"Aluminum Rims" Any engineers here that work for a wheel manufacturer ? do, not to do

I recently bought new rims & tires at one of the big stores and had some problems.

lugs would not stay tight, even after I checked them all week every day. I finally pulled the right front wheel & looked at it & noticed that it was cracked. Then I remembered that when I went back to have the wheels retorqued the guy that did the right front didn't stop at the clicks with the torque wrench he went way past it.

THe lug nuts they gave me were just temporary open end lugs because they didn't have any chrome ones so they were supposed to order new ones and swap them out but it was too late.


They used an air wrench to start the lugs, I say on aluminum rims the lugs should be started by hand & finish torqued by hand ??

They used a penetrant they said on the studs because they were rusty & put the new lugs on without wiping it off, I know that when you put liquid on a stud regardless of whether or not it was a penetrant or lube it changes the torque specs ?

These aren't the first set of aluminum rims I've ever had but this is the first problem i've had. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this so this doesn't happen again. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, this is a thorny issue as it could be any number of things. But, my first thought is that the back mounting surface is not sitting flat on the hub. Over-torquing should not cause cracking, unless the green hulk torqued them. :)

Something just does not sound right if all four wheels were not holding their torque settings. Maybe the studs are binding on the holes, maybe the holes are not perfectly spaced, maybe the studs are stretched, maybe..., maybe...

The penetrant will probably change the torque setting, though not all brands/types do or would. Best idea for that is to clean all the studs with brake cleaner and then add a faint smear of anti-seize.

Using an air-wrench is not an issue if they are using a pre-torque extension that will only let them toque to a fixed load, usually about 10-lbs below the hand torque setting. They are used to get all the studs tensioned to a known (roughly) place.

However, I get the feeling you are looking for tangible evidence for a claim and it would be foolish to go by anything you are told on a forum of faceless souls, (me included) no matter how well intentions they may be. If it is claim material you are after then you need to get an Engineer and get them to make a report on what they find.

I sold tires and wheels for nearly 15 years. I would be curious as to whether or not the "temporary" lug nuts were a proper match to the wheels. Did the wheels require conical seat lugs or shank-type lugs? If conical seat, were the lugs of the proper taper for the lug seats on the wheels? If they were shank-type lugs, were the proper length shanks used? Also, I would be interested to know if the center hole of the wheel was of adequate size to accept the hub to which it was bolted. Do you have a picture of the wheels and lugs (both installed and uninstalled) we could view?

I agree with Dave in the respect that if you are looking for claim material, hire a local engineer to investigate your vehicle and the wheels and supply him with facts rather than conjecture. Let the hired engineer, attorneys and the insurance guys haggle it out. However, it would be interesting to see what you are experiencing just to satisfy my own curiosity.


Ron

[QUOTE=PinkertonD;3090]Hi, this is a thorny issue as it could be any number of things. But, my first thought is that the back mounting surface is not sitting flat on the hub. Over-torquing should not cause cracking, unless the green hulk torqued them. :)

Something just does not sound right if all four wheels were not holding their torque settings. Maybe the studs are binding on the holes, maybe the holes are not perfectly spaced, maybe the studs are stretched, maybe..., maybe...

The penetrant will probably change the torque setting, though not all brands/types do or would. Best idea for that is to clean all the studs with brake cleaner and then add a faint smear of anti-seize.

Using an air-wrench is not an issue if they are using a pre-torque extension that will only let them toque to a fixed load, usually about 10-lbs below the hand torque setting. They are used to get all the studs tensioned to a known (roughly) place[/QUOTE]

With the torque backing-off, it sounds like there could be significant flexing or relative movement occurring at the stud-wheel interface and/or surrounding mechanical areas during dynamic loading or operation. Improper torque could be an issue.

Does anybody know if after-market automotive products are required to meet any DOT or other safety operational and/or testing verification standards?

How does the op drives the car, who did the engineering (assuming somebody did) and if the wheels (rims) are properly sized for the car?

If I where the op I would remove the wheels until I could feel comfortable that these wheels are safe for operation.

[QUOTE=Kelly Bramble;3101]Improper torque could be an issue.[/QUOTE]

But, the crack could not be caused by over-torquing by humans. :) As we have all said, there seems to be something amiss with the rims sitting correctly on the hub flanges. The OP seems fixated on the torque issue, which I really don't think has a major bearing in this case.

However, Kelly, you bring up a good point about the rims being a suitable size for the vehicle. I have no doubt something like this...
[url]http://www.complex.com/rides/2012/04/these-two-camaros-are-sitting-on-32-inch-rims[/url]
...would cause all manner of mechanical problems.