Cracked Wheels

[MattSmit]

My Swift Sport keeps breaking wheels. I've had two go in the last few months. Does anyone know if this is a problem with the standard Suzuki wheels or if it's just bad luck?

I'm thinking of buying a set of aftermarket wheels as the Suzuki ones are £290 each. Are certain brands stronger than others? I'd rather not have to spend a fortune if possible but I'd like to not have to do this evry few months. It's not a Veyron after all...

[ArosaMike]

Where on the wheel are they cracking, and what kind of roads do you usually drive on? What kind of crack is it? How long, wide etc? Any pictures?

[PumpkinSteve]

I used to have a Swift Sport and never had any problems, I've also been on the forum for years and don't think I've ever read about wheels cracking. Could possibly be a dodgy batch or something.

[MattSmit]

I drive on all sorts of roads. My daily commute is motorways and urban A roads.

The first one cracked all the way through the lip and into the rim. The second one has just cracked the lip.

Maybe I've just been unlucky. I'm just not happy having to shell out more in wheels than I have in tyres.

[CraigyMc]

Do you ever hit potholes?

Is the car modified?

Have you ever kerbed the wheels in question?

Have you got standard fit tyres on?

C

[MattSmit]

Is it possible to avoid potholes now a days ? I don't generally hit them. The wheels haven't been kerbed.

I'm not running the standard tyres, the Eagle F1s it came with aren't available anymore so I've got Toyo T1-R in 205 width instead. Other than that the car is standard.

[Superhoop]

Have the wheels ever been refurbished?

Whilst there are companies out there can do a good job of refurbishing wheels, there are others that can't.

Badly refurbished wheels can lead to them cracking

[MattSmit]

Never been refurbished. Maybe I've just been unlucky.

I still don't want to pay almost 300 quid per wheel though.

[redgriff500]

Can't you get a used set off Ebay ?

If you get aftermarket ones you ought to tell your insurer.

[smugglersvin]

My fathers 6 year old Renault cracked an alloy, which was most probably caused by hitting a pothole, or it might have been caused by being a crappy badly put together renault.
I had a roadster a few years ago, and they where known to go through Brabus Wheels by just driving over a fag packet, and a lot of people changed them to aftermarket wheels due to the problem, and never had the problems after that.

[YoungOne]

I currently have 9 swift sport alloys and none of them have cracks in :P

How old are they?

[CraigyMc]

MattSmit said:

Is it possible to avoid potholes now a days ? I don't generally hit them. The wheels haven't been kerbed.

I'm not running the standard tyres, the Eagle F1s it came with aren't available anymore so I've got Toyo T1-R in 205 width instead. Other than that the car is standard.

I'm just wondering if the change in rubber might make the wheels more susceptible to this sort of thing.

When you do hit a bump/pothole, the tyre sidewall is all that exists to protect the wheel from the obstacle. If the T1R's have smaller sidewalls, or softter, or both - then the wheel itself will be put under more stress I think.

Put it another way: Ignoring the fact that this is a geometric impossibility for a second, imagine a tractor tyre sidewall on your cars' wheels as it goes over rough bumps/holes - the wheel would feel virtually none of the bumps in the road.
Now, the other extreme would be a really low profile tyre that looks like a bit of liqorice wrapped round the wheel - the wheel would take a severe beating over the same bumps.

Or, you know, I might just be yabbering because I just woke up.

C

[shambolic]

Try driving a BMW with 19" runflats then you will know all about cracked wheels!! (I do)!!!