way in hell I would just donate that to someone.

If you do decide to keep the rims, you should press your vendor for a discount / partial refund because the product delivered is not the product that was promised. Sadly, the mistake was made over the phone, so you are at their mercy.

__________________
Competition Clutch|Fast Intentions|Maxbore|NST|Setrab|Stillen|Tomei|Uprev| Z1
Avant Garde|SPC|Stance|Whiteline
Aerojacket|Seibon|Tanabe|TRS|TWM

reeps

I did end up getting polished lips so I assume that's why mine are a little more expensive.