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Brad26903
Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2012
Posts: 7
Location: Tillamook, Oregon
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 Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:37 pm Post subject: cracked alloy wheel |
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I was having new tires mounted today and the shop found that three of the five bolt holes on an aluminum alloy wheel were cracked. These particular wheels were purchased from GW 3 years and 23,000 miles ago, but my question in general is - Are aluminum alloy wheels prone to crack or is this an anomaly?
Thanks for any experience on this issue.
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wcdennis
Samba Member
Joined: July 20, 2004
Posts: 954
Location: Winston-Salem NC
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:45 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| I'm thinking this is result of lugs being over torqued. Are you sure this is the only wheel that is cracked this way? |
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avernon82
Samba Member
Joined: July 07, 2015
Posts: 292
Location: Richmond,CA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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happened to me too with the same ASA wheel, sucks!
The tire shop I went to to get the tire transferred to the new wheel said they've never seen a wheel crack like that before. Quite possibly over-torqued, but I think it's a deficiency of the wheel. I didn't feel like dealing with changing all the wheels over, so I bought a replacement wheel of the same style. Just need to be diligent an not let shops use an airgun to put wheels back on |
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12114
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 6:32 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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Cheap Chinese gahbage. You really should stick with quality Mercedes or VAG rims.
_________________
Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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PDXWesty
Samba Member
Joined: April 11, 2006
Posts: 6241
Location: Portland OR
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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Make sure you have the correct lugs. They are either ball shaped or cone shaped, I forget which are correct for that wheel. I could see how that could cause some damage.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto |
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levi
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2005
Posts: 5522
Location: Las Vegas
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:38 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| wcdennis wrote: |
| I'm thinking this is result of lugs being over torqued. Are you sure this is the only wheel that is cracked this way? |
Yes!
NEVER let the air gun maniac 19 year old guys hammer the lugs home with 150 psi!
I always tell them to set it for 90, pull out of the bay and torque them myself.
_________________
One of these days I'm gonna settle down,
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Going down that long lonesome highway,
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Christopher Schimke
Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2005
Posts: 5390
Location: PNW
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 7:55 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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Yep! I have seen so many of those Tire Rack/ASA (the wheels GW sells) crack like that. It's really scary when you think about how many vans are running around with those wheels. Many, many of my customers have had this happen. And many of them install their own wheels and swear they uses a torque wrench set properly.
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levi
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2005
Posts: 5522
Location: Las Vegas
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:01 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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No way!
So in addition to selling springs that sag, hydroedge tires that were under-rated (don't think they do that anymore though), they also sell wheels known to crack under proper torque?
Say it ain't so!
_________________
One of these days I'm gonna settle down,
but till I do I won't be hangin round.
Going down that long lonesome highway,
gonna see life my way
https://youtu.be/cSrL0BXsO40 |
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12114
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:18 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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_________________
Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15141
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 8:47 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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never seen the back of those rims, but I'm not really keen on the design of the load bearing structure..
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OB Rat
Samba Member
Joined: November 11, 2013
Posts: 77
Location: Florence, OR
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| Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| levi wrote: |
No way!
So in addition to selling springs that sag, hydroedge tires that were under-rated (don't think they do that anymore though), they also sell wheels known to crack under proper torque?
Say it ain't so! |
Don't forget about their own version of a "Big Brake Kit" with the exploding rotors!
You'd almost think there was a pattern? |
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 7751
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:09 am Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| danfromsyr wrote: |
| never seen the back of those rims, but I'm not really keen on the design of the load bearing structure.. |
Yeah, not a lot of "meat" there... 
- Dave
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"The WonderVan"
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Dwighia
Samba Member
Joined: November 26, 2010
Posts: 78
Location: Arlington, VA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:57 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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Here are pix of my '84 Vanagon with cracked GoWesty 16-inch wheels. They are about 4 years old and 32k miles.
Not a happy camper.
Any suggestions for replacement?
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'84 Vanagon
If you dismantle a VW engine and reassemble it enough times, will you end up with enough extra parts for another engine? |
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Merian
Samba Member
Joined: January 04, 2014
Posts: 5212
Location: Orygun
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| Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:01 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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No, good aluminum alloy wheels are not prone to crack
good means forged (real good) or well-done pressure castings
any Al wheel can crack if beat to death off-road (so use steel)
GW sold medium-crummy wheels, often with somewhat old Michelin tires on them, that were under-rated
as per above MB wheels are quite strong
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Steve M.
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013
Posts: 6814
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
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| Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| Dwighia wrote: |
Here are pix of my '84 Vanagon with cracked GoWesty 16-inch wheels. They are about 4 years old and 32k miles.
Not a happy camper.
Any suggestions for replacement?
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Talk to GoWesty and see what they say. Probably say they were over-torqued, but who knows?
This picture has 2 cracks in the wheel at the bolt hole.
do not use these wheels if you still have them.
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12114
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 11:58 am Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| Christopher Schimke wrote: |
| Yep! I have seen so many of those Tire Rack/ASA (the wheels GW sells) crack like that. It's really scary when you think about how many vans are running around with those wheels. Many, many of my customers have had this happen. And many of them install their own wheels and swear they uses a torque wrench set properly. |
This needs to be learned and then re-learned--often.
The usual suspects have no business selling this junk to the community. Any used but good condition VAG or MB alloy rim is going to be vastly superior to these el cheapo Chinese knock-offs. These are super dangerous, especially when installed on full campers/Syncros with all the other high weight dangles and doo-dads they fob off to the community.
I think a high value alternative would be to publish a list of known machine shops who know how to properly machine the centers of VAG alloy rims. You can easily drill out the lug holes on most MB rims. Christopher sells the proper lug nuts/bolts and spacers you'll need to fit these quality rims on a T3.
http://t3technique.com/t3-research-notes/wheel-quality-cheap-aftermarket-versus-oem.html
I happily shill for vendors I know and trust. In this case, there is nobody out there I trust more than Christopher to guide you through the process of fitting quality OEM rims on your Vanagon.
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Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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vanagonjr
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 3430
Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 6:57 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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| Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
| Cheap Chinese gahbage. You really should stick with quality Mercedes or VAG rims. |
While I basically agree with you,I have 3 out of 5 cracked CLK (tollman?)wheels. I've seen others report the similar.
I mounted steel Mercedes wheels.
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12114
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 7:04 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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That's a forged rim, so I don't know what's going on with those kind of cracks, but none of the cast aluminum VAG or MB rims I know of are prone to the kind of fatigue failures shown by the OP.
_________________
Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?
Last edited by Zeitgeist 13 on Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Robw_z
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 983
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| Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 7:58 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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Overtorquing or not, me thinks a genuine Mercedes wheel will not crack.
Question though, is that crack really a liability? Even if all 5 are cracked, would it just start vibrating and maybe loosen the bolts?
-Rob |
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12114
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:04 pm Post subject: Re: cracked alloy wheel |
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If those structural pieces start to break and slough off, then the clamping power of the lug nut/bolt is compromised and bad things happen. At the very least, it's not confidence inspiring, and if I was a vendor selling this junk I'd be lawyering up for the inevitable judgment day.
_________________
Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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