Alloys and bad roads dont mix

Steel rims and plastic cover was the standard on the Vue 4cyl. You had to
upgrade to get alloy rims...

That said, I have the steel rims and plastic covers and I'll tell you the
following:

Positives:
You never get the black front rims from brake dust, so the car (yes, despite
what they call it - to me, it's still a car or SUV - The dealers insist on
calling it a "truck")
The wife chews it up or scratches it against a curb - Cheap easy replace vs.
expensive rims

Negatives:
PITA (pain in the ass) added extra work changing a tire or rotating...
Plastic lug nuts screw onto real lugs and can strip or break easily if not
careful (esp. by lunk head in service department whose not used to them)
Biggest complaint however, I noticed when it got warm outside and had my
windows opened...When you hit a descent bump you may hear them rattle. (Was
driving me nuts trying to figure that one out for days, and fixed this with
a thin strip of adhesive foam on the inside of the covers)

Just FYI

PS: If you do have these and have your vehicle serviced, check the plastic
lugs on all 4 wheels before leaving. I found one snapped the last service.
I would have livid if I had gotten a flat at night or in the rain and I
couldn't get the cover off because of a plastic lug. (actually, you would
just rip and break the thing off as a last resort, but you'd still be
****ed)

IYM

"teem" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:18:31 -0400, "marx404" > wrote:
>
>>Unfortunately, with a choice of an ION.3, 16" alloys are the only choice.
>>Teem is right in remembering that '05 ION.3's came with a 16"steel
>>reinforced wheel. Why did Saturn make that only 1 year? Must have been
>>cost.
>>Now I wish that I had choosen a level 2 for the steel wheels, but I would
>>have had to immediately replace the tires to be more compatable with the
>>harsh road conditions here. The funny thing is according to Saturn, the
>>GVW
>>is almost identical between level 2 and 3 (30 lbs difference), so the
>>alloys
>>would have really not made much difference.
> I 1st started noticing rims on saturns a few years ago,that is,they
> LOOKED like alloys,but had a black backing w/holes w/the
> lighter''alloy'' out front,after aking an ass of myself asking
> questions on this to saturn techs,it dawned on me---Steel Rims!--just
> a crappy plastic wheel cover,how crafty!.

In article >,
"marx404" > wrote:

> The other day while off to work, I hit a spot in the road, a very narrow
> high-speed country road where the shoulder was missing and there was a foot
> long hole where the cement was missing.

That's a low speed country road

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:15:02 -0400, <IYM> wrote:

>Plastic lug nuts screw onto real lugs and can strip or break easily if not
>careful

GM has used this concept for many years on many vehicles and they are
not that fragile. If you over torque them the simple jump thread. It
would that a impact wrench spining them fast too far to eat threads
out of them.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

Well, jump the thread to many times the plastic threads wear down. I can
tell you from my experience with them that if I take and over torque one, it
jumps. Then, try to torque it back up to where it was and it doesn't make
it before it jumps again. It will get progressively worse until it just
spins or barely holds, as I have on 3 of these plastic lugs. Sorry, to me
that's too fragile. And of course, if you can't torque them up as tight as
they should be, then you get a rattle from the cover as well as
overstressing the remaining plastic lugs. As far as any idiot who would
stick a impact wrench on them........well, that's why I check them all after
a service. I've had them broken.....

IYM

"SnoMan" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:15:02 -0400, <IYM> wrote:
>
>>Plastic lug nuts screw onto real lugs and can strip or break easily if not
>>careful
>
> GM has used this concept for many years on many vehicles and they are
> not that fragile. If you over torque them the simple jump thread. It
> would that a impact wrench spining them fast too far to eat threads
> out of them.
> -----------------
> TheSnoMan.com

Well, the bill came out to $560. (after my discount) for 2 rims. Maybe it's
me, but the ride doesnt feel as solid as before. Maybe because I am paying
more attention to the ride now (especially watching for holes in the road).
I've had the wheel balance and alignment checked twice and the car rides a
pretty straight line when you let go of the wheel (as straight as can be
expected for these roads).


--
marx404