chrisp

Has anyone experienced leaking Fikse barrels? I have a new-to-me set of FM5's that were holding air fine the the several weeks I've had tires on them. The first one started to leak during the Enduro last weekend while the second went flat last night just sitting in the garage.

Both barrels are leaking in the exact same place - near the radius at the flange where the wheel bolts go through to the wheel center. It's not air getting by the bolts or a leaking seal. I've dip tanked them and it's clearly coming through the aluminum rim half itself.

Seems very strange.

Mike Buck

Is there a small crack there that you can see? My BBS race wheels have cracked in a similar manner. I replaced wtih a thicker rim halve, more suitable for my heavy car.

chrisp

Nothing visible but there looks to be a waviness in the metal.

Qwickrick

I just had a similar problem..Fikse sent a new "half"
Sorry, no photos.

chrisp

They want me to send both back with a cost to repair of ~$380/wheel. They said they only sell parts to Grand Am teams who have signed some sort of liability waiver. He did offer that it "may be a warranty" which I was surprised to hear him say. I guess I'll find out when I send them in. Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one who has dealt with this.

por29

We have seen this. We have the proper licensing through FIKSE to repair their wheels. We found a minute crack in Qwickricks wheel. They did send us a new half at no charge. Very stange. Obviously a flaw in the half.

Bill Rudtner

tsheehan

Send them to Fikse I have always been treated fairly. They will come back with all new sealant and hardware If the half is cracked they will replace it.
Regards
TSheehan

Brian P

I've had mixed success with Fikse. I've had them replace a wheel at no cost and I've had other times when getting a wheel fixed cost almost as much as a new wheel.

NaroEscape

If it's not a crack, and it's leaking in the seam between the halve pieces, it might just be the sealant on the inside. I had a different set of wheels (not Fikse) that had this problem after years of taking tires on and off. I took the tires off and found the sealant was getting shreaded, so I went to a local performance wheel company and got their sealant and resealed them. Basically, it's like caulking. They've worked fine ever since.

I DID have a problem with my Fikse's though - 9 of the bolts sheared off on the backside! Heads just came right off. I talked to Jim Fikse himself and they found that the wheels I have had defective bolts (all wheels are serial numbered) and had me send them back and rebuilt at no charge. They had thought they found all the ones on their "recall" but I guess they missed a few...

j_leder

Similar leaking problem in one wheel sent back to Fikse
They replace all bolts on that wheel and resealed-
No further problems
Reasonable price and done right