The WHEEL FAILURE thread

[PS78]

Well, a collective thread for failure incidents hasn't come up on the VCA search engine so, to ask:

What makes and, under what conditions, have owners experienced complete wheel failure with?

Did it crack / warp / go out of round / bend / etc?

Had any post purchase alterations been applied to the wheel (eg powder coating)?

Have there been incidents using any of these wheel brands?:
Stock - OEM / 360 / ADV1 / Asanti / Axiom / BBS / CCW / DPE / Fikse / Forgeline / HRE / Icon / ICONZ / IForged / ISS / JLine / OZ Racing / Rennen / SSR / Vorsteiner / Works / ??

 

[uvbnbit]

Potholes? Road debris? With low profile tires, it doesn't take much to put a bend/knock out of round. The larger the hole, speed at impact, etc will make a difference too. Can even crack them. I've fixed plenty of all the above. I've heard of a few wheels cracking under stress of extreme track use. i.e., don't buy a $4000 set of "show" rims and expect them to withstand the track...Hope this helps.
-Chip
(Kwicksilver Wheel Repair)

 

[RT/ED]

96 cast five spoke wheels are prone to failure. Quickest way to tell if have a cast wheel is to remove the wheel and look on the inside for what looks like a bead weld around the entire inside of the whee. 97 and later the wheels were forged. I had a front 96 wheel crack near the center hub on two of the five spokes (hair line crack). This could have been a disaster considering I was planning to autocross the car the following weekend. Inspect your wheels often!

 

[PS78]

Good tips above. From some of the searches I've done across the WWW recently the rare failures seem down to extreme use, beyond the wheels recommended capabilities (1/4 mile) but they are still rare! Hoping to see how the lesser known brands compare to the common ones on these forums, when used on Vipers - stock or higher powered.

 

[99 R/T 10]

96 cast five spoke wheels are prone to failure. Quickest way to tell if have a cast wheel is to remove the wheel and look on the inside for what looks like a bead weld around the entire inside of the whee. 97 and later the wheels were forged. I had a front 96 wheel crack near the center hub on two of the five spokes (hair line crack). This could have been a disaster considering I was planning to autocross the car the following weekend. Inspect your wheels often!

Just to clarify, most of these 5 spoke failures were due to using them on the track(which you should never do).

On your wheel, did you use it on the track at all? I haven't heard of any problems with regular use.

 

[viper067]

Any issues with the original 94 three spoke wheels? .... spoke doesn't sound right perhaps it should be called the 3 fin wheels.

 

[99 R/T 10]

The 3 spoke wheels(92-95) are very strong, much beefier wheel. No failures I know of. Great to use for track wheels.

 

[JohnnyViper]

yikes thinking about getting a cracked rim near the hub is a scary thought, glad you found it

 

[ACELLR8]

Just to clarify, most of these 5 spoke failures were due to using them on the track(which you should never do).

On your wheel, did you use it on the track at all? I haven't heard of any problems with regular use.

Local owner here had a 96 with 5K miles and he never tracked the car. 4 of the 5 spokes broke with just street driving. I know he drove his car hard but as you can tell from the milage not very often.
In fact now, he made a hose reel out of it.

 

[Roffey]

In fact now, he made a hose reel out of it.

A very serious subject for sure - but that comment made me snort my beverage through my nose!

 

[JonB]

I want to clarify further:

The cast, 17" 5-spoke wheels on 1996 gen 1, 1996 gen 2, and "aboyt half" of 1997, and "ALL" of the painted wheels standard on OE 97, and gold-silver 97-98 wheels are cast.

These had been tracked in HPDE events, on DOT-Pilots, since 1996 with no known problems (per Viper Days Tech Inspectors.)

SLICKS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE... Slick-Shod wheels DID CRACK at Viper Days with some uglee results (some posted on this site.) Once you add grippy rubber to these cast wheels, and pull excess of 1.0G at HPDE events, they were cracking, INSDE the hub/spoke interface. Concealed!

So approx 4 years ago, the 96-97+ cast 17" were "not allowed" for Viper Days / VRL use.

And Road Hazards can crack a cast wheel with an OE Tire. Owners of these specific wheels should carefully examine the BACK SIDE of their wheels the next time they have the wheels off, and certainly before tracking the car. Clean the backside wheel and look closely at the center Hub-Spoke interface areas. You are looking for spider-web cracks!

Dont Panic, but be aware..................

PS Ditto for some few of the very early, old-style, 3pc CCW wheels. 17-18" mesh spoked.
Track rats know that 2-3 seasons of hard and frequent tracking is about all you should count on for wheel integrity of multi-pc wheels. Many get far more use. But multi-pc wheels DO need periodic maintenance if tracked!

 

[DrumrBoy]

I believe this is a late 97 (non-cast) wheel. The interface between the hop and the spokes isn't welded....its a smooth surface. Jon B or others who're familiar with the cast ones, can you confirm?

 

[DrumrBoy]

Sorry, "hoop"......

 

[PS78]

**apologies to mods**
>> can you please transfer this thread to the 'Tire, Wheel, Brake & Suspension' forum? Thanks!

 

[DrumrBoy]

The thread is still here (imho OK since its Gen-2 specific)..... can anyone who's seen both welded and forged 97s comment on the pic? I think they're forged but I haven't seen a welded set so I don't have a comparison.

Thx

 

[kcobean]

The thread is still here (imho OK since its Gen-2 specific).....

Thx

I agree....it's fine here.

I can tell you that I hit one of the largest potholes I've ever encountered in my 01 ACR up in Detroit at VOI-X. I thought for sure it was going to blow the tire, the rear hatch glass, or both. It actually bounced my head off the headliner (remember that '01 ACRs have DS shocks and 1100 lb springs....extremely stiff, so the suspension was not forgiving when the wheel went down in the hole.)

When we got home, I washed and carefully inspected the wheel and found no damage and it was still in-round. Those BBS wheels are TOUGH.

 

[gb66gth]

Good Thread!
Very important, but not something alot of people think about until they have a problem, then it's too late.

 

[01sapphirebob]

I agree....it's fine here.

I can tell you that I hit one of the largest potholes I've ever encountered in my 01 ACR up in Detroit at VOI-X. I thought for sure it was going to blow the tire, the rear hatch glass, or both. It actually bounced my head off the headliner (remember that '01 ACRs have DS shocks and 1100 lb springs....extremely stiff, so the suspension was not forgiving when the wheel went down in the hole.)

When we got home, I washed and carefully inspected the wheel and found no damage and it was still in-round. Those BBS wheels are TOUGH.

I hit a pothole like that up there as well. Scared the S%@t out of me. Could feel the road hit the bottom of the car. Thought the same thing you did and everything was o.k. This was in my RT/10 though.

 

[JonB]

I believe the wheel shown is NOT the early cast 96-97.5 wheel. There must be a date code in a box, on the wheel.

I believe this is a late 97 (non-cast) wheel. The interface between the hop and the spokes isn't welded....its a smooth surface. Jon B or others who're familiar with the cast ones, can you confirm?

 

[GTS Dean]

You need to rephrase your SEARCH parameters...

I posted this thread way back in 2001. http://forums.viperclub.org/rt-10-gts-discussions/529864-96-cast-welded-wheel-failure-photos.html?highlight=cast%2Fwelded+wheels

AOL recently discontinued their member photo hosting, so the links are dead. In the interest of preserving history, I've reposted them at Photobucket.

Pic 1: Shows cracks ending at black dots. Note the extreme amount of hairline cracks in the area.

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Pic 2: Shows 4 out of 5 spokes with visible cracks ending at black dots.

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Pic 3: Factory replacement rims for the '96 GTS with revised casting/machining scheme.

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Pic 4: OEM '96 RT painted wheels - Sand cast finish, no machining or stress raisers.

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[Got_Vnum]

I ran over a 3-4 inch rock at a very slow speed, that was enough to crack one of the spokes near the hub. Made sure the replacement rim I ordered from JonB was a later forged rim.

[url=http://gallery.viperclub.org/showphoto.php/photo/60736]
[/URL]

 

[DrumrBoy]

You need to rephrase your SEARCH parameters...

Excellent pix...thanks for reposting them Dean.....this shows the welds (and stress cracks) perfectly.

Thx Jon B as well, the ones you thought were forged, were forged!