adnanshah247 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Hello folks, Somebody i know is selling me a set of blitz 18" wheels and as he was taking them off he noticed that one of the rims has a small weld. there are no vibrations in the car etc. whilst driving and the car doesnt steer itself etc. how ever the welded rim does have a lot of balancing weights on it. im getting them at a very cheap price and they look very nice, very good condition, however is buying a welded rim a very bad idea? they are genuine blitz light weight wheels. thanks for the input Adnan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 In my mind, yes, it is a bad idea.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 In my mind, yes, it is a bad idea.... gav if you dont mind can you give me a lil explanation as to why? is the wheels shape and integrity completly lost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 gav if you dont mind can you give me a lil explanation as to why? is the wheels shape and integrity completly lost? Well, couple of things... Firstly the material could be compromised from the high heat of welding, also was the welding wire of the same compound as the original rim otherwise you have mixed materials. That in itself could introduce a weak spot should something impact the rim. There is the fact that it has tons of weights on it JUST to balance it out. Rotational balancing is one aspect ie, just spinning the rim round, but there is also the side to side aspect of balancing which will also be out, ie it could be buckled ever so slightly in a vertical manner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 Well, couple of things... Firstly the material could be compromised from the high heat of welding, also was the welding wire of the same compound as the original rim otherwise you have mixed materials. That in itself could introduce a weak spot should something impact the rim. There is the fact that it has tons of weights on it JUST to balance it out. Rotational balancing is one aspect ie, just spinning the rim round, but there is also the side to side aspect of balancing which will also be out, ie it could be buckled ever so slightly in a vertical manner. thank you so much for that, as you mentioned firstly about the heat and mixture of materials, i was thinking this, blitz do use exotic materials and who ever welded it must have used shitty materials, its clearly not a proffessional weld, looks all blooby and stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 One of my Braid wheels on my UK spec had a previous welded repair on the rim that I wasn't aware of. I ended up having a tyre blow out at 80mph because of it. I had to drive from Paris to York on a space saver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 its clearly not a proffessional weld, looks all blooby and stuff. There is your answer..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 One of my Braid wheels on my UK spec had a previous welded repair on the rim that I wasn't aware of. I ended up having a tyre blow out at 80mph because of it. I had to drive from Paris to York on a space saver! ok thats the justification i needed, no thank you sir not risking it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevins Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 have an alloy x-rayed from new and tell me if you think its correct lol, it shocked me and a year old alloy is scary, yet alone a welded alloy. I would advise people to stay clear of welded alloys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 You say a small weld, can you elaborate or post a pic, some repairs on alloys are fine, some arent and by the way you describe the quality of weld on there it doesnt sound good to me to start with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevins Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Sounds to me if it has a blobby weld, or as many call it pigeon sh*t welding, the person who done the repair was not that good at welding, depending on how blobby it it is brings the question of whether the weld penetrated enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Sounds to me if it has a blobby weld, or as many call it pigeon sh*t welding, the person who done the repair was not that good at welding, depending on how blobby it it is brings the question of whether the weld penetrated enough. I agree but you need to know if it was a crack thats been welded or curb damage etc before you can just say yeh its scrap because its welded, the crap weld could be removed easily and done properly but dependant on more info with pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevins Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 a pic would help or even a description of the size and location. Personally, If it was located on the lip heading towards the centre I would replace the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeG Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 It's very common for wheel reapiar specialists to weld alloys with alloy weld, my mate owns a wheel refurb shop and he does it all the time, but u said it's blobby which obviously points that it wasn't done by an expert so I wouldn't chance it mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaGSi Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 As said I think its just down to the quality of the repair. A chap on the mlr used a welded rim for around 14-16months with no issues. Here is a pic of his repair work: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 here you go guys, an image of the rim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevins Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 IMO I would replace the wheel do to where it is located. The weld does not seem that bad but due to it being where it is, there is going to be alot of stress on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creative Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Another 1 saying avoid here. I had a wheel welded once, it was a good job but I ended up having a blow out as it failed when I hit a pothole. Not worth it in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 A weld is always the weakest point on any welded material, I would only have a welded rim if it was steel rims and only if the repair was on the outside of the lip. Not to say you cannot weld alloy rims but IMO its takes much more skill and the appropriate welding wire. Ive seen aluminium plate welded with steel wire, not good some people think welding equipment will join any type of metal together. Just another thought as they are 18" rims you will probably be on low profile tyres and with the hard suspension, number of potholes about it will probably be under more stress so you would want any rims on your supe to be 100%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Not the best pic in the world but better than nothing, its obviously a crack thats been welded so going on the not so nice weld i guess it wasnt crack tested or x rayed to see just how far the crack actually went so i'd leave that alone. The crack could extend a lot further into the wheel but be invisible to the naked eye and this is why i wouldnt buy a wheel repaired like the one above. One way of stopping the crack if you find where it really ends is to drill a small say 5mm diameter hole right at the end of it before you start to weld, the welding heat usually opens up the crack further as you weld which doesnt happen if theres a hole there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnanshah247 Posted February 11, 2010 Author Share Posted February 11, 2010 thats the only pic i could get. problem is i live in london were you can loose your car in a pot hole! a weak rim would really be dangerous and seen as their nothing but double red lines here and i have 4 x 12" subs in the back changeing a wheel because of a blow out would be a serious PITA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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