Tig welding alloy wheels

[zx9]

for some reason my words disappeared?? on the above u tube vid

I can still see your comment.

 

[Richard.]

Ive done a few over the years, never had any comebacks. Its alloy, nailed with tig and, a dawdle.

Yet!!!!! Read hr's post.
Best welder in the universe can't stop the effect on a material properties changing under temp.
Each to there own but it's not the ability of the welder that causes the problem here. Would you weld an aluminium ladder? Different material yes but the principle is the same.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Not sure if anyone posting in this thread is aware of the fact that all of the major wheel refurbishment operations here in the UK, offer crack and dent repair on alloy wheels?

I'm aware, and I've also seen welded rims crack. I wouldn't have a welded alloy on any of my vehicles no matter who welded them

 

[Rrunnach]

Yet!!!!! Would you weld an aluminium ladder? Different material yes but the principle is the same.

Yes I have actually, my own, which I nailed years ago and, still in use. You are obviously not confident with your welding skills.

 

[doubleboost]

It is not the weld but the bit next to it I am not confident in

 

[Richard.]

Yes I have actually, my own, which I nailed years ago. You are obviously not confident with your welding skills.

Nothing to do with doubting my ability to weld.
I'm just not very good at asking the temperature from the arc to kindly not to change the mechanical properties of the parent material.
You can do as you please but don't be bloody arrogant.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Yes I have actually, my own, which I nailed years ago and, still in use. You are obviously not confident with your welding skills.

There are people on here, Richard included that have welded things you wouldn't be able to imagine, listen to them

 

[Maker]

The heat affected zone will have weakened mechanical properties and while it may well be fine, there's every possibility that it won't. You can't doubt Richard when it comes to TIG welding, he's got the time served, bead pictures and the knowledge to back it all up.

 

[normspanners]

I can still see your comment.

Cheers It wasnt there when I went back, and looked, so edited it and re-entered it.

 

[Richard.]

There are people on here, Richard included that have welded things you wouldn't be able to imagine, listen to them

Tbh I probably haven't welded anything rrunnarch wouldn't be able to weld as I know from previous posts what he does and his involvement in welding. It's a professional welding careea he has. That said I don't agree with his advise on "it's alloy is a dawdle" that's just ........... Well not my view. I would not hit him with "your not a confident welder" rubbish if he rufused to weld something that may cause problems or even showed a bit of caution.

 

[hotrodder]

Not sure if anyone posting in this thread is aware of the fact that all of the major wheel refurbishment operations here in the UK, offer crack and dent repair on alloy wheels?

Yeah, repair one kerbed/buckled/cracked wheel and the punter is virtually always gonna pay to have all of them refinished so they match...

Given the prices most places charge to weld a wheel i very much doubt a lot of them do much if any NDT though, probably just a leak test? Anyone that's splashed much dye penetrant about before repairing things has probably found out "it's only a small crack" often turns out to be a family of cracks with more kids than a channel 4 programme about benefit Britain. And DPI can obviously only find defects that break the surface

The fact remains that (at least) many wheels are heat treated so even if there was such a thing as a perfect weld the wheel would still be locally weaker and more brittle after welding than it was before hand. Because they were designed with a safety factor usually all that happens is the thing cracks again and the tyre goes flat before the crack has grown big enough for properly bad things to happen. The problem when people think "it's just alloy" is that a light, flowformed or forged wheel that's had much of the excess weight engineered out is very different to a heavy/style over substance wheel that was possibly heat treated as much to improve machinability of the raw casting as anything else. There's no way find out what sort of safety factor was applied to a given wheel and price/weight are't good clues either... AMG wheels are typically waaaaaaaaay heavier than MB designs but usually more prone to cracking. Granted the AMG wheels being bigger is probably a large part of it but the 17 x 7.5 AMG wheels on my daily driver are nearly 3 times the weight of the origional 15 x 7 MB wheels and have the same 615kg load rating. The 15 x 6 Fuchs wheels on the back of my '54 Beetle are significantly lighter than the 15 x 7 MB wheels but then they're forged not cast

FWIW some years back a bloke in the VW scene was seriously injured when a wheel failed catastrophically while he was inflating a tyre after changing them. This death was cause by a dodgy/carbuncled tyre + a combination of space saver spare and a lack of forethought to deflate the tyre but is a good reminder of just how much energy is stored http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8600833.stm

 

[Wozzaaah]

There are people on here, Richard included that have welded things you wouldn't be able to imagine, listen to them

Runnach has welded things most of us on here wouldn't imagine.
Whilst he may come across as a tad brash with some of his replies he can most definitely walk the walk unlike some people on here.

Now can we all please play nice?

 

[Rrunnach]

My apologies Richard, my reply was a tad harsh.

 

[Chris Stevens]

At the end of the day the state of the roads, and the cost of new alloy wheels mean that repair of alloy wheels is becoming more and more commonplace.

Rather than suggesting such repair isnt a feasible option, would it not be more productive to look at the best possible way of carrying them out?

 

[normspanners]

Problem is it is not what you do its the next person, I had an issue once when a guy was coming off the A55 for fuel round a ridicules turning with 90* bend immediately off the slip road to the forecourt (been to several accidents there)
the guy had run over the kerb at high sped and damage every tyre on his celica I picked up the car, and back at the garage it was bank holiday btw he explained he was going going down to london to his ex's for his sons Birthday and was literally crying that he would miss it and that he had bought a special present for him, there was massive box in the car etc, he had promised his son to be there. Sob story blah blah.

So by swapping tyres and wheels etc, coz for some reason he had two spares in the car but tyres where split/ worn out, after fitting some used tyres etc ( I only had 1 new in stock ) we where left with one cracked rim and a good tyre so I explained that I could fit a tube that would seal it and fit that to the rear, he said oh please do it I am desperate, I will definitely get it sorted on tuesday the guy seemed genuine, it meant he could then continue and forfill his promise, Me thinking what would I do if it were me , I said ok but keep to 50 and get it sorted when there. Yes no problem just please get it done, So I did and off he went.
18 months later I get a call from rac to say that a member had had a repair at my garage and that I had fitted a tyre to a damaged FRONT wheel etc etc, luckily I had written a letter disclaimer stating the facts, that the guy had signed and I had kept with the job record. He had sold the car to another member, in it's temp repaired condition !! and they traced it back to me. The RAC upheld my explanation after seeing a copy of the letter and nothing was done BUT imagine had that been an accident and as any lawyer will tell you, a disclaimer is not worth the paper it is written on.

 

[Chris Stevens]

If there is now precedent to suggest 3rd party liability in relation to forum posts, I would imagine the legal profession is looking forward to raking in some very good returns.

 

[Rrunnach]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8600833.stm[/QUOTE]

That terrible accident happened a few hundred metres up the road from.

 

[normspanners]

interesting the power of tyres /wheels under pressure

how high did that wheel go??

 

[Tinbasherdan]

I will weld many things on a car, but anything critical to the handling of the vehicle, ie brakes, steering, wheels etc get replaced instead, it's just not worth it

 

[Tinbasherdan]

interesting the power of tyres /wheels under pressure

how high did that wheel go??

The favourite used to be split rims on jcb wheels, you hope and pray it seated right when you inflate the tyre, ive seen one fire itself 20 feet up and dinto the sheeting on the workshop roof