Trying to determine is DT Swiss is being honest or not. I have a carbon rim that I noticed was wobbly, and shows signs of distress but not a crack.
This was noticed after recently taking the bike on a 3 hour drive while on the hitch rack.
It’s needs to be replaced and DT Swiss says it’s caused by heat and not covered by warranty?
Is this legit? Anyone has this issue? The hitch rack is a good 1-2 feet from the tailpipes (X5).
I can’t imagine it getting that hot especially with wind blowing exhaust away driving on the highway for 3 hrs.
No other major crashes so I’m not sure what else could have caused it.
by Greedy_Club2142
23 Comments
Yup.
Looks like exhaust heat to me
cars. Not even once.
Happened to a friend last year. Fortunately DT Swiss did cover the claim and sent a new wheel. Stay on em.
Yep, happened to one of my old race buddies. You cooked it.
Most racks are designed so that the tray sits well above the hitch receiver but you can still get a rack/car combo that puts the exhaust in a bad place.
As someone who has taken more than one wheel off the road because of excessive heat from car exhaust, I can confirm this is damage from car exhaust.
Bring this into my shop? I’m telling you the exact same thing DT Swiss is telling you.
Sorry bud. That looks like some heat induced failure. We ruined some hard cases in the same way, in a rack with the exhaust 18” or more away. Drove for 3 ish hours then sat in Flagstaff traffic for 30 minutes. Melted the case and my camping gear inside. Ask them for the crash replacement cost. Should be cheaper than new.
Yup.
100% possible. Friend lost a rim that way, replaced it, and had a muffler shop install a turndown exhaust tip to prevent it from happening again.
Yes. Just happened to a friend of mine.
I almost killed a cooler on a hitch rack with exhaust heat.
idling creates a vertical heat plume of hot air, so any prolonged bumper to bumper traffic will have intervals where the car is stopped. Put your hand in the heat plume of a hot engine at idle and see. While in motion, the plume would be scattered. Were there periods of stop and go traffic and was the wheel located in the plume?
Absolutely!
Ugh thanks! After some googling (should have done before posting) it does seem way more common than I thought.
I have all the things that seem to exacerbate it: platform rack, dual exhaust rear facing, BMW.
Never crossed my mind to be worried about that wow. Can’t do a roof rack so I guess I’ll look into some sort of height adjuster or a heat shield.
Had the exhaust blow through and pop a bike tire on way to Whistler back before hitch mounts….we were wondering what that loud bang was and figured it out in parking lot once we arrived
It’s 100% a known problem that should probably be pointed out more often on rim and bike rack pages.
Is that what happened to you? …probably, yeah
BMW’s cook wheels.. I have seen this before. I used to run a shop.
Also driving a bmw. My rack sits higher than the exhaust though, thankfully
Yeah, You melted the fuck out of it. Look at your manual for the wheel, it’ll say something about heat and plastic not going that well together
Yep happened to a friend of mine, 4 hour trip with exhaust hitting the rear wheel, it was semi-melted when we arrived.
Yes. my cousin damaged his Stan’s wheel this way. We are local to where Stan’s HQ and they hooked him up anyway. I’d see keep asking, maybe at least get a discount on replacement
Damn! That sucks. Sorry!
Yup! Happened to someone I know. Saw it first hand. Had tire resting in front of exhaust on a 30-ish minute drive. Rim was totaled.