Just before we set off on our summer hols last weekend I was checking the caravan over and also our tow vehicle ( A VW Transporter T4 ) and noticed the front tyres were getting low on tread depth. Now at over £100 per tyre cos I've got alloys on the VW, I like to get as much out of them as poss but without being unsafe or illegal. After sleeping on it I decided the next day to get them changed before we went as I was unsure they'd last the trip. This is probably the best decision I've ever made as the local firm I use found one of the alloy wheels was cracked. I dread to think what could have happened if the wheel had failed on the motorway whilst towing.
Another victim of the poor state of our pothole ridden roads probably. The tyre dealer said it was the 5th cracked alloy wheel he'd seen that week. How many others are driving around with cracks, oblivious to the potential danger beneath them!!
Hi pattinson family, you were very lucky, if anything happend while towing(or solo) could have cost you more than a car and van. potholes on road is one reason i dont have alloys(too easyly damaged), if the garage had 5 cracked alloys that week it may also be that there is a problem with the alloys, wonder if all the the alloys were by the same manufacture.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
Quote: Originally posted by jhsw on 12/8/2010
Hi pattinson family, you were very lucky, if anything happend while towing(or solo) could have cost you more than a car and van. potholes on road is one reason i dont have alloys(too easyly damaged), if the garage had 5 cracked alloys that week it may also be that there is a problem with the alloys, wonder if all the the alloys were by the same manufacture.
I don't think the alloys were from the same manufacturer as one of the vehicles he had in was a 09 reg BMW.
Hi Collin, they still may be from same manufacturer, as they make all different sizes for a range of vehicles,be interesting to find out, If you are going by that way sometime could ask out of curiosity, and post on here, as there may be more possibly faulty ones out there and the drivers unaware of any problem, have friends down your location, between the Harraby Club and the Railway Club, If I know the tyre fitting company I would be tempted to go and find out the next time I visited them.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
Sorry to go slightly off topic here, but can someone explain the advantage (if any) of alloys? My husband had them put on my car for some reason and I don't actually think they look as nice as the ordinary ones that were on it before - and I have to keep telling the insurance companies every time I get a quote and they need a key to get them off. What's the point?
They dissipate brake heat better than ordinary wheels so are not as susceptible to cracks (OP may disagree).
The enable a reduction in your cars unsprung weight, leading to a reduction in rotating mass at the ends of your suspension components creating improved steering and greater breaking response.
Don’t ask me to explain the last one I simply pinched it off the net and its over my head.
I have alloys and they go round and look flash…that’s all I need to know
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
Quote: the 5th cracked alloy wheel he'd seen that week.
wow thats scary, you must have some big pot holes near you.
glad you didn't risk it and got new tyres. least now you know to keep an eye out on the holes in the road.
Just playing Devils Advocate here but did you see the 'crack'? Sure he wasn't spinning you a yarn to get you to buy a new, expensive alloy?
And is it a real worry? I've seen the result of an exploded tyre but I've never seen a broken wheel, even in those tests where they drive the car into a wall at 50mph, the wheels always seem to be in one piece....?
------------- 'In later life, you will be more disappointed with the things you didn't do than with the things you did.' - Mark Twain
I changed the alloys on my last car for standard steel wheels. The tyres were cheaper, the ride quality was better since the suspension had more travel and the wheel nuts stopped coming loose.
I know a lot of people who have had alloys "flatten" between the spokes and end up like a 50p piece.
Just playing Devils Advocate here but did you see the 'crack'? Sure he wasn't spinning you a yarn to get you to buy a new, expensive alloy?
The fitter showed me the crack. It was on the rim and also on the inside so almost impossible to see without removing the wheel. To save replacing all 4 wheels as we couldn't find an exact replacement, the wheel was taken to a specialist alloy welder who ground out the crack and then filled it with weld. This was made clear to me that it was at my own risk but now I know about it I am keeping a very close eye on it. The other campers at Wolverly CCC site this week must have wondered what on earth I was doing lying underneath checking it hadn't reappeared each day.
It was definatly the rim, the crack was about 3/8" long from the edge, but the actual crack didn't go past the bead on the tyre therefore the seal wasn't broken. If it hadn't been found then I dare say the crack could have got longer with more and more jolts causing a leak, that's if the wheel didn't fail on a more catastrophic scale first.
there is a thread somewhere on here about tyres loosing pressure more often with alloy wheels. I've invested in one of those Michelin pumps which work on the cigarette lighter of the car. It is really good.
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Topic: Lucky escape ???
