Steel rims for wooden wheels

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Is it pretty common for the 18″ steel rims to crack in line with the lock ring groove and starting at the recess on the rim for the lug nuts going in both directions? I have 8 wheels and 5 have cracks.

Is the standard practice to drill the ends of the cracks Vee the cracks and weld them up? This car has sat since 1957 and the rest of the wheels look in good condition. Looks like a design flaw, the metal is very thin at the recess. Jim

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Jim,

I am not familiar with the cross section, but drilling to stop the progression, V ing and welding seems logical. Might consider stress relieving the steel parts. Steel back then was pretty crude.

Bill

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G’day Jim

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Very interesting

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Ted Beeston here in OZ has had the same problem with newly manufacturered rims made of MODERN steel on his 1929 Club Brougham.

At least 2 of his rims cracked the same for about 12 inches. I have to deduct that maybe it is to do with the thickness of the material & the very sharp bend required to form the lock ring groove. I have the same type rims on my 1927 Lancia newly manufactuered, but the steel is only around 2/3 the thickness. I have run them for around 20,000 miles with out any problem. Of course the Lancia is only 2000 lbs compared to 5000lbs for the Pierce!! Ted Beeston has now had his wheels re made with well based rims. I wonder if the lock ring type rims are/were cold rolled which would cause work hardening.

Jak.

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Ps. Jim, I should have added that the wheels I refer to are wires. But the lock ring area is the same as yours.

Jak.

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I have looked at and handeled a lot of Pierce wheels, in the hundreds. I have only seen this happen once, on a very rusty wheel. I have seen this failure on other cars, both times on a Dusenberg going down the road. 18 inch five lug and six lug wheels are very difficult to find in any condition. On my 31 series 42 I am going to convert the wheels to drop center and get rid of the snap rings, for many reasons. Safety is the number one reason why. I don’t think I would ever run a welded wheel for any reason, there is just too much down side.

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I cut through the cracks at the recess for the lug wrench and the metal is only .050″ thick there .150″” in the rest of the rib. Definitley a weak area.”

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