tire related ques

[SteveO_71]

I currently have the Magnum 500 wheels on the car (15 x7 ) . One wheel developed a slow leak and in finding the cause, there appears to be a small 1/8" crack that can be seen in the chrome. I went to a wheel repair specialist and his opinion was that it couldnt be repaired since welding on the back would put a discolor on the chrome front.

Any other ways to fix this? I dunno..Can a tube be placed in the tire? Are they even made in that size? JB Weld?

In any case, I'm not opposed to buying a new wheel if thats the only solution. Does one supplier sell better Magnum 500 repro wheels over another as far as steel/chrome quality, more original looking etc.??

Any thoughts?
Thanks!

 

[will e]

You can try jb weld, it's amazing stuff.

Or make this your 'spare' tire and don't forget to air it up every now and again.

 

[Don C]

If it's a crack in the rim itself, and not just a blemish in the chrome, there is nothing you can do with it. I'm not sure I would be comfortable with welding it, either. A wheel failure at 60 miles per hour would be catastrophic. There is a reason the crack formed, poor casting, defect in the metal, metal fatigue, damage, etc. A tube would keep it from leaking, and at the same time hide any expansion of the crack.
A minor porosity in the casting can be sealed from the inside, and is why some aluminum wheels come painted on the inside.

 

[sicndhed]

This might be related. I found out the hard way that GM has a problem with chrome separating and allowing leaks between the wheel and the chrome. It can be fixed by removing the chrome in the bead area but it isn't worth the effort.

 

[71ProjectJunk]

You can try jb weld, it's amazing stuff.

Or make this your 'spare' tire and don't forget to air it up every now and again.

I would also try JB Weld from the inside of the wheel, sand it down real nice with like 120 grit, clean it with grease and wax remover and put my JB weld on there. I would be willing to bet that would fix the minor leak. I doubt that there is any issue with the integrity of the steel wheel, and to be honest I have never seen a steel wheel have a catastrophic failure while driving, that was due to some internal issue in the wheel itself, not saying that it could not happen, but I have never seen it happen.

 

[72 Fastback]

I agree with Don C it would suck to fix it and it fail at highway speeds. I have seen this happening and it’s just not safe and if it dose fail can cause lots of damage. I have been in the tire industry for 25 plus years and I have seen people fix wheels and it never holds and I have seen the damage it does when it fails. Just my 2 cents of it .

 

[artjr92124]

My front passenger tire blew on the freeway while doing 65. Besides dealing with the damages and my insurance company, which I had to cover a major part of the costs myself, you should do yourself a favor and buy a new wheel.

 

[SteveO_71]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have a new wheel on order. I think its worth the $200. I would have patched it and made it a spare but I already bought a plain steel wheel for that purpose when I switched from biasply to new radials a few weeks ago.

I'm surprised of how difficult it is to get a rim from someplaces. A couple places had delivery dates with an OCT timeframe.
Thats no bueno since driving season up here is now!

 

[1972]

I would also try JB Weld from the inside of the wheel, sand it down real nice with like 120 grit, clean it with grease and wax remover and put my JB weld on there. I would be willing to bet that would fix the minor leak. I doubt that there is any issue with the integrity of the steel wheel, and to be honest I have never seen a steel wheel have a catastrophic failure while driving, that was due to some internal issue in the wheel itself, not saying that it could not happen, but I have never seen it happen.

Yes I would do all three: JB Weld, tube, make it my spare.

 

[KevinP]

If it's a crack in the rim itself, and not just a blemish in the chrome, there is nothing you can do with it. I'm not sure I would be comfortable with welding it, either. A wheel failure at 60 miles per hour would be catastrophic. There is a reason the crack formed, poor casting, defect in the metal, metal fatigue, damage, etc. A tube would keep it from leaking, and at the same time hide any expansion of the crack.
A minor porosity in the casting can be sealed from the inside, and is why some aluminum wheels come painted on the inside.

After welding it would need to be heat treated to prevent it cracking again anyway, so probably cheaper to just buy a new one

 

[mrgmhale]

I agree with Don C it would suck to fix it and it fail at highway speeds. I have seen this happening and it’s just not safe and if it dose fail can cause lots of damage. I have been in the tire industry for 25 plus years and I have seen people fix wheels and it never holds and I have seen the damage it does when it fails. Just my 2 cents of it .

There are three areas I do not compromise when it comes to auto repair. Suspension, Brakes and Tires/Wheels. Un any other system a person can do "right enough" repairs to limp by if necessary. But in those three areas not doing things the right way can lead to disaster. If there is a crack, which is perhaps a stress crack, in the wheel's metal that crack is going to keep extending no matter what kind of adhesive is used to try to seal any air leak. And even welding the cracked spot may not help as often the beginning of a stress crack is for further past the visible part of the crack itself. n a pinc for a temporary fix is not even a good enough reason for not replacing the cracked wheel.

 

[rodgeydodge]

Hello all,
I have had no structural problems with my Magnum chrome wheels, but I do have some cosmetic ones.
Rust started to form in the rim after only a few months. Not major, but annoying. This is in spite of spraying the rims with water displacer / oil after driving to protect the wheels. I wanted to use the chrome Magnum wheels because they were the "right" ones for the car, but it appears that the chrome plating processes today are not much good or compromised to cut costs. The correct way to chrome is to clean the surface, pickle it, nickel plate it, copper plate it and them chrome it. Sometimes some of these steps, or all of them are left off with predictable results. If I replace them, it will be with the alloy Magnum styled wheels. They will be a better product in any case.

 

[vintageman]

Hello all,
I have had no structural problems with my Magnum chrome wheels, but I do have some cosmetic ones.
Rust started to form in the rim after only a few months. Not major, but annoying. This is in spite of spraying the rims with water displacer / oil after driving to protect the wheels. I wanted to use the chrome Magnum wheels because they were the "right" ones for the car, but it appears that the chrome plating processes today are not much good or compromised to cut costs. The correct way to chrome is to clean the surface, pickle it, nickel plate it, copper plate it and them chrome it. Sometimes some of these steps, or all of them are left off with predictable results. If I replace them, it will be with the alloy Magnum styled wheels. They will be a better product in any case.

Perhaps they were the PVD type coating? PVD looks like chrome but has a specific type of cleaner that is used on them. My F150 had those rims and when I bought it, the rims were showing blemishes. The dealership found out that their people washing the cars were not using the PVD cleaner and that it was damaging the rim coating. I ended up with four brand new rims after this was discovered. Good luck on your search.

Tom