Hi Everyone,

For those of you who have or have considered switching out your wheels, have dealers given any guidance in terms of if they have to sell you the wheels or do the work in order to maintain the factory or extended warranty?

I'm not loving the wheels my XS came with and want to switch them for 5094s.

Thanks!

-Alex

 

In the case of a problem, they'd have to prove that the aftermarket wheels you install caused whatever fault happened (assuming this question is US-focused). For wheels that fit the truck, that seems to me that it would be a massive stretch for the vast majority of possible warranty claims.

EDIT: if the new wheels are oem there is no way they'd cause you warranty issues

 

If you’re switching to OEM wheels it will definitely not affect your warranty whatsoever.

 

Any idea what this runs through the dealer? I'm perfectly happy with my tires (under 5k miles) and would prefer not to deal with Ebay etc.

 

You might be able to find a place to order them online (maybe even a discount) and then have them delivered locally for install. Might be a little less expensive.

Example:

https://www.myroverparts.com/oem-parts/land-rover-alloy-wheel-20-quot-style-5094-5-spoke-lr129119

You could also probably sell your take offs on eBay and recoup some money.

 

Yes it will

 

So almost nothing, short of say closed circuit racing can blanket void an OEM vehicle warranty in the US. But the use of out of spec parts can lead to warranty denials on related systems if it's shown the parts caused or could cause the failure.

So wheels of similar size and weight are unlikely to cause an issue but if something related broke, let's say an axle shaft or maybe even a diff it's possible the claim could be denied.

Obviously however an unrelated component/system would still be covered.

 

Like others have said, the Magnusson act in the US puts the onus on the manufacturer to prove that the modification or third party product caused the failure of the parts in question. That would be very hard if you replace wheels with oem, or even non-oem with oem spec. Where you could potentially run into problems is if you mount wheels with very different ET/offset measurements or use things like spacers which have been known to stress suspension and steering over time. That said, they’d still have to prove these caused the problem, but you might have to take them to court to get them to pay, so a pain all around.

 

And it's doubtful the worn bearings, ball joints, or steering components would even show up during the warranty period, though what you say about greater offset wheels multiplying the forces on these components is certainly true. It just usually takes a while before things wear out; like at 70,000 miles instead of the 120k they should last for, or whatever.

 

@NoGaBiker - That there is the most true statement I've read about these warranty questions! Unless it's a REALLY bad mod, it likely won't show up in the first 4 years.