Method Race Wheel MR307 failure

[Silver-Bolt]

Wrong spec wheel for the application. At least without hub rings. Also with aluminum wheels it is very important to re-torque the wheels after the first 500 miles. Did that happen? Each time an aluminum wheel is remove/re-installed at 500 miles it needs to be re-torqued. The Bronco is designed to run hub centric wheels. When lug centric wheels are installed without rings you run the risk of this happening.

Sponsored

 

[chtucker]

Absolutely a problem with lug nut torque,
Wheel not be centered or nuts not be retorqued.

lug nuts got loose for any of the above reasons and wheel wobbled enough to hog out the lug holes. More common than you think and not a fault of the wheel at all.

improper installation, poor follow up to get retorqued but NOTHING to do with the wheel failing.

no way should Ford be paying for that. Heck you felt the wobble and kept driving. Clear cut that driver error played into this as well.

 

[vrtical]

Not using hub-centric rings is the real issue.

 

[Cobrafang]

Honestly I would get a lawyer...the fact that the dealer is the last one to have touched the wheels with rotation...then they are liable. Liable in two ways, 1. they were the last ones to service it, 2. If the wheel was not proper for the vehicle then they should have not serviced it. I am not a lawyer, but I would be contacting one.

One a side note I have those hub centric adapters and recommend them. But the dealer is not dumb they know about those things as well and could have recommended them....another thing to add to the lawyers kit bag.

 

[AMTRV]

Get a lawyer……get a lawyer!!!
Wow……what a different world we live in today

 

[Boreal]

Absolutely a problem with lug nut torque,
Wheel not be centered or nuts not be retorqued.

lug nuts got loose for any of the above reasons and wheel wobbled enough to hog out the lug holes. More common than you think and not a fault of the wheel at all.

improper installation, poor follow up to get retorqued but NOTHING to do with the wheel failing.

no way should Ford be paying for that. Heck you felt the wobble and kept driving. Clear cut that driver error played into this as well.

Yea, Lug vs hub centric isn’t the issue.
Hub centric wheels do a better job of translating forces directly to the hub via fitment compared to lug centric which uses clamping force. This might not be the most technical way to deliver the message, but I agree. Lug centric wheels are not the issue.

It wasn’t centered properly, then the lugs were probably tightened around the world vs criss cross patterns - this allowed the wheel to be b. This meant it wasn’t torqued properly to begin with and it most likely wasn’t retorqued. Whomever installed them, fucked up. Whomever didn’t follow up on the work also fucked up… but the dealership moreso - of course they say that the wheels need retorquing after 100-500 miles just as you leave the service desk (it most likely is printed in the paperwork too, to absolve them of liability)

The natural forces centered the wheel, Lugs got loose, walked their way out and the wheel sheared the studs. Not trying to victim blame at all, but funky wheel sounds always demand a stop and inspect in my books.

Methods are bomb ass wheels, they rarely fail in rally application let alone mallcrawlin. This wasn’t a wheel failure.

One final thing, do your lugs and wheels share the same seat angle?

 

[BluebroncoNC]

Hello Everyone!

this is my first topic and I’m not sure where to share this, but I have 5 Broncos through my company and 1 has Method MR 307 wheels. I heard a light wobble in the front diff area Saturday and thought I’d take it to Ford on Monday. Saturday night, I’m driving the Bronco at 55-60 mph and the right front wheel fell off. I looked at it and the wheel studs sheared off. I have 26k miles on this truck. 23k with the wheels on it. Ford has serviced it from the beginning because it has a service contract. They have rotated the tires every time.

I took it to Ford and the service department told me they were not going towarranty it because the Ford hub is 93mm and the Method MR307 is 106mm.

The irony is this dealership along with every single dealer in the country is selling them and adding to new vehicles. I purchased these wheels through Discount Tire though but this shouldn’t matter. It’s the point they’re installing them at the dealer but won’t warranty the same wheel.

I just contacted Method as well and sent them info regarding this wheel. Question is, is this a fluke or could this happen to all others? If so, Method/Ford should take these off the market.

This could have been catastrophic! I was with my 16 year old son. What if I was on the freeway and the wheel fell off?

Any recommendations or suggestions are welcome!

Did you use hubcentric rings to help you get them correctly aligned?

Yes, 100% help. My Ford dealer, when I gave them my Method Racing wheels to put on my Bronco, told me flat out, need hub centric rings. I told them to do it (as they were not going to fit those tires/wheel combination otherwise) and they did. NOW, I had an experience where the dealer owned FastLube rotated my tires and took my spare off and added it to the rotation. However, in so doing, forgot to add that hub centric ring, it stuck to the wheel coming off the Bronco and onto the rear tire carrier. Driving away from the dealership I noticed an immediate vibration, different than prior. Took it back and they corrected it, no charge. So yes, 100% helps.

 

[Lanshark]

Eh, sorta disagree on it not being mostly a ring issue. Nobody really goes back and checks lugs after 500 miles anymore because with hubcentric applications it's super rare this occurs. I'm old school, when I run aftermarket wheels on a sports car, I do have a torque wrench in the car and do make an effort to check them, even with rings. I never really check OEM wheels after the dealer rotates. And never found lugs that loosened except on wheels that only centered on lugs AND the wrong seat angle on the lug nuts had been used (nearly toasted a very expensive set of ADVANs). That's another consideration here, the lug nuts used may not have been correct for the wheel. Its easy to see on the lug hole, if you only see a thin ring around the lug hole, it wasn't the proper lug nut. In my experience on a different vehicle, somebody just REALLY wanted a certain color lug nut and didn't think twice about the 60 degree contact patch and how much engagement there was.

THAT ALL SAID, I think its a really good idea we're talking about this and this thread has visibility. Not really going to solve who's at fault, but with so many people getting aftermarket wheels, I think this thread could save somebody's life. Not everybody here has experience with off road truck applications (I don't, I learn alot here), things like rings, lug and re-torqueing may not be considered if you've owned cars and never used aftermarket wheels.

 

[Copperhorse73]

The Bronco bolt pattern is 6x139.7 .. this is the same bolt pattern as a Toyota truck. So anytime you see a wheel listed as 6x139.7 with a 106mm hub, it was originally intended for a Toyota truck. This will fit a bronco BUT it would be called a lug-centric wheel in that the lugs center the wheel. A hub-centric bronco wheel like what RTR sells has a hub size of 93.1 and this wheel would be hub-centric for a bronco.

Many Many bronco wheels on the market now has a 106mm hub. You can run these wheels BUT I would recommend running some hub-centric rings. For example 106 to 93.1 >> https://www.amazon.com/WHEEL-CONNECT-Centric-Aluminium-Hubrings/dp/B08CXRYRQP/ref=sr_1_4?crid=7D8NN0O2RC6N&keywords=hubcentric+rings+106mm+to+93.1&qid=1674709258&sprefix=hubcentric+rings+106mm+to+93.1,aps,63&sr=8-4&th=1

BTW .. all oem wheels are hub-centric.

This. I always use hub rings where needed . one less thing to worry about

 

[pakrat]

It looks like pretty much everyone agrees this was not Methods fault. Maybe the thread title should be changed to a PSA-check your aftermarket wheel hub diameter. By the amount of oem wheels for sale on craigslist and ebay, there are thousands and thousands of people driving this way and not just in Broncos. What can seem obvious to those of us who have been doing this stuff forever the average buyer is clearly not aware. I can't recall any wheel manufacturer putting up a warning or notice bringing attention to this.

Sponsored