DougCLK320
Senior Member
At Costco, yesterday, buying two new Michelins for my front alloys, I stood and watched whilst they did the work. I was rather concerned when, after a few minutes, they’d all gathered around one of my wheels. Eventually, I was called over.
One of the alloys wouldn't keep its air in (nitrogen actually is what they claim to use) and kept going down. They'd refitted the tyre twice and it continued to go down.
The gaffer told be he'd only seen this once before as he pointed to a 70mm long hairline crack in the middle of the rim (across, inside to outside) - only visible with the tyre removed. On the "outside" the only sign was a 6mm fine line and a sort of pin hole directly behind one of the spokes.
He suggested - probably correctly - that them banging and pulling the rim about on their machines has opened the crack sufficiently for it to start leaking (plus, maybe the nitrogen is a thinner gas!!!).
Obviously, this is one scrap alloy and I had to return home on the wheelbarrow spare.
The supplying dealer I bought it from six months ago cannot be criticised as he couldn't possibly be expected to have known the rim was cracked and I certainly haven't hit anthing in the road myself.....
I suppose it's the risk you take with any second-hand car and find myself unusually sanguine at the (£180) cost of the new wheel I should be collecting from MB Watford this morning.
Anyway I consider myself one extremely lucky Dougie that this stress crack didn't remain undetected. Goodness knows what could have happened had the wheel failed at speed.
Doug
One of the alloys wouldn't keep its air in (nitrogen actually is what they claim to use) and kept going down. They'd refitted the tyre twice and it continued to go down.
The gaffer told be he'd only seen this once before as he pointed to a 70mm long hairline crack in the middle of the rim (across, inside to outside) - only visible with the tyre removed. On the "outside" the only sign was a 6mm fine line and a sort of pin hole directly behind one of the spokes.
He suggested - probably correctly - that them banging and pulling the rim about on their machines has opened the crack sufficiently for it to start leaking (plus, maybe the nitrogen is a thinner gas!!!).
Obviously, this is one scrap alloy and I had to return home on the wheelbarrow spare.
The supplying dealer I bought it from six months ago cannot be criticised as he couldn't possibly be expected to have known the rim was cracked and I certainly haven't hit anthing in the road myself.....
I suppose it's the risk you take with any second-hand car and find myself unusually sanguine at the (£180) cost of the new wheel I should be collecting from MB Watford this morning.
Anyway I consider myself one extremely lucky Dougie that this stress crack didn't remain undetected. Goodness knows what could have happened had the wheel failed at speed.
Doug
