Cracked alloy wheel and welding?

[Timi]

Hi, a mate of mine has hit a pot hole and it has cracked his alloy, he has had a quote to weld the wheel and have a refurb on the wheel

Has anyone had this done before and what are peoples thought?

Cheers Tim

 

[MartinR]

i once cracked on of the 5 spokes on my wheel and got it welded once i accelerated hard it just cracked again! could of been shody workmanship though.

what alloy is it? standard or aftermarket

 

[Timi]

Cheers Rockers, its an aftermarket alloy i think

 

[MartinR]

i would say it also boils down to where the crack is and how big, probably easier to try and get hold of another alloy tbh.

 

[Gally]

No alloy wheel should be welded back together, alloy wheels will be made in a cast at extreme temoperatures, crazy to even think that welding them back together will work.

 

[Fred@BTM]

i had to weld up a lot of aston ferrari and lambo wheels, they all crack for fun (these were track cars) i wouldn't suggest it, it will go again

 

[Gally]

I'm not saying don't repair them if there is maybe a chunk missing but cracks big no no for me.

 

[Fred@BTM]

its a no no for me too, but needs must when you've got 500 customers waiting LOL

 

[Gally]

If needs must then yes, aswell as the wheel probably costing circa 1k.

 

[Timi]

Cheers for all the input, i'll pass the comments on, it seems like he needs to get onto the council about a claim though

 

[Jay.S]

I have welding a few wouldn't really recommend it I would say its a quick fix, it will go again at some point.

 

[jack_kemp]

You'll have fun trying to get money out of the council....
I put a huge dent and a crack in one of my Brabus wheels last year, took me 6 months to claim money back from the council. got to the point where I had to email them the same complaint again and again to get someone to listen, 74 emails I sent them before I got a reply. Just a case of making enough noise.

I wouldnt have minded, but the alloys on that are £350 each, plus the split tyre, another £150. Not funny!

Good luck though chap.

 

[aj04 rea]

Guys am a specialist welder by trade and weld alot of diffrent materials every day...alu, alu cast, tool steels, stainless ,nickels, duplexs the lot......i weld alloy wheels every other day sometimes four a day...for 3 different wheel refurb compaines round newcastle.. the weld is stronger than the wheel if you use the correct filler wire and cut the crack out! never have any come backs have been doing this for 5 years now! i have come across ones that have been welded else where and its cracked straight through middle of weld...reasons could be an number of reasons no pre heat, low amprage, silicon based filler, poor gas flow, not cleaned properly, didnt get all of crack or just a poor welder!

i fix cracks,missing bits and flat spots!

 

[jacko_172]

hey up guys do u think anyone can repair this alloy for me it has a chunk missing