No I'm not implying stupid, just misled. Hey, I got a nice chrome grill that my wife loves, too bad its just chromed plastic. I do think that the "Clad" term is misleading, in that other than referencing clothing, cladding is a metal over metal bond (think coins). If they had used a more accurate term like "Chrome Plated" or "Chrome Covered", I don't think Ford would be passing these "Chrome Clad" wheels off as real Chrome 20" Bling wheels.

I looked up another defenition of clad @ msn:

clad (2)
- cover with cladding: to cover a wall or building with cladding
- cover metal with metal: to cover or plate a metal with a layer of another metal, especially to make armor plating

This got me to thinking, my last vehicle (Astro Van) had a lot of exterior decorative plastic trim pieces that were refferred to by GM as "Cladding". These were all plastic and were never attempted to be passed off as anything else, so the fact these wheels are "Chrome Clad" with a chrome covered plastic, may not be totally inaccurate. Misleading yes.

 

2000$ seems like allot for hubcaps


Ray

 

I just was wondering as I have spoken to folks on other boards that think it is great that we got screwed as we just wanted the Bling Thing. I really wanted the 20s because of the tire choices. I had 18s on my Titan and there are very few choices that fit properly. BUT with the 20 I had quite a few choices in an AT Tire. So I bought them for the long term not the short term shine. I think Ford is misleading folks by not clearly stating what they mean by Chrome clad. Dodge does not do this nor does GM so why does Ford think it is OK. Well, Ok for the Expeditions as the new F150 has 20s and they are not chrome clad but chrome with a body color accent. I am well aware of the chrome grills but you don't pay for that option its part of the package. If Ford wants to clad the rims with a hub cap then give me more choices. Why not a choice of color matching the body or accenting in another color..why only chrome? It lends itself to be seen as they are hiding the fact that they did not offer chrome rims on this vehicle. I really do hope Ford has folks who watch the forums and understand that when you offer an option clearly state what it is because when you are comparing four vehicles with options and all of the other folks are offering the real thing the customer thinks you are too. Yes the definition of cladding supports what we all thought: we bought chrome rims. Thanks again to 07EXPYEL for getting the definition of cladding.I think he lends credence to what we are feeling.

 

I know I'd be peaved if bought these wheels, or even the 18" Chrome clads that are on the EB package. Who would've opted for these if they were listed as a "Chrome Styled", "Chrome Look", or "Chrome Apperance" wheels. Personally, I don't go for the low profile wheels and find them impratacle. I didn't want to be buying extra expensive, short milage life and hard riding tires that seem to be so popular now. I have the 4x4 with the 18" wheels so I can use it off road with less worry about damaging a tire or wheel. I really have to laugh at the H2's with 22's or a lifted diesel 4x4 trucks with low profiles. To each there own, but I've diciplined myself to be a bit pratical and avoid the glitz where I can so my wife doesn't have to work outside the home.

Speaking of tires and manufactures, Toyota had a lot of unhappy newer Sienna AWD owners that got sticker shock when it came time to replace the runflat tires. Perhaps things have changed, but for a while the tires were special and only available from the dealer and were quite pricey and lasted <20K miles. Toyota had also printed in the brochure that a spare tire was available as a dealer option, but it was never offered. Toyota had no room for a spare because of the AWD configuration and had to go to run-flats. Toyota now has a legal disclaimer for short tire life on their Tacoma X-Cab truck
" 18-in. tires are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 24,000 miles, depending on driving conditions."
Toyota has similar warning regarding performance tires on their Camry SE, and Corolla S.
Ford could realy use a leagal disclaimer regarding the Chrome Clad wheels.

 

I hope ford is watch these posts. They should find that they are pissing off customers left and right. I have never been a Ford guy BUT they had the right vehicle for me and got my money. Now they are pissing me off and making it a one time Ford purchase and I am now hearing the wife say I told you so...should have stayed with Nissan or GMC with the Denali. I really do hope I get a payback on this. No..I hope everyone does. I hope Ford see what it is doing and gives a crap and tries to fix it.

 

who quoted you that price

 

Yeah the option was $1,000 or a little more. Maybe some dealers are making that up...who knows.

 

I remember seeing the 20s as a $995 option over the standard 17s or in the case of the Limited, 18s...

and that $995 includes the rubber, AND is 'retail', you can haggle.

Don't get me wrong, I think the plastic sux too.

My '07 Limited has them even though I knew about them and didn't want them... But I just got a killer deal on the truck so I compromised and decided I could put up with them... for a while anyway, before buying some real wheels.

 

I got my rig for invoice so I cannot say much about pricing. My issue has always been that they are not shown to the customer for what they are...20 inch wheel with a chrome hub cap aka HUB DUBs.

 

I told them (Ford Engineers) straight up in there face that I thought the wheels were BS.

Last summer Ford Marketing payed me to bring my truck to their finance office here in Dallas to give them feedback about the truck.

For my time they payed me with two brand new Ben Franklins.

I love everything else about the new Expy, but those wheels are a real downer. Especially since they aren't really 'wheels', but just glorified hubcaps that don't readily come off the rims.

 

I guess they feel the customer does not know best. Thanks for that info...I felt they would not care about my complaint and now I know it but I will proceed anyway. I like to be a thorn in the side about these things.

 

Its all about Economics....minimizing costs and maximizing profits!!!

 

I think the term chrome "clad" wheels has been mistaken by many to mean "chrome plated" but it is not he same. For example, the trim along the bottom of the doors is called body cladding, meaning it is a cover.

I asked the fleet manager of the dealer where I ordered my '08 Expedition about this and he informed me they were in fact covers. I opted to stick with the 17" cast aluminum wheels because 17" tires are the least expensive to replace. I don,t need the "fake" bling, especially at that cost.

 

why would anyone buy a new vehicle for 50+thousand, when you can wait 3 years and get it for less than half price?

 

Warranty,
No Dents,
No Foul Smells,
Not been abused,
etc.