Beware of Used Wheels!

Buying a set of used wheels is a good way to save some money but you need to be careful. If you are counting on these wheels to hold up to performance driving on the street or track, then you need to be especially careful. We have seen used wheels that appear to be good but are compromised. Keep reading to learn how we have repaired a forged wheel to cosmetic excellence but we would not dare to use it aggressively in the canyons or track.

We were able to repair (with a local specialist) a forged factory LSS wheel to an excellent cosmetic standard but would not trust it for serious use.

We bought a crashed S240 Exige and salvaged the wheels off of the car. The rears were in excellent shape but the fronts, where the car was crashed, were in unacceptable shape. I asked our trusted wheel refinisher if he could repair these wheels and he was confident that he could. I asked him to go ahead and fix them as we could use some wheels to use in the shop to roll around cars that are in various states of repair.

Here is the crashed car and wheel:

First, the wheel was straightened and then welded to fill in the missing metal.

Our supplier was then able to machine the edge acceptably and refinish the wheel. I asked him to paint the wheels bright orange so that we would not accidentally sell them.

Why is this a concern? Welding onto the wheel will elevate the metal in this area to temps above the anneal temp range of 600-700deg F. When the aluminum gets annealed, it begins to soften. Aluminum melts at 1200 deg F and is approached in the welding process. Since these are forged wheels, this welded area will get annealed thus making it softer than the rest of the wheel. This could ultimately cause a failure. We believe it is not worth taking the risk on a car that is run aggressively.

It is critical that you know how a used wheel was repaired. If it was repaired, it would be worth knowing if any welding was involved. Wheels are considered a consumable on a track car (or any really) but it is also a critical safety component that is holding you to the ground. Are you sure you want to take the chance on those cheap used wheels with unknown history?