I used this as a reply to another thread, but it probably should have one of its own, so here is the situation. I bought the tuner lugs and installed them. It seemed to be an afterthought, but I think they suggested I also needed the special wrench to properly install them, so I also spent the extra on it.

So, it’s about 6 months later and it is clear that the inside of the tuner lugs are rusting. Why should that be?

I contact Carol and Bryce. They suggest it was because I probably had a mechanic take a machine tool to them to rotate my tires, which was not the case; I barely have 7,000 miles on the car and tire rotation was not it. Still they replace them, although I suffer through a bit of confusion about whether or not and when the replacements were sent. They arrived on Friday.

So, today is spent removing the old lugs wheel by wheel and replacing with the new. I get just to the very end and the special wrench socket (that holds the key) fractures in 2 places, also damaging the special key. Now I am pretty much in deep trouble. All the new lugs are on, but I have a damaged and unusable wrench socket and a damaged and unusable key.

I've photographed the damages and sent it off with a missive to Carol and Bryce, but I need some IMMEDIATE action now, as I have locking lugs on my wheels and a key and a wrench I can't possibly use. We'll see how quickly they jump on this problem and while I expect it to be fast, will there be an excuse too on why this happened? I did it all by hand. Should a wrench socket fracture and a lug key just snap from hand tightening? Palo Uber claims they manufacture to the highest standards, so how can this sort of stuff happen? I'm hoping the explanation makes sense and the problems resolved, but so far I am now getting a little worried. :impatient

I'll report back on how this all turns out, as appearance-wise the Palo Uber line looks great, but it has to function up to their claims. If they do right by me and this is a freak thing replaced by the kind of quality they claim, you all should know and I'll shout it from the rooftops. However, if this is typical and not satisfactorily resolved, you would want to know even more and I'll be shouting even louder. Wish me luck.

PS: When I bought the lugs I had asked about the possibility of Palo Uber developing a CF scoop, as I really did not think I’d take to the one they were then marketing. As Palo Uber didn’t have a CF scoop then I bought a second hand one made by M7. Well, my M7 CF scoop has a problem with the bolts that hold it to the hood cracking off the back of the scoop. Palo Uber would like me to try one of theirs, now that they make one (actually there are 2 CF versions). I’ve thought about it, but Shelly at M7 heard of my problem with their CF scoop and even though the scoop was second hand, she offered to have it repaired by them, so I’ll be returning it there; that is customer service! I was still thinking about the Palo Uber CF scoop as an alternate, but I’ll be waiting now to see how this lug wrench and key matter gets resolved.
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So? Any ideas on why hand-tightening would result in this sort of damage?

 

Man
Could it have been when your skin turned green and your muscles bulged, ripping your shirt??????? The design quality would concern me if a mere mortal could cause that kind of damage.

 

Palo Uber parts not living up to expectations? Who could possibly have anticipated that?

 

I have the same problem but it only took 3 days before they started rusting. They are not chromed on the insde only on the outside. SUCKS

 

I'll post my response from the other thread as well:

I also had an issue with my palo uber tuner lugs rusting out in the center. One PM to Carol and Bryce rang me up to let me know that they apparently had a batch of lugs that went wrong with the finishing process, and promptly fed ex'd me a new set. I'm waiting on some new wheels to arrive, but those will be what I'll use...and we'll see how they hold up!

I'm really sorry you're having drama with your wrench and key..that sucks! Keep trying them, I'm sure they'll sort you out quickly like they did for me.

 

Can't believe several drivers report corrosion on their Palo parts. Palo are the people that promote their products as superior to anything anyone has ever produced before them. Hence, their ridiculous pricing and, in some cases, titanium and carbon fiber use when completely uneccessary.

 

Yet another P U wonderful experience. With the exception of one poster, who I sincerely believe either has to be associated with PU or just will not admit being duped, virtually every experience I read in NAM regarding PU involves some one paying way too much for inferior product, with PU ALWAYS blaming someone else for the defect.

 

If you search the posts in NAM re: PU, you will find almost universally their products are inferior or, at best, rebadged products of other manufacture, at exhorbitant mark-ups.

 

Yeah this seems to be a familiar theme. I'm not familiar with PU or their products but I've seen thread after thread where a product was not up to expectations, or rusted, or broke, or was painted instead of anodized...etc...etc...and it was always a "bad production run" or something of the sort.

I dunno...for how much $$$ their stuff costs...eesh.

 

PEEEEE EUUUUUUUUW......

 

Because PU stuff is... let me be sure to get this right... I believe the correct, Brit term is "*****". Yeah, "*****", that's it. Besides being ***** (whatever that is - wacky Brits!), I'm sure they're fine.

 

How come every Palo Uber issue ends up with this excuse... "we had a batch of (insert product here) go wrong and we'll send new ones". Stubby antenna, overpriced lug nuts...
Can no one do the math? I know where I'm not shopping...

Oh... and whats special about that wrench? Looks like a normal socket to me, except it was made of pot metal instead of something that can take the torque.

 

Still amazed that they can retain NAM advertiser-ship with ALL of these complaints. So many faulty and poor quality parts are being sold to un-suspecting NAMers....that bothers me

I highly doubt yours is a freak incident....as you can tell by searching, there are other complaints of rusty lugs from PU.

certainly seems funny to read what they wrote about the lugs in their vendor announcement after hearing about their key fracturing and the lugs rusting. Is a broken key and rusty bolts really the best thing i can do for my suspension and wheels?

Rusty lug nuts and broken tuner keys are the highest quality on the market? I would hate to see the competition they are comparing themselves to to get that claim.

I'm sorry, but its saddening to see that they are allowed to continually advertise on this great website while their products continue to fail over and over again. If its not the rust lug nuts, its the mis-colored antenna, the shattering scoops, the fake wheels.....etc. I'm sorry for any new MINI owner who missed some of these warning threads and listened to PU's lies in the vendor announcements before making their purchase with PU.

Sure all companies have their problems....but the PU problems have continued for a long time, and improvement doesnt seem to be on the horizon

 

Neither associated or duped...apparently just lucky to have had a decent customer service experience so far. They have definitely had more than their share of issues with lots of people, and I'm not here to stand up for them. Just talkin about my own issues. Believe you me, if this next set rusts like the first, I'll be posting about it! It won't take long in this salty humid air laden area that is Norfolk. I hope you guys get things resolved to your satisfation.

 

Ah, this PU stuff is sad, especially for Blackie. For comparison, I bought racing studs from Turner Motor Sport, with matching nuts. Although pricey compared to the stock bolts, they are very well made, fit perfectly, perform on the track as expected and retain torque as hoped. Ah, but all that's not as good as the PU toona lugs.
And that socket looks like it's been reshaped leaving very little metal at apexes of the nut sides. Seems to be asking for failure under torque.
btw, you did use a torque wrench to 89ftlbs, didn't you? It's actually quite easy to hand torque well above that value.

 

WOW! I guess I've been asleep at the wheel (no pun intended, of course), as I had not been keeping up on the displeasure around here over PU products. So far, I have their stubby antenna and did not have a problem with it (I certainly wouldn't expect to on such a simple item) and they did replace the rusted lugs, albeit with what sounds like some previously-used excuses (i.e., bad production run or you didn't follow their instructions, which I did, even buying what some here term the over-priced wrench - well it looks that way if it snapped so easily; the fact that this seems to be what quite a few here have heard though is now sort of alarming), but now I'm waiting to see what happens on the “special” tuner lug wrench and the tuner lug key (and I can’t believe how that thing just twisted like a pretzel and cracked so badly; I'm not the Incredible Hulk and I think it's 85 lbs Doc, not 89 lbs that is the spec). I'm waiting impatiently though :impatient, mostly out of concern of being up the creek without a wrench and a key , although this only happened on a Sunday and they will probably not see any of this or my e-mail until Pacific time on Monday.

I think Carol and Bryce know they have to do something with anyone who is vocal about their issues. Have others posted photos of their issues with PU here on NAM? It can’t be good publicity unless the story turns out well in the end.

They certainly don't want to make this into a contest of wills with me. I won't stand for it, but let's see what tomorrow brings. As of now, I guess that PU CF scoop is a distant "maybe" and fading fast and it will have no chance in hell without this wrench and key matter getting squared away pronto.

There is one more thing to add on dealing with vendors of after-market parts. The only reason I was also speaking with PU about their introduction of CF scoops is that I was having a problem with a second-hand one made by M7. Apparently, it was an early production one (#11 according to the seller) that did have a design issue regarding the bolts staying put on the underside (they would break-away from the CF). Even though I did not buy this CF scoop directly from M7 they now want me to send it back to them for repair and I think that sort of standing behind one's product deserves special mention. It is the kind of customer service we should get from every vendor here (and frankly, I’ve had pretty good experiences, both in terms of quality parts that perform, as well as vendors who work to correct issues when they happen). I have several other M7 products that I've bought direct and I have no complaints on those and may now go for their CF rear license plate insert (even if it doesn't add anything but VHP).

 

The more I am thinking and stewing and reading how another member is now on his second set of bad lugs (and he said in the other thread under SUSPENSION regarding PU customer service that PU will not even take his complaints on the second rusted set), I wonder if I can trust keeping these new lugs on the vehicle (assuming I get a new wrench and key to remove them). Assuming I get the new wrench and key, how long before they fail? I want a pretty strong assurance that this problem is NOT going to continue; I don't want an endless merry-go-round of problems and excuses, especially with what hold my wheels on and the tools that remove them.

 

'*****' is an alternative form of the word ****, particularly used in Scotland, Ireland and Northern England.

 

Oh, that's not always true. A great deal of the time, they blame the customer for allegedly doing something wrong, or even fabricating stories!

 

<sacracm> Really? Gosh! I had no idea! Honest! I figured it was some sort of wacky UK compliment - after all, Paulo Uber IS one of the worlds "last living geat fine artists". </sarcasm>



Seriously, Blackie... I'm so sorry that this happened to you. It seems to me, and this is simply my "ig'nant" opnion (I've never ordered a PU product) that this is one of those "merchants" that takes advantage of the fact that people love their MINIs and will often spend premium money to buy stuff for it. In my case, I obsessively resarch almost everything I put on my car, and found very quickly dozens of threads on here and elsewhere complaining about the quality of PU products. When I factored in his premium prices, I decided to pass on ordering anyhting. Plus, and this is just me, his hoidy-toidy, fussy, purple prose all over his web site frankly left me cold.

Good luck getting their customer service to compensate you!

 

Well, you know the old adage, You get what you pay for!!

Oh wait :(


Hopefully you'll get this resolved quickly as thats a serious problem. Maybe you could get a refund instead of a replacement?

 

Sadly I have to agree with all the complaints about Palo Uber on here. Ok, I get it, he is a famous painter... Whatever... Art is subjective and to be honest I not a big fan of abstract art. OK, I can also see that Palo Uber can take a set of wheels and re-badge them with his name then charge triple. This is not uncommon for many vendors to do as in some cases you pay for the name. Heck, the auto industry has been doing it for years.

What I can't stand is the quality issues that I have seen on these forums. You will always have an unhappy customer, but there seem to be so many of them here. I think they really need to rethink their MINI endevours.

 

I do not speak for NAM.

NAM does not have the capacity to vet advertisers and all their products. Much like a print medium such as a newspaper or magazine many companies pay to advertise. Some have great stuff, some have mediocre and others have garbage. It's up to the community and the individual to decide for themselves if a vendor is worth dealign with. It's because of sites such as NAM that we have a sounding board where we can warn potential buyers of the issues found with vendors such as P.U. as wll as praise those that do get it right.

 

and, as long as they pay the bill!