How long should I trust these rims?

I bought these ASA rims when I bought my '03 Spec V, so now I have 11 hard seasons of autocrossing on them, all on race rubber. At 2700 lbs, my car isn't exactly a lightweight, and these were the cheapest rims available at the time. They're no lightweights themselves, all 21 lbs of gravity cast cheapness. So how much longer should I trust them not to fail? The thought crossed my mind briefly at Sebring last weekend as I was blasting through a third gear sweeper at max g's. They're not showing any obvious signs of cracks or fatigue.

Why would they fail?

dye penetrant testing?

I wouldn't think autocrossing would stress them that much. If you'd spent 11 years bouncing them off curbs, that might be another story. Being heavy is actually probably a good thing here, it's the cheap, light, cast wheels that are most infamous for track failures.

If you want to be sure, you need to have them tested, which might well cost more than they're worth.

As long you don't use any really bizarre or corrosive cleaning agents, you should be fine. It's not like they are eBay cheapies that weigh 12 lbs each...

codrus wrote: Being heavy is actually probably a good thing here, it's the cheap, light, cast wheels that are most infamous for track failures.

Bingo.

I think as overbuilt as those rims are.. they will not fail catastrophically.. they will crack and you will come out to a car with a flat in the morning.

Until that day, I would not do much more than keeping them clean so you can see any developing cracks.

If you are truely concerned, get a pyrometer and aim it at the rims after a run. Any suspecious hot spots could be a developing weak spot

Been sliding into curbs? Hitting big potholes or running over big rocks/curbing? As long as you haven't done any of this (at least not consistently ) I can't fathom that they would fail.

Don't buy in to the "yo you need Volks because your [insert cheap wheel brand here] is gonna explode if you turn a corner fast" bullE36 M3.....

Any wheel sold by a reputable manufacturer or retailer will be just fine assuming you're not doing stage rally or something crazy. I doubt Tire Rack would sell ASA if they were prone to break. Sport Edition, Rota, whatever. They are all fine. Just don't buy wheels off a car that was in a big accident without checking them out extensively.

Also think about the fact that most people mount snow tires/winter tires on cheap wheels (ASA and SportEdition are popular), and in the winter your wheels take much more of a beating than they will autocrossing.

And don't buy fake volks! That e36m3 is weak. It cheapens the whole game. There are lots of good cheaper wheels out there that don't rip off someone's hard work.

want a good cheap rim? I have had great luck wien Enkei. They use a spun cast method that is better than just plain gravity cast.

When I had the RPO1s on my old Hyundai Tiburon, I whalloped a kerb in the rain that literally spun my car 270 degrees (the island in the middle of the street stuck out 10 feet from the signpost.. it was dark and pouring out and I never saw it as I tried to beat the light while making a left) and all I did was bend the edge of the rim slightly. I hit at about 30 mph and it never leaked a single PSI of air. A deadblow hammer straightened it out

Yeah, and definitely don't buy any NA Miata wheels. They cheapen the game too by being rip offs of all the hard work that some British guy went to long ago when he designed Minilites.

How do the lug seats look? Any wear there from all the mounting and dismounting?

are they DOT legal wheels? look for "DOT" cast into them somewhere...

if they are, then they will probably be good until the sun expands and gobbles up the earth in a few billion years..

As I understand it, the heavy cast wheels are fine, its the cast wheels in forged thicknesses/weights that you run from. Some toyota alloys were cast, and somehing like 19lbs for a 14x5.5 and they aren't known to fail.

That said, I'd inspect around the hub area for cracking.

mad_machine wrote: I think as overbuilt as those rims are.. they will not fail catastrophically.. they will crack and you will come out to a car with a flat in the morning. Until that day, I would not do much more than keeping them clean so you can see any developing cracks. If you are truely concerned, get a pyrometer and aim it at the rims after a run. Any suspecious hot spots could be a developing weak spot

Typically the spokes crack from fatigue on the cheap wheels, so there may be damage and the wheel holds air.

Can't you guys read between the lines anymore? This is a cleverly camouflaged enablement request. The man wants to buy some new wheels. He needs to be able to tell SWMBO that the GRM braintrust says the wheels will fail miserably, causing firey death and leaving her alone in the world. Man, you guys are slipping.

Here you go, J.Stein: Those wheel are sure to self destruct the very next time they are used. Recycle them immediately and replace with (insert whatever you currently have in your Tirerack shopping cart) immediately! Think of the children, man!

ASA's are decent wheels, I wouldn't worry.......Kzoo, I lol'd

In reply to kazoospec:

Yep.. They're old and could break at any moment. Those nice, lightweight (insert favorite brand name here) should be good.

dude, those things are a lit stick of dynamite. You need to go buy some RPF1's pronto. The only thing more dangerous to a bus full of nuns is a Corvette on street tires.

If that helps with the enablement issue, good. Otherwise there's likely nothing wrong with those wheels unless you see visible signs of fatigue.

I wouldn't trust those wheels on a farm wagon.

David S. Wallens wrote: How do the lug seats look? Any wear there from all the mounting and dismounting?

The seats have wear but its not excessive.

kazoospec wrote: Recycle them immediately and replace with (insert whatever you currently have in your Tirerack shopping cart) immediately!

LOL - Motegi MR125 in my wish list.

jstein77 wrote: LOL - Motegi MR125 in my wish list.

OZ's or NOZEES

kazoospec wrote: Can't you guys read between the lines anymore? This is a cleverly camouflaged enablement request. The man wants to buy some new wheels. He needs to be able to tell SWMBO that the GRM braintrust says the wheels will fail miserably, causing firey death and leaving her alone in the world. Man, you guys are slipping. Here you go, J.Stein: Those wheel are sure to self destruct the very next time they are used. Recycle them immediately and replace with (insert whatever you currently have in your Tirerack shopping cart) immediately! Think of the children, man!

(but make sure you keep them anyhow for your winter tires or something. I hear the cold weather makes them FAR safer) :)