Gewalt wheel issue

[Guest Ash]

 

 

Do you have the Gewalt 3-piece wheels fitted to your car?

 

From what I can see they have some dodgy bathroom-silcone type stuff sealing the rims. I have a set that has only done a couple of thousand miles and the sealant is already breaking down and leaking.

 

So if you have these wheels fitted to your car, it would perhaps be a good thing to check the condition of the seals at the next tyre-change.

 

Yours,

J

[Peter Howe]

Wow, so they're really worth the money. I would be livid if I spent a couple of G's on wheels and they started going skanky like that.

 

P.

[Paul Booth]

Quote: from Peter Howe on 12:43 pm on Oct. 10, 2001[br]Wow, so they're really worth the money. I would be livid if I spent a couple of G's on wheels and they started going skanky like that.

 

P.

 

I've been looking at a number of companies offering split rims and they all seem to use a Silicon sealer in the final stage of assembly.

 

I guess we're talking about QA, not the fact that they use Silicon sealer.

 

[Digsy]

Technically there is nothing wrong with using a silicone based sealant, provided it meets the environmental and mechanical requirements of the joint. I would be gobsmacked if a serious wheel manufacturer was *really* using bathroom-grade stuff, but I suppose stranger things have happened. Whatever the reason it sounds like the sealant Ash's wheels is clearly not up to the job for one reason or another.

 

Ash, if you want to take the rims apart and rebuild them, I'm sure that somebody at Threebond or Loctite (both of which have excellent Technical Sales departments) could recommend an alternative RTV product to use instead. They will also fax out product specification sheets upon request.

 

Loctite: 01707 821000

Threebond: 01908 320325

 

PS: Tip of the day. If you do squirt silicone based sealant around your car, keep it away from the engine, because it will fug up your O2 sensors quicker than anything if a sniff of it gets into the exhaust system.

 

[Paul Booth]

Quote: from Darren Blake on 1:24 pm on Oct. 10, 2001[br]PS: Tip of the day. If you do squirt silicone based sealant around your car, keep it away from the engine, because it will fug up your O2 sensors quicker than anything if a sniff of it gets into the exhaust system.

 

Tut! that'll teach me to be sniffing solvent while lying under the engine.

 

[Guest Ash]

 

 

They are the Gewalts I used to have on my car that I sold to Justin.

 

The silicone really does look and feel like the bathroom type stuff. In fact, it's breaking down at the edges exactly like bath sealant does over time. In doing so it is coming away from the metal and leaking.  Whereas the sealant on the Blitz rims feels much tougher. Rather like the kind of silicone compound that is used to bond windscreens.

 

Thanks Darren for the numbers. They will sure come in handy.

 

Yours,

J

 

 

 

[Guest Martin F]

Just out of interest this was recently posted on the American list :-

 

My brother and I we're putting on his brand new 19" Blitz Technospeeds this

weekend. Out of curiousity I weighed them on our bathroom scale. Here' s the

break down if anyone is curious:

 

19x10  285/30/19 Bridgestone S-03's-----60lbs

19x9    245/35/19 Bridgestone S-03's-----52lbs

 

Stocks

 

275/40/17 SP8000----49lbs with 30% tread

235/40/17 SP8000----43lbs with 50% tread

 

for comparison my Racing Hart C's

 

19x10 285/30/19 Continentals ----48lbs with 10% tread

19x9   245/35/19 Continentals ----44lbs with 80% tread

 

I cant believe there was such a huge difference with weights, im sure tires have

something to do with it too. But then again its only a bathroom scale, and its

accuracy maybe in question.

 

................

 

Just thought it may interest some of you. Obviously the majority of aftermarket wheels are going to be heavier than stock.

 

But this extra rotational mass is probably a small price to pay for the quality and style of the blitz wheels.

 

 

 

(Edited by Martin F at 9:33 pm on Oct. 10, 2001)

[Paul Booth]

Quote: from Martin F on 9:28 pm on Oct. 10, 2001[br]Just out of interest this was recently posted on the American list :-

 

My brother and I we're putting on his brand new 19" Blitz Technospeeds this

weekend. Out of curiousity I weighed them on our bathroom scale. Here' s the

break down if anyone is curious:

 

19x10  285/30/19 Bridgestone S-03's-----60lbs

19x9    245/35/19 Bridgestone S-03's-----52lbs

 

Stocks

 

275/40/17 SP8000----49lbs with 30% tread

235/40/17 SP8000----43lbs with 50% tread

 

for comparison my Racing Hart C's

 

19x10 285/30/19 Continentals ----48lbs with 10% tread

19x9   245/35/19 Continentals ----44lbs with 80% tread

 

I cant believe there was such a huge difference with weights, im sure tires have

something to do with it too. But then again its only a bathroom scale, and its

accuracy maybe in question.

 

................

 

Just thought it may interest some of you. Obviously the majority of aftermarket wheels are going to be heavier than stock.

 

But this extra rotational mass is probably a small price to pay for the quality and style of the blitz wheels.

 

 

 

(Edited by Martin F at 9:33 pm on Oct. 10, 2001)

 

I'm pretty sure the extra weight is down to the fact they're split rim. That's the thing about monobloc, none of those pesky metal screws all the way round.

 

[Ibrar Jabbar]

I have used Dunlops high modulus silicon sealent, to reseal split rims with good effect.