Mach 5 wheels

[paul_humphreys]

I am looking for pictures of Mach 5s as made by Matt Lee. I am looking for pictures where the wheels have cracked. I am not looking for pictures of accident damage or of misuse. I have been told of people that have seen the cracked wheels but I need the pictures please. You do not need to post the pictures, just send me a PM and I will give an email address to send them to.

Thanks in advance.

Paul

[strapping young lad]

the originals would be here i would imagine..

http://www.mjloffroad.co.uk/

but i dont remember many people on here saying they have mach 5's so your search may be in vain

d

[paul_humphreys]

Its the pictures on the cracks I am after. I had a set, but down to 2 now.

Paul

[jimbob]

I've got two set's. One with beadlock's on. Havnt seen or found any crack's on them.

Where abouts have yours cracked :?:

[Edge]

Paul, i remember theres a few people on scottish off road club who use mach 5's, perhaps may be worth while posting on there too?

www.sorc.org.uk & www.difflock.com & www.landrovernet.com

Good luck matey :D .
I personally think you should get a free new set of wheels.

[paul_humphreys]

Paul, i remember theres a few people on scottish off road club who use mach 5's, perhaps may be worth while posting on there too?

www.sorc.org.uk & www.difflock.com & www.landrovernet.com

Good luck matey :D .
I personally think you should get a free new set of wheels.

I will have a look later thanks.

Paul

[Syncro]

I`ve run 2 sets of Mach5`s on my Syncro. Matt made them as 1 offs ,the first set split where the spokes are welded to the rims but only on the front ones,(i think the offset was wrong on the first set)when i went back to him about the splitting he said "Sorry theres no waranty with them", but fair play to him he made me another set which im still running with no problems. =D>  \:D/
 sorry though ive no pictures

[Mad_on_Suzuki_jeeps]

he u go http://www.scorpionracing.co.uk/home.htm

[mark.yellow.series.3]

i have voiced my opion on another thread about cracked rims, so i will repeat my self here.
iam a welding engineer and repair industrial welding plant for a living.
if a weld has cracked, the weld is defective.
if the rim had been welded properly, it woulnd crack, the wheel would distort first, as the welded joint should be as strong (if not stronger than) the metal its welded to.
the company who make the rims obviously dont x-ray there welds for defects.
if a rim split on the motorway it could cause fatalities, serious stuff.
i wouldnt use those rims.

[Mace]

Paul

Unless you signed a disclaimer when you purchased the rims then you have the option of claiming a refund, repair or replacement under the Sales of Goods act, due to unsatisfactory quality, for up to 6 years after their purchase. A standard 12 months warranty does not exclude the goods from this section of the Sale of Goods Act. All goods sold are under contract and they should last as long as any 'reasonable person' would expect. Although this is not quantified, I personally would expect a wheel specifically designed to take off-road to last 4/5 years under normal circumstances, competition use is another thing.

You cannot claim they are not fit for purpose as they are wheels and they go round (if you see what I mean), you must claim under unsatisfactory quality at the point of sale, i.e incorrectly welded during manufacture. You are entitled to have them independently inspected and tested at your expense and if found to be inherently faulty, claim for costs and compensation. You can persue the manufacturer through the small claims court for approx £80 but it would be adviseable to contact Trading Standards 1st, log your complaint and then check with the Citizens Advice Bureau as they have a format you can use to follow your case through the courts, should it ever get to that.

And I tell you all this because I'm currently going through the process for something entirely un-land rover related, but still of unsatisfactory quality. Both Trading Standards and Citizens Advice have been very helpful and honest. I would not be taking the path I'm taking without their backing. Give them a ring, it's worth a phone call.

P.S. You do not have to prove others have experienced the same problem, you have to prove your goods are of unsatisfactory quality.

[paul_humphreys]

Thats good to know, I will look into it. I have a man from VOSA safety section looking at it right now.

Paul

[Xtremeteam]

id like to say just ONE thing,

have a look at this post please Mach 5 wheels


& TBH after reading ML reply i think thats good going considering the wheels were bought 2nd hand & are approx 4 years old

[paul_humphreys]

id like to say just ONE thing,

have a look at this post please Mach 5 wheels


& TBH after reading ML reply i think thats good going considering the wheels were bought 2nd hand & are approx 4 years old

This the post from Matt Lee

Been reading the comments – interesting! Thought I'd better respond, so here goes…..

Mr Humphries rang me and said the welding on a spoke had cracked, ok no problem I sent him a replacement within two days. (Not bad customer service) He rang after receiving it to say it was the wrong offset. I thought this was strange as I have been doing same offsets for a long time now. I asked him to send the wheel and I will check the offset and see the problem for myself.

Meanwhile he had another wheel crack in the same place.

When I saw the wheel, I realised, from the way it had been manufactured it was at least 4 years old, possibly 5 and it was very rusty and had had some serious off road hammer. I offered to repair both wheels FOC but said I could not really give him a new set, as they were too old and obviously had had a hard life. I have since learnt that Mr Humphries bought them second hand so how can he possibly know what the wheels have been through prior to him buying them?

Maybe I took the wrong decision, should I have given Mr Humphries a brand new set?

When I go off roading and break a shocker, for example, I do not ask for a replacement FOC, or complain about it on a forum, and then say I bought it 2nd hand!

The Mach 5 wheel is now in its 12th year of production and I have spent a lot of time & money on research & development to keep improving the quality and up dating machinery to meet the high demand, still evident today, as our order book is very busy! They have been tested and have got certification for road use.

Yes it is common knowledge, there have been problems with a few wheels, but the number is minimal compared with the number that have been sold and I have endeavoured to replace any faulty wheels with genuine problems.

Please email me any comments on this issue, the best one will win a brand new, heavy duty set of Mach 5 wheels, guaranteed for life!
(mjlee@tiscali.co.uk)

All I can now offer Mr Humphries, is that if he wants to come and see me I’ll sort him out.
_________________
Have a nice day!

Matt Lee

[paul_humphreys]

My answer to Matts post.

I will respond to this.

I have never asked for a new set of wheels. Yes Matt did send me another wheel, very good of him as I did not ask him to. I had called him to asked if it was ok to weld the wheel up my self and I was going to do this. But on speaking to others I was advised that if the weld went again I would be lible, thats when I spoke to matt again. Matt returnd the 1st wheel to me rewelded on the out side, but with the crack still on the inside.

As for the offset, the offset was out to the ones I had by 10mm, to me this was a bit far out. I never said I had had the wheels from new, but I never said that I had them second had either. Maybe I should have. But as I said the first email was asking if its ok to reweld the wheels and in what way, Tig, Mig or Arc.

In this time I had a second wheel crack on the same spoke, looking from the back, valve at the top the spoke to right of the valve.

I do not know how old the wheels are, but they are the new type with the rolled edge. I have had a set of the old type without any problems at all. The wheels had no damage to the rims so I took them as not having a very life. As for rust, then yes theres some surface rust, but there is some on mose steel wheels unless you repaint them everytime you scratch the paint.

I do not recall Mat offering to repair both wheels FOC, but as said he did reweld the first wheel for me. As from the start I have nevered asked for a new set. Would I ever buy another set? I dont honestly know. As Matt has told me They are past their working life as they are about 4 years old.

I am not looking for a new set, I will end up rewelding the other wheel and reuse them or get rid of them, I dont know what yet.

But from what I have been told of others that have cracked and of new wheels that have leaked air from the welds when new.

Paul

[muddy4x4]

Just how long do mach 5 wheels last for then? Matt Lee
Surely the wheel will have off road hammer cos that`s what people use them for!
As for rust,most wheels will have rust on them after a year!
Seems strange to me that the wheels break in the same place,surely that is a defect!!!!

[mark.yellow.series.3]

id like to say just ONE thing,

have a look at this post please Mach 5 wheels


& TBH after reading ML reply i think thats good going considering the wheels were bought 2nd hand & are approx 4 years old

4 years old?? i would expect a set of rims to last the life of the car, possibly a little less if they had a hard life, but iam still talking 10-15 years of offroading. the old wheels off my series are more then 32 years old and are still completely servicable. i bet landrover spend more time developing/testing/quality controling there wheels then the makers of mach 5's.

[Mace]

Paul.

Unfortunately you do have not contract of sale with Matt (as they are 2nd hand) therefore the Sales of Goods Act is not applicable in this case.

[paul_humphreys]

Paul.

Unfortunately you do have not contract of sale with Matt (as they are 2nd hand) therefore the Sales of Goods Act is not applicable in this case.

I gathered that.

As I had posted, I am not after a new set of wheels. I just wanted to know why they cracked and the fact that the working life is less than 4 years. If I was running tubes I would not have noticed it had cracked untill a total failure of the weld.

Paul

[Richie_EB4]

I have just bought a set of these from the Drifield landrover show.........hope i get a better life than 4 years from mine :shock:

[Xtremeteam]

id like to say just ONE thing,

have a look at this post please Mach 5 wheels


& TBH after reading ML reply i think thats good going considering the wheels were bought 2nd hand & are approx 4 years old

4 years old?? i would expect a set of rims to last the life of the car, possibly a little less if they had a hard life, but iam still talking 10-15 years of offroading. the old wheels off my series are more then 32 years old and are still completely servicable. i bet landrover spend more time developing/testing/quality controling there wheels then the makers of mach 5's.

IN ref to them being approx 4 years old i was refering to the fact that at the time (4 years ago  :roll: ) there was a problem with them cracking,since a change in manufacturing process i havent heard of a set cracking since

[Tigger]

I'm not going to take any sides here... but I just wanted to clear up a couple of points..

I don't think anyone has actually stated that the expected life of a set of wheels is 4 years...  comment was simply made that the wheels must have been at least 4 years old.  Big difference.

With regard to comparisons to standard wheels and how strong they are...  you can break *anything* if you try hard enough.  I've got two standard LR rims which have pretty much cracked in half through some proper off road use.  This doesn't mean there is some fundamental design problem with them.

It is my experience that Mach 5 wheels are very well made and very strong.  It's no secret that we use them on our vehicles, and they take some serious abuse..  as a matter of fact, the only times we've damaged them are by actually bending the rims.. and that takes some doing !

We all need to be very careful throwing phrases around which imply that the manufacturer somehow doesn't take quality seriously or that the products are unfit for use...  because those are the sort of statements which, without proper substantiated evidence get people into trouble.   :?

[Richie_EB4]

Well thanks for that Tim.......i think with any discusion things do get pulled apart and stretched etc............im more happy that these have been recomended by more than one person........and so far mine have servived a few good off road outings.........just hope that things can be cleared up for the few that have had problems.

[Syncro]

As i said earlier my first set did crack and air did leak from the cracks  and that was around 4 years ago.
    But fair play to Matt the second set have been spot on and if i ever buy a Land Rover i`d certainly buy a set for it

[paul_humphreys]

I'm not going to take any sides here... but I just wanted to clear up a couple of points..

I don't think anyone has actually stated that the expected life of a set of wheels is 4 years...  comment was simply made that the wheels must have been at least 4 years old.  Big difference.

With regard to comparisons to standard wheels and how strong they are...  you can break *anything* if you try hard enough.  I've got two standard LR rims which have pretty much cracked in half through some proper off road use.  This doesn't mean there is some fundamental design problem with them.

It is my experience that Mach 5 wheels are very well made and very strong.  It's no secret that we use them on our vehicles, and they take some serious abuse..  as a matter of fact, the only times we've damaged them are by actually bending the rims.. and that takes some doing !

We all need to be very careful throwing phrases around which imply that the manufacturer somehow doesn't take quality seriously or that the products are unfit for use...  because those are the sort of statements which, without proper substantiated evidence get people into trouble.   :?

This from the email from Matt Lee.

"We have studied your wheel again and they are at least 4 years old. So we are afraid that it looks like the whole set has come to the end of its life."

By this I am taking it the working life is 4 years.

You make up your own mind.

Paul

[Tigger]

Hi Paul,

Please don't think I'm trying to be argumentative, but what are you wanting to achieve from all this ?

As I understand it, the situation is as follows :

You have a set of second hand wheels of unknown history, some of which have developed cracks.  These wheels are a minimum of 4 years old.

The manufacturer of said wheels has offered to repair them free of charge for you.  You are not happy to repair them yourself because of the risk of liability.

I don't believe there will be any way to say with any certainty what the cause of this cracking is, not least of all because there is no evidence of prior use.

You don't expect a new set of wheels from MJ Lee (rightly so IMHO)


In my opinion, Matt has acted very well in supporting the product in this case... some companies out there would have just laughed when they found out that you were complaining about a 2nd hand product.

You opened the thread by asking if anyone had photos of cracked rims...  now I, like others in identical threads on other forums, assumed that you were trying to gather evidence of poor quality or were trying to build a case for claim.   It was subsequently revealed, after being pressed, that the wheels were second hand, and that you were speaking to VOSA about the issue.   Again, this made me suspicious, I found myself asking why none of this information was raised in the first instance.

I'm not accusing you of being underhand, or of anything else for that matter.. but the way this has been presented on so many forums seems to have elicited a similar response across the board.  A number of people are forming the opinion that you seem to just want to 'put the boot in'

In your eyes, what is a 'successful' resolution to this matter ?

[Plum]

Mountain out of a molehill comes to mind . . . . .

my gran always told me not to air my dirty laundry in public. . . . .

as its not always what you say,  however more,    how you say it . . . .


A little more gentlemanly conduct could be called for,  "imho". . . . . . . .

                               Cheers for now

                                           Plum

[v8kenny]

If you buy a four year old car from a private buyer and it goes wrong, you don't go banging on the door of the manufacturer - you jump up and down on the doorstep of the person who sold you it
This is the same for these wheels - MJL has no idea what the previous owner or owners has been doing with these wheels and the fact that he has agreed to repair them FOC speaks volumes of the man - I have never bought  anything from the man but would not hesitate if his customer satisfaction extends this far
Paul, either accept the man's kind offer to repair them or go and take up the issue with whoever you bought them from
Either way, if you carry on with this vendetta against MJL then you are going to be made to look very stupid at the end of it all

[paul_humphreys]

Right this is the last thing I will say on this.

I have never expected a new set of wheels from Matt Lee. My first phone call was ask on the best way to weld it after it cracked. Matt offered to exchange the wheel for me. The wheels are less than four years old it they are the new type with thw rolled edge not the early ones, I had a set of these and they were still fine when I got rid of them.

Tigger I can see your point, but I am only question the wheels on a safety issue. If I was running inner tubes in the tyres I would not have known that they had cracked as thy would have not let all the air out. My main concern is if the wheel had failed conpleaty at 60mph on the road what would happened. No I do not know the history of the wheels. Matt did not offer to reweld both wheels for me. He did reweld the one before sending it back to me, but he did not weld the crack on the inner of the rim. Its still cracked.

v8kenny, If a car has to be recalled because of a safety issue then it dose not matter how old it is or how many owners it has had. Look at Landrover last year. They recalled a lot of Discovers dateing back to 1990 due to leaking petrol tanks. They change the tanks on them.

If anyone else has anything to say/ask me then please PM me. I will not post another answer on this subject.

Paul

[LOFTY]

Just to ask a question really, shouldnt Mach 5 s be used off road only, as they are not CE marked???

Perhaps just me, as it seems everything has to be these days.