Any recommendations for track wheels?
05-07-2006, 12:58 AM
#46
Rennlist Member
Originally Posted by Bull
In the past few years, I have seen two replica wheels, one Cup I and one Cup II, where the center section has broken completely away from the rim......not just craked, but where the rim and tire are GONE and the car is traveling on the "spokes" of what is remaining of the wheel. Looked dangerous to me.
The only wheel that I have ever seen break apart on track (without an obvious impact) was a Forgeline. Did the same as you describe with the Cup I and II replicas. Center stayed bolted to the hub, but all the spokes cracked and the rim completely separated.
As I said in an earlier post, wheel failures on track/race cars is not unheard of, with any brand/style/size. Some are known to be weaker (more failures) than others. All wheels should be routinely inspected for cracks (probably much more often than most of us ever really do).
And there will always be some unknowns with wheel failures - had anything happened to the wheel before it failed at the track...
Friend of mine was in an accident with his 944T. Impacted hard on the right front corner - the other vehicle actually hit his wheel. Broke the tie rod, bent the strut body, bent the knuckle/spindle and likely did some stress/structural damage to the wheel. But the body shop just sanded and repainted the wheel and said it was fine. He is trying to get the insurance company to pay for a replacement wheel, but it has not been resolved yet.
Point is: I would Not use that wheel on the track, but as cars get sold, wheels get changed, etc - I dont doubt that many "repaired" wheels end up on the track, some with and some without the knowledge of the guy driving the car. And I dont doubt that previous damage could be the cause of some of these catastrophic wheel failures.
Last edited by Oddjob; 05-07-2006 at 01:17 AM.
05-07-2006, 09:12 AM
#47
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Originally Posted by Oddjob
Apparently, your region needs to make a rule against using replicas.
The only wheel that I have ever seen break apart on track (without an obvious impact) was a Forgeline. Did the same as you describe with the Cup I and II replicas. Center stayed bolted to the hub, but all the spokes cracked and the rim completely separated.
As I said in an earlier post, wheel failures on track/race cars is not unheard of, with any brand/style/size. Some are known to be weaker (more failures) than others. All wheels should be routinely inspected for cracks (probably much more often than most of us ever really do).
And there will always be some unknowns with wheel failures - had anything happened to the wheel before it failed at the track...
Friend of mine was in an accident with his 944T. Impacted hard on the right front corner - the other vehicle actually hit his wheel. Broke the tie rod, bent the strut body, bent the knuckle/spindle and likely did some stress/structural damage to the wheel. But the body shop just sanded and repainted the wheel and said it was fine. He is trying to get the insurance company to pay for a replacement wheel, but it has not been resolved yet.
Point is: I would Not use that wheel on the track, but as cars get sold, wheels get changed, etc - I dont doubt that many "repaired" wheels end up on the track, some with and some without the knowledge of the guy driving the car. And I dont doubt that previous damage could be the cause of some of these catastrophic wheel failures.
The only wheel that I have ever seen break apart on track (without an obvious impact) was a Forgeline. Did the same as you describe with the Cup I and II replicas. Center stayed bolted to the hub, but all the spokes cracked and the rim completely separated.
As I said in an earlier post, wheel failures on track/race cars is not unheard of, with any brand/style/size. Some are known to be weaker (more failures) than others. All wheels should be routinely inspected for cracks (probably much more often than most of us ever really do).
And there will always be some unknowns with wheel failures - had anything happened to the wheel before it failed at the track...
Friend of mine was in an accident with his 944T. Impacted hard on the right front corner - the other vehicle actually hit his wheel. Broke the tie rod, bent the strut body, bent the knuckle/spindle and likely did some stress/structural damage to the wheel. But the body shop just sanded and repainted the wheel and said it was fine. He is trying to get the insurance company to pay for a replacement wheel, but it has not been resolved yet.
Point is: I would Not use that wheel on the track, but as cars get sold, wheels get changed, etc - I dont doubt that many "repaired" wheels end up on the track, some with and some without the knowledge of the guy driving the car. And I dont doubt that previous damage could be the cause of some of these catastrophic wheel failures.
The most common cause of catastrophic failures with cheap, cast "knock-off" wheels is the large voids, or bubbles, in the castings, which are very apparent when you inspect the wheels and that is where the break occurs.
