Cracked wheel? - don't delay replacing it

[oscarisapc]

I thought forum members would like to see photos of a crack in one of my alloy wheels. I originally posted on the wheels and suspension thread in the technical forum but this seems of much wider interest and safety implication that I thought others would like to see it. The first picture is of the exterior of the inside rim of the wheel as it appeared when I first took it off the car and the second picture is of the interior of the wheel with the tyre removed.

What has horrified me has been how far this apparently small crack has spread on the inside of the wheel where it was not visible. I don't know what would have happened first - the wheel losing pressure or disintegrating at speed, but I am glad I didn't wait to find out. If we look at the original picture it appears that the crack is old and dirty so I have no idea how long we have all been at risk.

A good spot by MB Nottingham who first noticed it at one of their free safety checks.

 

[A210AMG]

Wow dread to think if that had given way giving it full beans on an autoroute..

Well done for spotting it (garage) does it mean a new rim?

 

[oscarisapc]

Replacement seemed the only option

No, I have had a completely new wheel. There has been some discussion about whether a welded repair would be just as strong as the original metal and I think, had this been a static structure, that would have been fine. However, with all the dynamic loads on wheels, I didn't want to take a chance with hidden stresses in the alloy emerging elsewhere. A replacement wheel cost me £108 from a dealer in Germany - cheap at the price for peace of mind.

 

[mb240]

No, I have had a completely new wheel. There has been some discussion about whether a welded repair would be just as strong as the original metal and I think, had this been a static structure, that would have been fine. However, with all the dynamic loads on wheels, I didn't want to take a chance with hidden stresses in the alloy emerging elsewhere. A replacement wheel cost me £108 from a dealer in Germany - cheap at the price for peace of mind.

Which dealer?

 

[hotrodder]

I replied in the other thread but am just curious as there appears to be no obvious flat spot, is the wheel still round/axially straight? I've lost count of the amount of times i'm asked to weld wheels (i don't). That's fairly typical of the type of cracks i usually see but typically the wheel is closer in shape to a 50 pence piece!

 

[oscarisapc]

Reply to both questions

I found a very helpful outfit from the internet- 123autoteile
123 Autoteile GmbH Co. KG
who responded rapidly (in English) and the replacement arrived a couple of days later. Highly recommended.

As far as the condition of the cracked wheel was concerned, it looked perfectly round to me, and there was no obvious other damage either to the tyre or to the rest of the wheel. The wheel has been sitting on my car for about 5000 miles, whilst I wondered what to do about the apparently small crack on the inside rim - even MB who spotted the crack only gave it an amber and not a red on their warning system. None of us realised how serious the crack was on the hidden part. I think it could have been a fatigue/stress crack rather than impact damage. Presumably all manufacturers must have a tolerance of something greater than zero for manufacturing imperfections. The car is four years old and I am the second owner so who knows? I didn't want a protracted correspondence with MB arguing over uncertain liability for the sake of a hundred pounds. I have binned the wheel (hoping nobody "rescues" it from the scrap metal skip at the recycling depot even though I wrote DAMAGED all over it in indelible marker) so I can't re examine it.