LAX Wheel Refinishing in LA fill and re-drill

[phreshkid]

I think I've had 7-8 sets of wheels done with them. They thought I was a wheel broker or a middle man for others.

[brutus87]

Lame :(
I was going to send them a set from the PNW

[Ayman]

Any updates on the prices? 4 bills is so much money whattheefff.

[getouth]

Does anyone else know of a desent shop for fill and re-drill? Especially on the East Coast?

[Blackout]

My experience with LAX wheels. Will not go back there again.

4 x E38 16x8 Style5s dropped off on 16th October.
I asked the owner "Jesus" to do a fill and drill from 5x120 to 4x100.
On my invoice, he wrote " Fill to 4x100 BMW" and nothing else. No offset size, manufacturer of the wheels, bore size, or any of that.
I asked him not to do anything else, just fill and drill the holes. He agreed.
Gave me an ETA of 2 weeks.

I called on Nov 1st to see if i can come and pick them up. He said that they are still at the machine shop, waiting to be picked up. So i called 3 days later and wheels were ready to be picked up. I drove 50 miles (one way trip) to downtown and guess what?
They filled the center bore to 66 mm.

I was like, what the hell happened here? Was there a misunderstanding or what? I clearly stated to leave center bore alone. One of the guy who works there "Ivan" tells me that this is how its done.

I said, no way in hell. You guys have been filling and drilling it for quite a long time now and i have never seen the bore filled this way.
He said that the machine shop knows more than i do and thats how they do it.

So i told him that this is not going to work. Please shave it back down to 72.56mm. My custom made spacers (57.1 to 72.56) will not work on these wheel now that you filled the bore to 66mm. (These guys do not have a verniers caliper, you have to take yours to show it to them)

He says, okay. Bring that spacer to us. I drove back home and brought the spacer to them the same day. He says, leave your custom made spacers here so that he can take it to the machine shop and have the bore shaved back to 72.56mm.

1 week goes by. I call to see what is taking place, he says that the wheels are still at the machine shop. They need more time. Another week goes by, i call in and guess what? He says, they cannot shave it. Its not safe. Holes for lugs are too close to the bore. So i said, okay than fill it more. I want it filled to 57.1mm now since you cannot shave it. I will sell my custom made spacers and just buy 57.1 to 57.1 spacers.

He asked me to call back in a day, he needed to talk to the machinist.
I call the next day. Now he says that its not going to work. They cannot fill more. Their excuse: The welding torch won't fit into the bore anymore. WTF? BULLSHIT.

They were sitting on my wheels for 1 full month now.

I asked him that one way or another, I have to make this work. Since you cannot shave the bore down to 72.56, i want it filled to 57.1. He then told me to call back in a few hours.

Few hours later, i called and he says: they can cut the snout (hub-centric lip) on all spacers and the problem is solved.

I said that its mickey mouse. I don't want non of that shit. I don't want to run 15 and 20mm spacers without the lip. FILL THE BORE TO 57.1mm PLEASE. OR SHAVE IT DOWN TO 72.5mm. DO NOT ALTER MY SPACERS. This is how it has to be. They told me to call back next day.

Now he says that they are going to fill more and this time he wants an E30 hub for measurements to see what he can do. I did not have a hub so i took an H&R 15mm spacer (57.1 to 57.1) and dropped it off.
They told me that the wheels will be ready in a couple of days.

1 week goes by and no word from them. So i called and guess what, they want another week. Thats couple of weeks, not a couple of days. WTF.

So i asked, i need a specific date and time. They told me to come on friday around 9 am. I called around 8:30 and they told me to come after 5 pm. So i called at 4:30 and now they are telling me that they will be picked up tomorrow morning (saturday) from the machine shop in colton. What a load of bullshit?

So i showed up around 12 noon on saturday and yep, you guessed it. The wheels are not in the house. They are still at the machine shop.

I told the owner that i am not going anywhere. I need my wheels today. I have driven back and forth 4 times now (400 miles) and waited almost 2 months.

He sent someone to the machine shop to pick them up and the bore was filled to 57.1mm this time. When they welded the bore, they did not use anything to cover the face (mesh) of the wheel and welding slag landed right on it and the lip and damaged the clearcoat/paint. I was frustrated as hell. I was so tired of dealing with these people at this point. I did not say anything, loaded them in my trunk and took off.

So now they know the correct center bore size for E30, which is 57.1mm, they told me that it will be $100 more from now on to fill+drill. ($240 old price + $100 = $340). You will have to supply either an E30 Hub or a spacer with 57.1mm lip with the wheels.

If you don't pay the extra $100 than you will get some unknown bore size.

[LJ851]

Blackout, can post some pics of your wheels ? i havent seen 16" style 5's with a 57.1 center bore before and this tempts me to go this route if it looks good.
(i don't want to run center caps)

[Blackout]

Sure will post some soon. Machining is ugly. They could have done a better job.

[LJ851]

Sorry about all the drama with the wheels. Thanks in advance for the pics!




.

[Blackout]

Shit just happens...Nothing you or i can do to avoid it.

[Ayman]

Sooo now that they're shit, who else has any suggestions for fill n drills?

[ak-]

Sorry to hear that Blackout. The CB thing is new. I don't know why they are doing it when they have been doing it the other way for years now.

Their service is a bit whack and I've had 1 problem with them, but he ultimately fixed it.

[Blackout]

Sorry to hear that Blackout. The CB thing is new. I don't know why they are doing it when they have been doing it the other way for years now.

Their service is a bit whack and I've had 1 problem with them, but he ultimately fixed it.

Ya i totally agree. I would only go back there if they promise not to fill the bore and keep the price at $240. They also need to work on communication skills. I found it really hard to get my point through to them.
And that Ivan guy, he walks around with a dull pessimistic face as if he has cancer.
I asked them so many times to let me talk to their machinist directly but they won't let me. Nor did they want me to know where their machine shop was. As if it would compromise their business relations. I only meant to clear the mess and speed things up.

I also found out that their refinishing job sucks monkey balls. They use only 1 coat of paint and 1 coat of clear. That is all. The edge of the lip was raped while mounting tires, even though the tire shop guy was careful. Their refinishing job does not stand a chance against road debris and stone chips.

[Blackout]

Sooo now that they're shit, who else has any suggestions for fill n drills?

Inland Wheels center in San Bernardino.

http://www.inlandwheel.com/contact.html

[ak-]

Ya i totally agree. I would only go back there if they promise not to fill the bore and keep the price at $240. They also need to work on communication skills. I found it really hard to get my point through to them.
And that Ivan guy, he walks around with a dull pessimistic face as if he has cancer.
I asked them so many times to let me talk to their machinist directly but they won't let me. Nor did they want me to know where their machine shop was. As if it would compromise their business relations. I only meant to clear the mess and speed things up.

I also found out that their refinishing job sucks monkey balls. They use only 1 coat of paint and 1 coat of clear. That is all. The edge of the lip was raped while mounting tires, even though the tire shop guy was careful. Their refinishing job does not stand a chance against road debris and stone chips.

Yuck.

I am pretty sure their "machinist" is in the room 12 o'clock to the entrance of the garage where you walk in. I've seen weld flashes from there a few times.
Though I agree, their communication is TERRIBLE. The invoice is always stupid too. "4x100 mesh" was what they put on my last one... That was a mistake I won't let happen again though. And the dates they give you that they'll be done are always false.

[phreshkid]

I have a mystery center bore size too. Super stoked on that myself.