wallowed out wheel

MESSMAKER · Mar 22, 2011

Lug nuts worked loose on my right rear. I tightened them and limped home but the damage had been done. The holes were double the size they should have been. I have a friend that is a hoss cat welder and he filled up the holes. it looks very good even though it is aluminum. It is my plan to grind the weld flat and re-drill the wheels using the brake hub as a template. I know it is iffy, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Raspy · Mar 23, 2011

That's a lot of work to "fix" a wheel. You could easily get some stress cracks and break out the welded areas. Not only will your new holes not be aligned as well as they were, causing local stress areas, but the welding and different alloys can also lead to cracks and weakness. Then it could just suddenly fail instead of wobbling around.

Best plan is to get a new wheel. That is definitely what I'd do.

Fordman1981 · Mar 23, 2011

x2 I would get a new wheel no question. You will never get the holes where they need to be exactly causing all kinds of troubles premature worn out bearings to say the least.

Diamondpilot · Mar 23, 2011

Spend the money and get a new wheel. Not worth your life for $200.

Chris

MESSMAKER · Mar 23, 2011

Diamondpilot said:
Spend the money and get a new wheel. Not worth your life for $200.

Chris

Yup! Spent 1/2 day at junk yards, but I'm back on the road. Thanks for the good advise.

lostcause · Mar 24, 2011

assuming you haven't scrapped the wheel, and depending on how good your hole drilling goes... save it for a spare.

i don't know if you are exclusively an asphalt warrior, but where i live we've still got a lot of dirt roads in the state. when they grade them you often get some sharp rocks turned up, and occasionally see a flat. if i know i'm going on an extended trip i'll try to toss an extra spare in. i've had one time where i cut a tire on the way in, and the next morning woke up to another that had gone down overnight to a smaller cut. times like these are when a second spare is great. beats trying to drive out 10 miles on a rim to where you get cell coverage, or 20 miles to a land line.

JDgreen227 · Mar 24, 2011

This may be a stupid question, but does anyone think aluminum wheels are more prone to loosening lug nuts than standard steel wheels? On my '90 F150 that first had chrome spoke steel wheels, then later on American Racing aluminum wheels, I seemed to have to retorque the lug nuts a little more frequently with the aluminum rims than with the steel ones. I always checked the torque every 500 miles or at every fuel stop when towing a heavy trailer. Reading this post made me think of that.

zzvyb6 · Mar 24, 2011

That's easy to explain based on material properties of aluminum. Its more malleable. It tends to relieve induced stress with strain (movement). Eventually the material thickness will change so much that it will be too thin to maintain integrity. The steel used in wheel is not soft. Its high strength (low strain). Its more brittle, too, as a result. That's why welding a wheel is a BAD idea.