- Thread starter J_K
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Thanks for that hotrodder..........I just bought a BMW
Fortunately its only got 17" rims and run flat tyres
Just hope you don't have to replace them, was getting some tyres last friday when a chap came in with run flat BMW tyre, they quoted over £400 to replace
mind you the fancy Audi in front of me had just spent £1500 on 2 tyres!Just hope you don't have to replace them, was getting some tyres last friday when a chap came in with run flat BMW tyre, they quoted over £400 to replace
I priced them up. About £220 each. Alternatively you can pay £250 for a spare and run "ordinary" tyres but they are £180 each.
So youre as bad scaled or burnt.
It is a nice car though and it goes like stink. 3 litre diesel, does over 50 to the gallon and low road tax...incredible
Problem is, for many newer and/or powerful cars anyway, you sometimes don't have a choice as smaller wheels (with taller tyres) won't clear the brakes. Look on the bright side Al, if you have to crawl over speedhumps and pootle down bumpy roads for the sake of your wheels at least your tyres should last longer 
That was a good link Delgado. Goes well with this one which is more about working out how it broke... http://www.asminternational.org/pdf/spotlights/jfap0502p011.pdf
That was a good link Delgado. Goes well with this one which is more about working out how it broke... http://www.asminternational.org/pdf/spotlights/jfap0502p011.pdf
What I was trying to convey was, if a Super bike team, with all the facilities they have access to don't find a crack. How is a person with less access to facilities/knowledge know if a wheel is suitable for continued use
I see what you mean now
On the plus side the wheels on my car are 17" and about 11kgs each! (Alfa Romeo selespeeds) and the earth is likely to give way before I crack one of those beefy critters.
(picture from Google)
Thanks Mike
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It was quite funny reading the handbook for my MG ZS, if you have the top model with big alloys they only provide a small steel spare and if you puncture the front you have to put spare on a rear as it won't clear the front brake caliper! 
A good friend of mine has a beautiful 1990 Corvette ZR1, running 315's on the back. He blew one out last month on the autobahn and had to put the super skinny spacesaver on (it looked like a 145 from the picture!) - one of the funniest things I've seen for a while (from the rear)
Last time I drove a car with that section of tyre I managed to fold them under the rims round a roundabout!
PhillipM
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mike os
just a little insane.....
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Fantastic link, should keep me busy for a while.
Especially like the high quality photo examples.Like it or not were any numbers of the cracked or dented alloy wheels major insurance companies are paying BS approved accident repair centres to repair, failing, it simply wouldnt be feasible for them to continue with this arrangement.
As the state of the roads become worse more and more wheels are getting damaged, and people are very often faced with very large bills for replacement wheels. This means that many opt for repair work which saves a great deal of money, and in many cases that they can be driving their cars, rather than waiting for expensive replacement parts to arrive.
The roads are not likely to improve, so for anyone wanting to invest some proper money, and put some effort into establishing a high standard wheel repair business, along the lines of some of the long running US operations, there seems to a very good opportunity ready and waiting here in the UK?
Wheel repair has been a multi $million industry in the US now for many years, and I guess that as soon as someone here sees the potential the same thing will happen in the UK. This will be a good thing for the end user as it will be much easier to find someone who can provide a high standard repair, and who knows exactly what they are doing.
Ive had a look on The Welding Institute web site and it looks like they have been running trials on repairing alloy wheels with Laser Welding and Friction Stir welding.
Unfortunately my password to the site appears to have been restricted so I cant see the detail. Therefore, I have no idea of success or failure.
Unfortunately my password to the site appears to have been restricted so I cant see the detail. Therefore, I have no idea of success or failure.
There is someone near me who claims to be using a laser welder for wheel repairs, but after speaking to a manufacturer of this equipment who advised that a set with the power to penetrate 5mm was around £40k, and this laser wheel welder works out of an old cow shed, there seemed to be something not quite right!
All those repairing wheels in the US seem to be using the TIG process, as does everyone here (with the exception of the laser guy in his cow shed of course..........lol). Laser would probably be the ideal way to do the job, but equipment cost would mean repairs would also be very dear, and make them a lot less attractive.
All those repairing wheels in the US seem to be using the TIG process, as does everyone here (with the exception of the laser guy in his cow shed of course..........lol). Laser would probably be the ideal way to do the job, but equipment cost would mean repairs would also be very dear, and make them a lot less attractive.
Ive seen some good stuff in cow sheds (and thats not a smutty joke). Not long ago I was invited to try and help someone who had a contract to make some pressure vessel fire extinguishers for aicraft.
That was in a cow shed.........mind you it was part of a stately home
So I wouldnt be surprised if it was true
40 grand for a Laser seems cheap to be honest.
That was in a cow shed.........mind you it was part of a stately home
So I wouldnt be surprised if it was true
40 grand for a Laser seems cheap to be honest.
This cow shed is right out in the sticks miles from anywhere, and being run by a guy who doesnt pay his bills and who already has 2 failed businesses related to car wheels behind him! Very flashy web site though, and he may be able to catch a few unlucky customers.
I have no idea what a laser set of the type needed to repair alloy wheels should cost, but would have thought a set only able to penetrate 5mm at £40k probably wouldnt be a lot of good? There seem to be so many cowboys as outlined above getting into this business now, it seems an area where someone willing to do things properly would be able to make very good money, as seems common in the US.
I have no idea what a laser set of the type needed to repair alloy wheels should cost, but would have thought a set only able to penetrate 5mm at £40k probably wouldnt be a lot of good? There seem to be so many cowboys as outlined above getting into this business now, it seems an area where someone willing to do things properly would be able to make very good money, as seems common in the US.
pedrobedro
Man at Matalan
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What were they fitted to? I've never seen a tyre come off a rim without coming into contact with something like the kerb unless they were ridiculously under inflated and if they did come off the rim they would be going back where I got them from as there was obviously something seriously wrong with them.
