so i finally got the wheels ive always wanted. opened up box 2 of 2 that arrived today, after further inspection i found this:






about 6 inches in length, on the outer lip.
my plans: strip the clear with jasco, polish the crack up to 2000 grit, weld her up.

the questions:
no idea exactly what theyre made out of so you think ill be fine with 5356?
any other suggestions on the prep? how can i clean inside the crack? fine ss wire brush i assume is my only hope? thats all i can think of at the moment

i know i know, most people would say just to throw them away but you cant just buy another one of these, i waited 2 yrs to find them, and people have been welding up wheels for years no problems. the only hardcore local guy ust closed shop last year[all that smoking ice finally caught up to him] so theres no where else to turn but myself, and heres the only place i can think to ask for advice

 

will it not seal when you put a tire on it? If it does leave well enough alone if it doesnt. clean clean and clean some more and tig it up then chuck it on a lathe to clean up the lip

Or the Ghetto Move of the day is to put some tire slime in and forget it. my beater car has a leak that would go away two bottle of tire slim and no leaks in 6 months. cost about $12 to fix it verus finding a new rim

 

clean the shiet out of that with wire brush acetone and use compressed air to blow all the stuff out.

than you can weld it and grind it down.

 

I'm no wheel expert but that doesn't look safe at all even if you weld it up. Where will the next grand canyon pop up and will you catch it before something bad happens. I think its ironic you say people have been doing it for years and then the only local guy that used to do it is out of biz for smoking ice. I say you can always find wheels but your life is more important.

 

you cant "always find these"

and i understand your point, just looking for input on how to weld/what to use, not wether or not i should do it at all

 

wheel repair has been done for years. Its safe if done right. I don't see any problem with fixing this at all.

you might want to consider drill stoping the crack at both ends before you weld it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by onefstek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wheel repair has been done for years. Its safe if done right. I don't see any problem with fixing this at all.

you might want to consider drill stoping the crack at both ends before you weld it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by onefstek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wheel repair has been done for years. Its safe if done right. I don't see any problem with fixing this at all.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh I know, I'm not saying you can't take care of this problem but what else is going on with those wheels if that kind of a crack was created. Was it just overloaded, badly manufactured, just too fatigued or all of the above but the poster isn't asking about any safety issues or should he do it so I'll stay out of it.

For the welders out there I am curious though to repair it properly do you weld over the top of the crack or try to grind out a valley and fill it with a bead. I would assume you girnd it out just to be able to clean the surface all the way to the bottom of the crack. I assume you can't just run a bead over the top of it and grind it back down because the problem underneath is still there.

 

my recommendation is if you don't feel comfortable doing it,send it to one of the many reputable wheel repair shops.then you'll know it's done right,and if it is,in fact,not fixable they'll be able to tell you.
i wouldn't rely on a crackhead to fix it even if he was still in business:
"can you fix this?"
"i really need a hit-so yeah,i can fix it"
Chris

 

mind sharing what wheel this is? You say its 1 of a kind....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rip94delsol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">mind sharing what wheel this is? You say its 1 of a kind....</TD></TR></TABLE>
17 inch ssr formula mesh. not one of a kind, just took me two years to find this set. even if i was told about the crack before-hand i prolly still would have made the purchase.
well, ill prolly weld her up the best i can and see how she holds after time, and continue my search for two more

 

I definitely wouldn't try to weld that. As soon as you apply heat to it, the crack will get longer. As you weld, the crack will continue to grow. (From my experience).

Let us know how it goes if you do decide to weld it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Agtronic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I definitely wouldn't try to weld that. As soon as you apply heat to it, the crack will get longer. As you weld, the crack will continue to grow. (From my experience).

Let us know how it goes if you do decide to weld it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

thats why I said to stop drill the crack and then weld it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by onefstek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats why I said to stop drill the crack and then weld it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I figured that's why you said it. I had never heard of that before, and had not read every post in the thread. Great idea though!

 

You're going to need to turn the wheel on a wheel lathe after you've welded the crack to remachine the lip and the surface for the tire bead. If you do not have the equipment to do it, all you are saving money on is welding. If you bring it to a good wheel shop to get the wheel machined, you might as well let them do the entire job for a cheaper packaged price instead

 

wheel lathe= my beater legend with the front on jackstands.

i want to learn all of these processes myself so maybe one day i can fix others wheels for side cash. just im a wheel ***** with limited resources at the moment, and who wouldnt mind someday getting paid to make SSR's look beautiful again.

appreciate all the info. im actually gonna get one of the other ones lip straightened at pretty much the only machine shop that works on wheels anymore, and i plan to talk to them and gain as much info as i can. but i think H-T gives just as good advice

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleepinEP3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wheel lathe= my beater legend with the front on jackstands.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol awsome, then put an angle grinder in a vice and u got yourself a great setup.

hmt style.

 

Fix it yourself and you might not live to get good at it. Any dissimilar metal welded to another is a weak point. Some alloys are not weldable. I'd give the job to a reputable wheel shop and trust their experience and reputation. Cheaper in the long run.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleepinEP3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wheel lathe= my beater legend with the front on jackstands.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's not going to work.

Don't even bother trying to fix those yourself. Take them to a WHEEL REPAIR shop. Not a regular machine shop, but a place that specializes in wheels. You'd be surprised at how fast and efficiently they can repair just about anything.

I can understand wanting to learn to fix wheels, but learning to fix them on some wheel that took you 2 years to find does not seem ideal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jonathan_ED3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That's not going to work.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

anyone else want to add. H-T isnt gonna change my mind, should be welded up by tomorrow

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleepinEP3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">H-T isnt gonna change my mind</TD></TR></TABLE>

Then why the hell did you bother making a post about it? I never understand people who come asking for opinions, decide on one for themselves, then say, "expletive you all, i'm doing it my way."

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleepinEP3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

anyone else want to add. H-T isnt gonna change my mind, should be welded up by tomorrow</TD></TR></TABLE>


Isn’t there a place in Campbell Industrial that repairs rims? I could be wrong but I think there was a place there a couple years back when I lived in HI

 

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

Then why the hell did you bother making a post about it? I never understand people who come asking for opinions, decide on one for themselves, then say, "expletive you all, i'm doing it my way."</TD></TR></TABLE>great addition to the thread
please read the whole thread before hitting the reply button

 

I did. You're apparently dead set on using a jacked-up Legend as a lathe. There's no hidden information here. You want this wheel that you've waited two years for, it's busted, and you intend to do everything within your ability to fix it so that you can rock it. That means you weld it yourself, and grind it down using a ghetto-rigged lathe. People said, "hey, that's maybe not a good idea" and you said, "well tough, I'm doing it anyway." Pretty self-explanatory.

 

Stockton wheel fixes them. Have them fixed by a pro and you'll live to get t-boned someday. lol. just pay a pro.. hate bad stories of people do their own "repairs"