euclid

i noticed that oem steelies are only welded in 4 spots, has anyone EVER had a steelie self destruct on him, in any condition or circumstance?

are they speed rated or will a properly balanced steelie sustain 150mph with appropriate tires?

lmk please.

drewbie

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i noticed that oem steelies are only welded in 4 spots, has anyone EVER had a steelie self destruct on him, in any condition or circumstance?

are they speed rated or will a properly balanced steelie sustain 150mph with appropriate tires?

lmk please. </TD></TR></TABLE>

i didnt break a steelie but put a huge dent in one @ 62mph

I hammered it out and its all good now.
Ive been about 110 mph and no probs.

Azenis are great

JDM-97CX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i noticed that oem steelies are only welded in 4 spots, has anyone EVER had a steelie self destruct on him, in any condition or circumstance?

are they speed rated or will a properly balanced steelie sustain 150mph with appropriate tires?

lmk please. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Mine held up fine all the way to 135mph. Would have gone faster but can't.

HyBriDcxR

I put a nice dent in my 13" steelies over the winter by hitting a cement rail on an overpass.
The thing is still straight.
Don't want to know what would of happened to my rims if they were on.

c1civic

mine held up at 135, , never any probs

euclid

good to know, i havnt had problems either but im wondering if anyone has heard any stories.

alot of [heavier] cars come with steelies from the factory but the welds make me a bit nervous about pushing them.

Sliced Beard

believe me
welds are stronger than you think
especially on steel

euclid

i hope so.

figure at full cornering load a 2000lb car is exerting nearly 1g of force on a wheel that is rotating at 1000rpm... thats alot of stress on a weld, or 4welds in this case

JDM-97CX

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dirtyd463 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">believe me
welds are stronger than you think
especially on steel</TD></TR></TABLE>

Welds are meant to be stronger than steel. If your welds on your steelies break I would most definately contact Honda about it.

Targa250R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i noticed that oem steelies are only welded in 4 spots, has anyone EVER had a steelie self destruct on him, in any condition or circumstance?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Steel is stronger than aluminum.

Therefore, you could conclude that steel wheels are (generally) stronger than aluminum wheels.

Not to mention, steel can bend where aluminum would otherwise break. Steel is much easier to repair as well - in most cases, you can just beat it back into shape with a hammer. Try that with an aluminum wheel . . .

For autocross, myself and several of my friends run 13x8s fabricated out of OEM Honda 13" steel wheels by specialty wheel manufacturers. Sure, they're a little heavier than a comparable aluminum wheel, but they are far cheaper.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">are they speed rated or will a properly balanced steelie sustain 150mph with appropriate tires?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Since when are any wheels speed rated?

Sliced Beard

welds are not stronger than steel
welds are steel (providing we are talking only talking about steel)

you do not want to get into metalurgy
i am a professional welder and know all about welds and the materials being welded

the weld itself is steel so therefore it is not stronger that steel
it is definately harder than the surrounding metal because it has had a small extent of heat treating due to the initial arc force in order to melt the metal...... here is the catch to a weld, although the weld itself is stronger than the surrounding metal the bond is only as strong as the "tie in" that the welder/machine did in the process of welding. That is why a "welder" will weave back and forth in order to have a good tie between the surrounding metal and filler metal provided by either MIG wire used in the GMAW process, solid flux rod(stick welding) or filler rod used in TIG welding or oxyacetylene welding/brazing

euclid

ive never heard of a speed rated wheel but i would also assume a stock honda alloy would not be able to rotate at 250mph without falling apart.
in the same respect i was thinking a stock 2-piece welded steelie would not be able to hold the same force as a cast one piece alloy.

Targo250R: you said you are using a 13x8 steelie manufactured by a racing comapany, is this diamondstar? is your racing wheel fully welded around the whole circumferance or just in 4 spots like oem?

thanks for all the input from everyone

93civic_sedan

The only time ive ever messed 1 up was in a car wreck...but they are some sturdy little *****.

euclid

i think there is a general misunderstanding about stock steel wheels.

they are not stamped out of one piece of steel, so comparing a steel wheels strength to that of an aluminum alloy based on material hardness is impossible.

"a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" in this case the weekest link is the weld that holds the outer rim to the center hub section... regardless of how strong the steel is, the entire wheels strength can only be measured by the strength of these 4 welds. if they crack the wheel will seperate into 2 parts.

i know nascar uses steelies, but they are manufactured specifically for that purpose, they are welded together in the same way but i am wondering if these wheels have a fully welded constuction, so a continuous bead is run around the whole wheel for strength... not just in a few spots.

anything else to add?

The King

we had a kia come into work for the lonest it broke a damn steelie every week , found out the rode the brakes on the expressway , i guess they were getting so hot they cracked then split open

euclid

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ReDRoCkEt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">we had a kia come into work for the lonest it broke a damn steelie every week , found out the rode the brakes on the expressway , i guess they were getting so hot they cracked then split open </TD></TR></TABLE>

what part was breaking?

Targa250R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Targo250R: you said you are using a 13x8 steelie manufactured by a racing comapany, is this diamondstar? is your racing wheel fully welded around the whole circumferance or just in 4 spots like oem?</TD></TR></TABLE>
No, these are by Willamette Custom Wheels in Portland Oregon. I bought them from a Honda-Tech member located on the west coast; I know if you can still get these wheels made anymore. What they did was cut the center out of a stock Honda 13x5" steel wheel, and weld on an 8" wide shell. The welds are of excellent quality, and the wheel is welded along the entire circumference.

Diamond wheels are good also, and very inexpensive for custom wheels. The only thing I don't like about them is that they are lug-centric, not hub-centric - so they have to be balanced on a machine capable of balancing lug-centric wheels (which nobody has close by in my area). Honestly, autocross-only wheels don't even need to be balanced though.

Archidictus

I flew off track at 105 on my stock steelies. The earth that I shot across was rough as hell and my wheels didn't flinch.

Rodney

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> anyone EVER had a steelie self destruct on him, in any condition or circumstance? </TD></TR></TABLE>

i have had good luck with them so far. great cheap wheel. i use them for rain rims.

RTE117

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HyBriDcxR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I put a nice dent in my 13" steelies over the winter by hitting a cement rail on an overpass.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

How fast were you going?

Aquafina

iTrader: (3)

Did 110mph on my 13" steelies. Smacked a curb 3/4 of the way sideways doing about 20mph when I hit and it just warped it a little.

bluemild85

never broke mine but i dented one

i hit a curb sliding in the snow at like 35 mph

HyBriDcxR

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IDriveAHonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

How fast were you going?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I was going around 30 up a ramp. Hit some ice.
My mugen lip took part of the hit and snapped into 3 pieces and my steelies took the rest of the hit on the cement railing.

Sliced Beard

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by euclid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i think there is a general misunderstanding about stock steel wheels.

they are not stamped out of one piece of steel, so comparing a steel wheels strength to that of an aluminum alloy based on material hardness is impossible.

"a chain is only as strong as its weakest link" in this case the weekest link is the weld that holds the outer rim to the center hub section... regardless of how strong the steel is, the entire wheels strength can only be measured by the strength of these 4 welds. if they crack the wheel will seperate into 2 parts.

i know nascar uses steelies, but they are manufactured specifically for that purpose, they are welded together in the same way but i am wondering if these wheels have a fully welded constuction, so a continuous bead is run around the whole wheel for strength... not just in a few spots.

anything else to add?</TD></TR></TABLE>

nascar also uses different alloy's for their wheels
instead of cheap stamped recycled crap that most steelie manufacturers use they use a more rigid 4130 steel which has great weight/strength/flex ratio in order to have a well constructed wheel that weighs as close to nothing as possible
i think they weigh something like 8 lbs and are stronger than most wheels around
the difference is that they have the wheels welded around the entire inner seam which makes the bond nearly indestructable while at the same time making them cheap to produce because thay are stamped/lasered out before they are welded which makes the manufacturing process cheaper. kinda like the assembly line concept

euclid

im thinking about running a full weld bead around the wheel now.

should the tires be dismounted or just deflated? it would be seem welded in one inch sections to keep the heat to a minimum.

also have to rebalance the wheel afterwards i assume.