Wheel Failure - Scary Time...
Discussion
StottyZr said:
HellaflushGT said:
I had them powdercoated in this colour.
This will have weakened the metal and caused the fatigue.All the other wheels are cracking because they went through the same process, I remember a thread a month or two back with countless stories of powder coating causing failures like this in its early days.
the heating part? there must be a temperature the have to stay below?
cirian75 said:
StottyZr said:
HellaflushGT said:
I had them powdercoated in this colour.
This will have weakened the metal and caused the fatigue.All the other wheels are cracking because they went through the same process, I remember a thread a month or two back with countless stories of powder coating causing failures like this in its early days.
the heating part? there must be a temperature the have to stay below?
The powder coating may also have been farmed out, possibly to a coatings company more used to coating steel or heavy duty components, that can take the heat without weakening? Baking alloy can do all sorts to it's properties.
All conjecture though. Good job no-one was hurt.
The spokes of wheels be they alloy or steel should ideally be in the centre of the wheel rim and modern designs where the spokes are as far out as possible and even some are beyond the tyre for some strange reason are a poor design.
If you want an example of a good wheel design just check out the alloys fitted as standard to Dolomite Sprints, they were light in weight and were strong enough to win races when the car was a front running touring car.
I have never hear of a failure despite them all being over 30 years old now.
If you want an example of a good wheel design just check out the alloys fitted as standard to Dolomite Sprints, they were light in weight and were strong enough to win races when the car was a front running touring car.
I have never hear of a failure despite them all being over 30 years old now.
I vividly remember passing a 2003 Ford Fiesta in Manchester town centre a few years ago, it had stopped with hazards on at the side.
Upon driving past I noted that front drivers-side wheel had split, the spokes had snapped in half in the middle. Most fiestas of that age wear these wheels, they're the thick, 5 spoke type ones, sorry I can't post a pic but it was truly shocking, I wouldn't even get into a fiesta with them wheels after seeing that!
edited for speeling
Upon driving past I noted that front drivers-side wheel had split, the spokes had snapped in half in the middle. Most fiestas of that age wear these wheels, they're the thick, 5 spoke type ones, sorry I can't post a pic but it was truly shocking, I wouldn't even get into a fiesta with them wheels after seeing that!
edited for speeling
Edited by M159V8 on Wednesday 8th May 18:31
trackerjack said:
The spokes of wheels be they alloy or steel should ideally be in the centre of the wheel rim and modern designs where the spokes are as far out as possible and even some are beyond the tyre for some strange reason are a poor design.
I suspect its so you can fit brake calipers behind the spokes but keeping the hub as short as possible with the wishbone long as possible in the space available, all a balance. My calipers are not much wider than originals and with lower offest wheels they only just fit. The calipers on that EVO VI look close to the spoke before they broke.
M159V8 said:
I vividly remember driving past a 2003 Ford Fiesta in Manchester town centre a few years ago, it was stopped with hazards on at the side.
Upon driving past I noted that front drivers-side wheel has split, the spokes had snapped in half in the middle. Most fiestas of that age wear these wheels, they're the thick, 5 spoke type ones, sorry I can't post a pic but it was truly shocking, I wouldn't even get into a fiesta with them wheels after seeing that!
Do you mean this style?Upon driving past I noted that front drivers-side wheel has split, the spokes had snapped in half in the middle. Most fiestas of that age wear these wheels, they're the thick, 5 spoke type ones, sorry I can't post a pic but it was truly shocking, I wouldn't even get into a fiesta with them wheels after seeing that!
http://i.imgur.com/rXsOPtis.jpg
My Mum has an 04 Fiesta with those wheels - 2 have buckled so far.
Is there any actual documented evidence on the whole powder coating causing fatigue failure? The temperatures involved in baking a polyester powder coat are not paticularly high or is it the strip/prep that causes the problems. I would have thought that almost all painted aftermarket alloys have a powder coat / enamelled finish as a standard as a wet applied paint would not be robust enough.
Jakg said:
Do you mean this style?
http://i.imgur.com/rXsOPtis.jpg
My Mum has an 04 Fiesta with those wheels - 2 have buckled so far.
Yes, just like thathttp://i.imgur.com/rXsOPtis.jpg
My Mum has an 04 Fiesta with those wheels - 2 have buckled so far.
In reply to the above, there is very minimal clearance at all between the caliper and the wheel as stock.
That's the other front...
And I couldn't resist this, lol...
The car is now like this, because I feel it's actually safer.
Another arguement blaming the powdercoaters, is that these have been done for a week
That's the other front...
And I couldn't resist this, lol...
The car is now like this, because I feel it's actually safer.
Another arguement blaming the powdercoaters, is that these have been done for a week
I'd say it's down to the refurb.
Either too much heat during powder coating, or the wheels were acid dipped, or if they were shot blasted, the blasting went too deep into corrosion to remove it, weakening the wheel.
Of all the wheels I've ever seen that have broken, they all have pretty much 2 things in common.
1. They break fairly close to the hub, and
2. They have previously been refurbished.
Either too much heat during powder coating, or the wheels were acid dipped, or if they were shot blasted, the blasting went too deep into corrosion to remove it, weakening the wheel.
Of all the wheels I've ever seen that have broken, they all have pretty much 2 things in common.
1. They break fairly close to the hub, and
2. They have previously been refurbished.
Herman Toothrot said:
J4CKO said:
They just look a bit spindly for the forces an Evo can generate, suspect on a smaller, light, less powerful, less grippy car they would be fine, I think some Rota Grids would make a better looking and stronger replacement.
Really?
Yup. Been there and done that!
Was on an Evo 6 RS with R888's. I was going around Oulton park at the time!
Similarly, they had been powder coated and I simply blamed the heating process for the failure. It was probably made worse by the mahoosive brakes generating rather a lot of heat. I only buy thick spoked, good quality wheels now!
Mine had the OZ centre caps but castings from Enkei.
I had pics, but can't find them at the moment.
Was on an Evo 6 RS with R888's. I was going around Oulton park at the time!
Similarly, they had been powder coated and I simply blamed the heating process for the failure. It was probably made worse by the mahoosive brakes generating rather a lot of heat. I only buy thick spoked, good quality wheels now!
Mine had the OZ centre caps but castings from Enkei.
I had pics, but can't find them at the moment.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff