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Full Version: well Josh, you mighta been right about Kodiak Wheels
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byndbad914
QUOTE(jhadler @ Apr 30 2007, 10:40 AM) *

Kodiak makes some really nice wheels, but they have delivery problems right now. I know of a couple people who ordered MONTHS ago, and have yet to get anything. And I also know of someone who wound up with fitment issues after recieving his wheels (not built to spec). It was for a DSR, so spacers and stuff were not an option, really messed with the begining of his season.

If CCW or Fikse are the same price, I might think of going with them. CCW makes some really great wheels.

-Josh2

Well, I wasn't in a big hurry for the wheels, but yeah, going into month 3 is starting to wear on me. Right at the point of doing a charge-back with my VISA card (they had no problem charging me immediately - that always seems to get done with the utmost haste) and telling them to pound sand.

If they didn't have the look I wanted and weren't so light, I would have already done it dry.gif One of those rock and a hard place things - I want 'em but kinda want to say screw them just on principal...
ottox914
I've had no problems with the Keizers I run, and have set up 4-5 other guys in the club with that brand of wheel, they have had no problems and great customer service when they mashed a rim being stupid.
jhadler
QUOTE(byndbad914 @ Jul 26 2007, 04:07 PM) *

Well, I wasn't in a big hurry for the wheels, but yeah, going into month 3 is starting to wear on me. Right at the point of doing a charge-back with my VISA card (they had no problem charging me immediately - that always seems to get done with the utmost haste) and telling them to pound sand.


Well cr*p! That really sucks. You know, it's really poor business practice to charge your credit card before they actually ship the product. If your card has already been charged, then you should already have the wheels en route. If not, I think you should demand a refund.

QUOTE

If they didn't have the look I wanted and weren't so light, I would have already done it dry.gif One of those rock and a hard place things - I want 'em but kinda want to say screw them just on principal...


Have you looked at CCW? I really like the BBS-esque look they make. Hmm, I wonder if litespeed is still around. They made super light, and really great looking wheels. I think their wheels would look really great on a widebodied 914. And if I remember, they were located in Colorado.

-Josh2
byndbad914
QUOTE(jhadler @ Jul 30 2007, 08:58 PM) *

QUOTE(byndbad914 @ Jul 26 2007, 04:07 PM) *

Well, I wasn't in a big hurry for the wheels, but yeah, going into month 3 is starting to wear on me. Right at the point of doing a charge-back with my VISA card (they had no problem charging me immediately - that always seems to get done with the utmost haste) and telling them to pound sand.


Well cr*p! That really sucks. You know, it's really poor business practice to charge your credit card before they actually ship the product. If your card has already been charged, then you should already have the wheels en route. If not, I think you should demand a refund.

I more or less agree - they wanted $$ upfront since they are custom pieces so I can see why they would want to see the money before they started. That said, I think it should have been 50% at the most...

QUOTE
QUOTE

If they didn't have the look I wanted and weren't so light, I would have already done it dry.gif One of those rock and a hard place things - I want 'em but kinda want to say screw them just on principal...


Have you looked at CCW? I really like the BBS-esque look they make. Hmm, I wonder if litespeed is still around. They made super light, and really great looking wheels. I think their wheels would look really great on a widebodied 914. And if I remember, they were located in Colorado.

-Josh2

Yeah, I liked the looks of the CCW wheels but the weight quote was about 5lbs higher for each wheel, which I felt was significant. I would LOVE to have a set of Litespeeds but that company was defunct a few years ago when I was looking then. I have seen a few widebody teeners with them and they look great IMO. There are a couple cars on this forum with them in fact.

ottox - I looked at the keizer website, I may try to give them a call. That 5-spoke design wheel actually looks a bit like the Litespeed wheel in fact!
jhadler
QUOTE(byndbad914 @ Jul 30 2007, 09:05 PM) *

Yeah, I liked the looks of the CCW wheels but the weight quote was about 5lbs higher for each wheel, which I felt was significant.


Yeah, but light and strong tend to be mutually exclusive. Super duper light wheels tend to react very poorly to curbs, berms, and off-track excursions.

QUOTE
I would LOVE to have a set of Litespeeds but that company was defunct a few years ago when I was looking then. I have seen a few widebody teeners with them and they look great IMO. There are a couple cars on this forum with them in fact.


Yeah, I kinda thought they were no more, but hadn't really looked for 'em in a while.

QUOTE

ottox - I looked at the keizer website, I may try to give them a call. That 5-spoke design wheel actually looks a bit like the Litespeed wheel in fact!


Hard to go wrong with Keizer. Another couple wheel makers you may want to look at are Real and Weld. Keizer used to have some quality problems years ago, but they seem to have really turned that around. And as Grant said "silly light"...

-Josh2
GaroldShaffer
hijacked.gif I have a nice set of 15 x 7 Keizer rims I want to sell. They are 4 bolt style. They fit a stock body car as long as the rear fenders are pulled.
byndbad914
QUOTE(byndbad914 @ Jul 26 2007, 04:07 PM) *

If they didn't have the look I wanted and weren't so light, I would have already done it dry.gif One of those rock and a hard place things - I want 'em but kinda want to say screw them just on principal...

well to quote myself on the light part, the wheels showed up FedEx this morning. One already has shipping damage to the lip (m'fers!) and of course I called Kodiak to start the process and they haven't called back today.
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So I am quoting the light part cuz they said the wheels would be 12-15 lbs and I said "for a 16x11?? SWEET" since, I mean, 10 and 11" is pretty wide wheels by most peoples' standards.

They are 18lbs each. Pretty much what CCW quoted me at 18-20lbs, so they aren't as light as they are claiming. Do they look good? HELL YEAH. When they showed up I came, I saw, I came again laugh.gif huh.gif (those two smileys combined with an ERK! FLAVA FLAVE) The anodized centers look pretty nice, the very center on a couple looks not quite perfect but not really noticeable at least. I just really like the 10 spoke design.
byndbad914
sitting next to the car
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byndbad914
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SirAndy
what compound are you running on the goodyears?

idea.gif Andy
byndbad914
QUOTE(SirAndy @ Aug 24 2007, 08:06 PM) *

what compound are you running on the goodyears?

idea.gif Andy


R430s. These are the radials, I will be moving over to bias plys when I can't find good take-offs biggrin.gif $460 each for the fronts and $530 each for the rears blink.gif These were almost new for $75 each used. If I go bias ply I will still probably stick to the R430 compound
Joe Ricard
I'm thinking Kiezers for the rear. 15 x 10 front 15 x 8

SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR BAD EXPERIENCE.

These guys sure didn't get any good advertisement from this transaction.

I will buy Diamond wheels again before Kodiaks. Thme guys in Milwaukee rock.
byndbad914
QUOTE(Joe Ricard @ Aug 26 2007, 03:59 AM) *

I'm thinking Kiezers for the rear. 15 x 10 front 15 x 8

SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR BAD EXPERIENCE.

These guys sure didn't get any good advertisement from this transaction.

I will buy Diamond wheels again before Kodiaks. Thme guys in Milwaukee rock.

I heard about the Keizers after I ordered, but I heard they are light. Apparently I should have spec'd .160" wheel halves for a race wheel - but I don't know WTF to spec, I like to race but I am no wheel pro. I told them they were for a race car and that I liked the fact they were supposed to be light. For them to use apparently thicker barrels was their choice, not mine.

I suspect what happened is I heard rim halves are almost impossible to get right now, so they probably built mine with thicker halves cuz that was all they could find, then just didn't tell me. Just a bummer to find out my 16x10/11 are heavier than other guys 17x9.5 (a guy who helped me tremendously just to get them is a dealer and his were 16-16.5 lbs, so why mine are 17.5-18 is beyond me).

The wheels themselves look awesome, and I would sorta be stuck with them anyway cuz I really like the 10-spoke design they carry sad.gif In the end I am happy with the wheels, I just hate being lied to about lead-times. And I talked to the owner for awhile at week 12 and told him I wasn't going to bust his balls because I am more than familiar with supplier issues, CNC machine failures, etc with my own personal experiences. But at week 14 with no returned calls, that is when I get ticked off. Service in a whored-out industry like wheels is going to be the key divider.

Diamonds were definitely on my list BTW but didn't have a pattern I was really happy with. They are awesome wheels too, tho'.
jhadler
Sounds like you got the stinky end of the deal...

The frustration of the delay seems only compounded by the fact that the wheels are not what you expected (weight wise).

I'd be kinda bummed too...

Still, they do look pretty slick. smile.gif

-Josh2
Chris Pincetich
Those wheels look awesome! beerchug.gif
I've read all about this on the Pelican BBS...Are you planning to order some lighter wheel halves or can you run these (with the nicked edge)??
byndbad914
I am going to run these as is - Kodiak will polish up another half that matches what I have and send it out so I can swap out the nicked one down the road when I change tires again.

In the end, I was surprised as the wheels and tires I removed were about 3-4lbs heavier with tires so in the end I am a little lighter on unsprung weight. What it would take to save 2lbs per wheel right now, frankly, isn't worth it.

but yeah Josh, sucks to come in heavier than I thought. However, given how bad Pueblo is maybe I want the thicker (hopefully equating to stronger) wheels blink.gif

the rear tires are wider than before, but same diam, so with a bigger wheel diam 16" v. 15" it was nice to see I still lost some weight. I didn't think that would be the case given the wheel is 18lbs, so that may be very tire dependent right now (I don't recall the wheel weights before). So, if I go to a Hoosier tire, the weight may change again. I dunno.

the fronts are barely wider, but smaller in diam, so that was the 4lb difference. The backs had the 3lb difference.
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