WARNING Wheel Beauty Ring Removal - Bronco

I'm at work and can't watch the video. I'm guessing that the problem is steel bolts in an aluminum wheel stuck?

ChuckO

I'm at work and can't watch the video. I'm guessing that the problem is steel bolts in an aluminum wheel stuck?

Four cross threaded bolts from the factory. Only took them out 1/4" when I noticed they were not straight. Went to reinstall and they stripped. Now I have two of the four sticking out. Such a simple project, turned out to be a nightmare.

Well that certainly sucks. I've been wanting to paint my beauty rings and now I'm nervous about it. Good luck with getting yours fixed.

No issues with ours, my son and I had all five rings off in less than 5 minutes.

That Sucks. Most likely they're going to break off (unless you're really lucky) You'll likely need extractors for any that break off (I'd get carbon steel) and a carbon steel drill bit (try not to drill in much more than 1/4") and then you'll have to re-tap all the holes. I'd go up one size. Buy Stainless Steel replacements and put never seize on them. If you let the dealer do it, it's going to take forever and who knows how good a job they'll do

B MIller

Has anyone else had this issue? I spoke with the dealer and in a few weeks they are going to see what they can do to help me out. Finger crossed.

Bummer - that’s the kind of crap you expect when wrenching on an almost 60 year old Corvette not a brand new Bronco ;)

1 of mine was buggered like that and instead of using the correct, TP40 bit, I used a T45 bit and hammered it into the bolt head and then used my Milwaukee M18 impact and she walked right out. Good luck Brian!

What came of this? Did you replace only the affected or all?

Just did my Beauty rings from silver to black. Took my time and I got lucky…no issues. I used canned air to blow out the holes and took a wire brush to the threads then used anitsieze grease.

B MIller

Four cross threaded bolts from the factory. Only took them out 1/4" when I noticed they were not straight. Went to reinstall and they stripped. Now I have two of the four sticking out. Such a simple project, turned out to be a nightmare.

Ford should replace the entire wheel under warranty. I don't know that they will, I don't know how much traction you can get by demanding it, but if that's how the wheel came from the factory, with bolts improperly installed, and cross-threaded, that's a defective product, due to defective work on their part; and the burden should be on them to make it right.

There is nothing that can be done to make the existing wheel completely right. It may be perfectly usable, but it is damaged in a way that cannot be completely repaired. Best that can be done with the existing wheel is to drill out the damaged holes to a slightly larger size, and tap them to fit slightly larger bolts. If this was an old wheel, damaged that way by the owner, then I'd consider that an acceptable remedy, but not for a brand new wheel, that came damaged from the factory. Ford owes you a new, undamaged wheel.

ChuckO

What came of this? Did you replace only the affected or all?

I have two bolts sticking out about 1/4 inch on two wheels. I have an appointment with my Ford dealer on the 9th. I'll update here with the results.

Hoping for the best. I’d suggest putting never seize on any and all that you can remove.

ChuckO

Hoping for the best. I’d suggest putting never seize on any and all that you can remove.

I wouldn’t (and didn’t) use anti-seize - these bolts are all secured with thread locker from the factory….

of course, I am not really sure why Ford used thread lock on these bolts anyway since they are merely cosmetic however, I am sure they employ some smart engineer that required it.

Interesting

Bschurr

I wouldn’t (and didn’t) use anti-seize - these bolts are all secured with thread locker from the factory….

of course, I am not really sure why Ford used thread lock on these bolts anyway since they are merely cosmetic however, I am sure they employ some smart engineer that required it.

Interesting. I hope it all works out

Bschurr

I wouldn’t (and didn’t) use anti-seize - these bolts are all secured with thread locker from the factory….

of course, I am not really sure why Ford used thread lock on these bolts anyway since they are merely cosmetic however, I am sure they employ some (too) smart (for his own good) engineer that required it.

Fixed it for you.

Yikes...

To remove these "beauty rings", do you need to air down?

I did not…I did used canned air to blow out the used holes and a wire brush to clean the threads. I also used antisieze grease as well

B MIller

Has anyone else had this issue? I spoke with the dealer and in a few weeks they are going to see what they can do to help me out. Finger crossed.

Brian, were you able to get color matched Plasti dip? If so where/how?

Bschurr

I wouldn’t (and didn’t) use anti-seize - these bolts are all secured with thread locker from the factory….

of course, I am not really sure why Ford used thread lock on these bolts anyway since they are merely cosmetic however, I am sure they employ some smart engineer that required it.

Cosmetic or not rotational forces, vibration etc could cause them to loosen creating additional problems.

Xpathf1nderX

Yikes...

To remove these "beauty rings", do you need to air down?

No... there are just cosmetic and have nothing to do with actually mounting the tire to the rim. It is illegal for Ford to sell real beadlock rings on vehicles from the factory since they are not US DOT approved, and in some states it is illegal to drive beadlocks on paved public roads and/or on roads over a certain speed. So the solution Ford came up with is to create these beauty rings... which are basically nothing more than a trim piece.

However, you can buy actual beadlocks from Ford, if you so desire.