cracked wheel

[Brett Dikeman]

At 9:45 AM -0700 12/14/03, Ed Kellock wrote:
>I had a crack in one of my 14-inch "snowflake Ronals from my CGT 
>that a shop welded up for me.  Still doing well.  No blather about 
>legalities or liability came up here in Colorado.

I had a Ronal(R28, 17x8.5...crappiest wheel...soft and heavy as hell, 
TUV certification or not) crack slightly below the bead while it was 
getting bent back.  It bent(and I do mean -bent-; it was bulging out 
big time) right before or on the way to a NEQ track event, and I 
pounded it back with help from Chris Miller the night we arrived. 
Unfortunately, that weakened the wheel even further, which is 
why(supposedly) it cracked when it was bent back.  It's like a paper 
clip- bend it back+forth a few times, and it'll snap.

After the guy looked to see if he could find a used/new one(neither 
of us was able to), he told me that they simply cannot be repaired- 
once the wheel has been weakened, it's as good as trash, and welding 
will only make it worse; the heat weakens the metal around the weld, 
you get balance problems, the weld can crack...

Brett
PS:anyone want a set of 3 R28 17x8.5 wheels, plus a great looking 
doorstop?  Only 29lb apiece...
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