Crack in my Pony wheel

[Marz]

Think I should be overly concerned about this? It's not all the way through the spoke. But it's through that little section. I Just don't like the look of a crack in my rim.

(click the thumbs)





I'll have to get one of the extra pony rims I have powder coated to replace this one.

[PaceFever79]

I would get another one....

You can get single wheels cheap on eBay

[Marz]

Shoot.

Ok, This one is going to be a small end table. Just need some round glass and felt.

[PaceFever79]

I think it's "okay" to drive for now, but I'd get another one.

You could use the old one for a full size spare.

[Marz]

This sucks. Now I need to have one of my other ones powder coated. Spend more money.

[slpr50ltd]

Sorry to hear about the issue with one of your wheels, especially after spending the money to get them powdercoated and looking good! Hope to see you at Knott's!

[Chrome_Rush]

You would think the powder coater would have mentioned one of the wheels was cracked.

[PaceFever79]

You would think the powder coater would have mentioned one of the wheels was cracked.

Hmm, I wonder if the oven baking/cooling process actually caused the crack?

[bridgener]

Just my thoughts here, but I would ditch that wheel ASAP. I wouldn't want to drive my car knowing that I have a growing crack on my wheel where the next pothole I hit could be the last!

Much cheaper to replace with another pony wheel than to lose the wheel somewhere on the road!

[bwguardian]

In the second picture there is some chips of aluminum missing adjacent to the crack...almost like something hit it. This would be an odd place for road rash but possibly happened during the powder coating process. If it were mine I would have a good welder tig or mig that back...it will be stronger than the actual material of the wheel. This way you might be able to salvage the powder coat process.

When you had these powder coated what did you do about your center caps? I ask because my Pony wheels are Oxford White to match my car and I did toy with the idea about powder coating them but wound up having the guy that painted the car base coat clear coat the wheels and center caps.

[Marz]

In the second picture there is some chips of aluminum missing adjacent to the crack...almost like something hit it. This would be an odd place for road rash but possibly happened during the powder coating process. If it were mine I would have a good welder tig or mig that back...it will be stronger than the actual material of the wheel. This way you might be able to salvage the powder coat process.

When you had these powder coated what did you do about your center caps? I ask because my Pony wheels are Oxford White to match my car and I did toy with the idea about powder coating them but wound up having the guy that painted the car base coat clear coat the wheels and center caps.

Thanks. I'll be calling the powder coating owner and asking him if his guys saw the crack.

As for the center caps, I bought the blank caps from American Muscle.

[Marz]

So, for 17" X 3/8" round tempered glass it's $65.

I'm going to turn this cracked rim into a car guys end table. lol

I'll have to raise it up off the ground a foot or so, So I'll buy a cheap rotor, clear it, and have a welder fab up some cool looking legs.

In fact, I'll use it next to my bed.

[bwguardian]

As for the center caps, I bought the blank caps from American Muscle.

What I am more interested in is that they are probably plastic like the stock units and cannot be powder coated along with the aluminum wheels.

[Marz]

What I am more interested in is that they are probably plastic like the stock units and cannot be powder coated along with the aluminum wheels.

They are plastic just like the stock caps. I'm just going to have a shop match them to the powder coat as best as they can.

[bwguardian]

They are plastic just like the stock caps. I'm just going to have a shop match them to the powder coat as best as they can.

Okay, that is why I had mine painted. I removed the red, white, and blue running pony from the center caps for the paint and then re-applied them after.

[Chrome_Rush]

That table sounds like a cool idea. I might do something like that with some spare wheels i have laying around. I would never drive on a wheel I knew had a crack though. I would run a misspatched wheel and tire or even the spare if need be. If that crack spreads and breaks hitting a pothole you could end up losing a fender. Shoot if your on the freeway you could probably flip the car if it happened right. Improbable, very. You could probably drive on that forever with no issue. I wouldn't take the chance if it were me though.

[MAD MIKE]

Powder-coating non-steel items can damage the parent material from the heat process. When an item is coated, it is heated to ~400°F to bake the coating on. Aluminum rims should probably not be heated much beyond 200°F.

IMO all your wheels are damaged in ways you cannot see. With powder-coating they will be harder to inspect for cracks.

Wheels are consumables, just like tires, brakes, fuel and oil. They may have a longer lifespan but they eventually need to be timed out.

You don't want to be this guy when coming up to a sea of red tail lights.

[Marz]

With the Powder coating technology today temperatures do not need to get up to 400 degrees.