Two years ago when I was working full time and the economy was a little better, I was saving up money for a nice set of forged wheels by CCW(Complete Custom Wheel). Their wheels are top notch and affordable for a custom set of forged wheels. Their wheels are single piece forged, constructed out of 6061-T6 Aluminum, and CNC machined. Since I took my time saving up, never spent a dime, I ended up with around $6k in the bank. A lot more money than I needed to buy a new set of CCW wheels. I felt very accomplished on how much money I saved up, remind you I'm about 21 and this is the most money I ever saved up in my bank. So obviously I'm not rich right?

During the same week I was going to make a purchase, my friend had his wheels chromed. They looked just fantastic, I was so amazed by the cool flash and detail. So I was itching to get my CCW wheels chromed when I ordered them, thus I opted for it. I searched around and seems like California Chrome Wheels was a good company to go with. Kind of funny the both wheel companies had the same acronym right, like it was meant to be. I read some off their reviews on their website and at the time they had a ZR1 Corvette that had a set of California Chrome Wheels at Jay Lenos Garage. If the chrome company works with Jay Leno, their customer service and chrome job is guaranteed right? Wrong!!!

Just to make sure, I called California Chrome, I talked to their sales person Blaine for about a half hour. Asking him questions about their chrome plating steps and if their chrome ever pits. He guaranteed me if I took care of them and didn't drive them in any salt(winter) they would be fine. He also said they can last a life time. I explained how I bought a set of chrome ZR1 wheels for my 1998 LS1 Camaro Z28, two weeks later they started pitting profusely. I bought these chrome wheels from Discount Tire, I was just horrified. At the time I was around 19 years of age, I ended up selling that car to get a 2002 Trans Am.

I still wasn't certified with Blaine's guarantee, so I went for their CalChrome Clear Coat. I knew I would never drive these rims in winter, but I just didn't want to take the chance on pitting. Plus in the pictures, their CalChrome Clear Coat looks just like real chrome. So went with that when I ordered up the rims and hung up with Blaine, I felt so happy, I couldn't wait to get my CCW wheels back and put them on my Trans Am. A day later, I got a call from California Chrome Wheel. It was actually the owner John, he told me I should go with regular chrome. He asked me "are you going to be driving these rims in winter?" I told him no, I opted for CalChrome Clear Coat because I didn't want any pitting or have to deal with any flaking. He then expressed to me how cool the wheels would look if I chrome plated them barrel and all. He certified me they wouldn't pit or flake, plus there's a five year warranty. So I thought to myself... He's the professional, he knows what he's talking about, so I went with their chome plating service.

After ordering my wheels from CCW and getting them sent out to California Chrome Wheels it took about a month to have them shipped to me. All this cost me about $5,000, shipping was not cheap! Eventually they came, soon as I opened up the box I was amazed. They looked just gorgeous, looked inside the barrel no pitting and the texture was pretty smooth. I did notice the chrome on the outside of the rim was heavier and thicker than the barrel, I said oh well they look pretty good. So I installed them on my 2002 Trans Am WS.6 and I started to ride around. First thing I wanted to do is drive near my lake and get a few pictures. After that I took my TA out to Woodward, definitely got a bunch of looks.

Well after about a month, remind you I cleaned the wheels ever 2 1/2 wheels when I got brake dust on them and road dirt, I saw some sort of patch on the rims. I swiped it with a microfiber sponge, a big flake came right off, copper was showing. I was a little pissed, thought not a big deal, called up California Chrome and they said they would have a look at it and fix it. I told them hell no I'm not paying for shipping, so they paid for shipping too. I mean the chrome wheels were a month old.

I eventually got that one wheel back and the job was much better. Well I had a good spring and summer, until 5 months passed and it was fall. The pitting inside the wheel was getting worse and worse during those 5 months. On the fifth month, I was uphauled, pitting was all over the inside of the rim. Remember when I said to you I noticed how the inside of the rim barrel didn't look as good as the outside? Well, this is the result, basically because they went cheap. California Chrome must skimp on the inside of the rims to save money. They basically worry about the outside of the rim because that's what shows right? So I thought to myself, next thing is flaking right? I was very pissed, I thought to myself, hell with this I want California Chrome Wheels to just replace my wheels. I was done with them and any type of chroming. I knew they could just strip the chrome off and re-polish the wheels up. But, problem with that is, they dip the wheels in an acid based solution that strips the chrome off. Every time they do that, it takes some aluminum off too. I already had them do one wheel because it flaked, so what happens to that one wheel if you have it stripped twice? Probably unusable right? Pretty much so! So I called California Chrome Wheels, explained them my case.

Down below is the emails I sent them and how they responded. They were horrible to get a hold of and they avoided me all the time. Long story short, they ended up just screwing me over and never replacing my wheels or rechroming them or stripping them. They ended up just giving me a discount on a new chrome job. I thought about taking them to court, but we all know what happens when you take a million dollar company to court. Money always wins! Muscle car hobby is truly one of the most expensive hobbies to have and I definitely warn you before you get into it. It's sad that a lot of these companies are not supporting their customers, especially when they have the money too. I mean look at the Powerdyne Supercharger company and what's going on with the Toyota company with their huge recall. You know how many years Toyota pedal problem has been going on, a long time. And it's killed people and some of the insurance companies knew what was going on, they didn't want to pay for it. They knew it was their poor engineering. It's 2010 and now they are trying to do something about it. This just shows you how big companies treat their customers, not to mention employing illegal immigrants. And nothing gets done till their's a ton of people complaining and people getting hurt. So what can we do? Well how about get on the web and shed a story to other muscle car entrepreneurs... That's the only way I know, let your story be heard. I mean that's what our country is about, freedom of speech right?

Now I'm not trying to kill California Chrome's business, I'm overall a nice guy and I hate to see an American business fail. And I know this is the real world, problems come up, nothing is perfect. But what I went through definitely deserves a looking at. The owner told me to go with chrome, after I picked their CalChrome Clear Coat. Which is a "decorative chrome finish for all seasons. Specially developed for vehicles in areas where inclimate weather is prevalent, and the use of road salt is prone to cause surface rust; Calchrome Clear Coat is not subject to the types of corrosion and surface rust that standard electroplated chrome is vulnerable to. This is due to its proprietary formulation, deposition technique, and unique clear-coat finish." But, John asserted me everything would be alright and the chrome plating job would go good. 2 1/2 weeks later, I get flaking on one rim. And their support was just horrible! Warranty? What warranty, seems to me this warranty only pertains to your wheels only once. So I leave it up to you to decide to go with their chrome plating company, here's my email messages down below and how they responded. And thank you for reading!

Update: If you could, please check out this thread on the largest Corvette forum, read the post all the way at the bottom -> link. I'm obviously not the only one, again thank you for reading!!!

Me: My name is John Doe, I sent a set of CCW wheels to get chrome plated at your shop back in 5/14/2008, here's the receipt to back it up.

It was only a month later that I had to send one of the wheels back because the chrome started peeling off and you could actually see some of the copper showing. I was a little mad, but you guys took care of me and paid for the shipping to take the wheel back and get rechromed. I got the wheel back and everything was fine. Well, about two months passed I noticed all four wheels started pitting in the barrel. I remember calling you guys and one of your representatives said that this happens because water and dirt collects there.

But, I'm thinking after three months chrome starts pitting? My car is in the garage, I barely drive it, only take it out on weekends and you say dirt and water collects there? I took your reps word for it and went on with the wheels anyways.

Well a year has passed and the barrels are spotty as hell, pits everywhere, and certain areas are starting to corrode. And you guys have a four year warranty, I don't think my wheels could even make it that far. The front faces are mostly ok, but I do see certain pits starting to form in areas.

Now I know you're going to try and fight me on this and give me some reasons that could be causing this. Sorry, NO! The car is garage based, I only take it out on occasions and I wash the wheels with soap and water every week just about. I take care of my car! I talked to your owner John when I ordered your wheels. I orginally opted for CalChrome clear coat because I didn't want any chrome peeling, pitting, or any of that nature. The owner John suggested(I think John) I should get chrome plated because of the CCW type of wheel. He said "it looks great with the barrel all finished in with chrome, it wouldn't look good with cal chrome because the barrel wouldn't look good." I took his word and went with the electro plating. John probably doesn't remember, but I do because I have a good memory, especially after I spend $5,000 on wheels. See I'm not rich like some of these car owners in the Nation.

But, I wanted to go all out on a set of sharp wheels because I know they really make the car look good. Now, I'm not sure what I'm left with. I've heard horror stories of chrome peeling off after seeing pitting and you eventually have to scrap the wheel.

So that's what I'm left with, a set of $5k wheels for only a year on my Trans Am? One of your reps also told me that when you had to repair the one wheel, you guys dip it in some kind of chemical to take off the original chrome and that takes some of the aluminum metal off the real part of the rim. I don't know whether to be mad or sad. I mean I can see something bad happening once from the chrome, but twice, this time on all four rims pitting and corroding.

All I can say is, I either want a new set of CCW 505A 18" rims without the chrome directly from ccwheel.com along with my money refunded I spent on chrome job. Or I want my money back on both the wheels and the chrome job! Like your rep said, in order for the chrome to be taken off, there will be metal removed from the rim. Thus, the rim will never be the same. Here's both the invoices and pictures of the rims pitting. I will be giving your company a call in the morning.

California Chrome Wheels Service Rep: Blaine If the wheels do not have one of these two above conditions, they will not be covered under the California Chrome Wheel Warranty. See link to what is covered and what is not covered.

Unfortunately, something got on these wheels causing a chemical reaction that corroded and pitted the back side of the wheel barrels which does not fall under the California Chrome Wheel Inc warranty program. Corrosion and pitting is caused from external influences such as salt or magnesium chloride used to melt snow, salt air near the ocean, brake dust buildup, etc. It's simular to getting a custom paint job and acid gets spilled onto the paint. It would not matter if it was a $300.00 paint job or a $10,000.00 paint job, the paint is going to get ruined and it's not the painters fault.

It is unfortunate that you came at us in such an aggressive manner telling us what we are going to do for you. As you know, when there is a legitimate warranty that is our fault we take care of the problem as we did earlier when we rechromed the wheel that was peeling. It is difficult for us to offer you anything outside our company policy when you make demands such as we are going to replace your wheels. I did discuss this with John and he did see your e-mail, and of course he remembers you, and because you were articulate and an enthusiast he felt confident to provide electoplating and back barrel polishing for your wheels.

John knew of your interest in the Calchrome Clear coat product, but you assured him that these custom wheels were for show and not a daily driver. John also said if it something that California Chrome Wheel Inc. is doing to cause the wheels to pit, we would not be in business today with all the wheels we have chrome plated. He said a possible alternative for you is to paint the inside of the barrels Black. Even if we were to warranty the wheels, with your environment and intended use, this might happen again. We are not trying to fight you on this, but the facts are the facts. The bottom line is you are an intelligent guy and we have not done anything to cause the wheels to corrode. John said, as a professional courtesy, we can rechrome them at a discounted cost. Let us know if you are interested in rechroming them at a discount so we can price quote you or if you have any additional questions.

Me: Now I know why GM, Mopar, and Ford don't chrome their barrels. Something that could of been told to me before the chrome plating job. I remember asking you repeatedly Blaine before I sent them to get chromed. "Is it possible they will pit, even if I take care of them?" You guaranteed me they will last a very long time. Well it's been a year and the chrome is already pitting like wildfire. If you and John would of told me the truth about chrome plating in the barrel part this would of never happened.

This simple answer could of been given to me last Monday. John never returned my email, never returned my call and I had to call you twice today to get a response. Poor customer service on your part.

I'm very familiar with chrome. Once the pitting starts, next is peeling. My friend had the same chrome job done at your place with the same wheels. He said the inner barrel of his CCW wheels are already peeling and pitting. He never takes his car out and cleans his car all the time. I suggest making a warning to customers before they purchase the chrome plating job for the barrel. Show only!

My review of your company will going on all my major automotive sites. I'm a widely known webmaster to the car community around the web. I will be warning them about the chrome plating barrel service and how you tend to avoid your customers like the plague. Next time I suggest returning phone calls and emails quicker!

3 Responses to “California Chrome Wheel Review”