[llninja]

After returning home from a quick jaunt to Chicagoland, I spent all of Sunday in bed recovering from 2 weeks of business travel. I got into the volt this morning and the message on the dash gave me a low tire warning. Since I was already late, I didn't attempt to fill the low tire and jumped into the CTS and took off to work.

Later inthe evening, I pulled the tire off the car, stuck one of my snow tires in its place, then began to search for the leak, first by visual inspection, then by spraying the rubber looking for bubbles. After 15 minutes of finding nada, I sprayed the rim and lo and behold, there was a hairline crack on the inner rim.

I'm thinking the rim is toast and for safety reasons I need to get a new one. But I'm wondering if it is repairable or whether I can get an inner tube?

 

[Lumos]

That looks lot more significant than what I'd call a hairline crack.

I've seen wheel shops repair pretty serious damage, I'd trust their opinion on if this if fixable not, but I wouldn't ride on it knowingly.

Lumos

 

[BAZINGA]

For safeties sake I'd buy a new wheel. Do you recall hitting a pothole or anything else recently.

I can't tell by the photo's are those the factory OEM wheels? If they are you may want to have your dealer look at it on the off chance it's a manufacturing defect.

 

[2VoltFamily]

Volt rims are extremely thin. When I changed out my rims with Caddy rims you could definitely see how thin they were.

 

[hellsop]

Volt rims are extremely thin. When I changed out my rims with Caddy rims you could definitely see how thin they were.

Pretty sure I remember that those aren't stock rims to begin with. Ninja rolls 18".

(WHY do I know this crap? I can't remember my own damned google password half the time...)

 

[emartin00]

Definitely not safe to drive on. A good shop may be able to repair it, but I have no idea what they'd charge. Probably looking for a new rim.

 

[2VoltFamily]

Pretty sure I remember that those aren't stock rims to begin with. Ninja rolls 18".

(WHY do I know this crap? I can't remember my own damned google password half the time...)

Now that you mentioned it, I recall that too. Maybe we could use his brand of wheels as a password.

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

I wouldn't recommend using that wheel anymore. That crack will almost certainly expand. Light driving may be ok, but highway speeds will definitely be risky.

 

[llninja]

There have been multiple times where I hit a certain train track and the car feels like I hit a concrete block, so I suspect one of those is what started the crack. I have since started taking a different route to avoid potentailly damaging my car, but I could see how a crack can grow over time. This tire never lost air until this weekend. Plus with lower profile tires, the wheels are getting more punishment than normal. I talked to a local tire place, they referred me to a place in Danville IL that does these types of repairs, but advised that it really is hit or miss. I also called the tire rack, and they also don't advise getting it repaired, but many people do. Most places charge $70-150 to repair a wheel, but a new one is only $118 ($134 with tax) and I have a tire place that will mount it very cheaply. I'm just getting a new wheel so I don't have to worry whether the repair holds.

Sadly, this was on the left side where the outside rim was pristine. My right side wheels are all scuffed up from when I loaned my car to my son, and he parked it too close to the curb at his house. It would have been nicer if the it was the passenger front that sprung the crack, then I'd kill two birds with one stone.

@Hellsop, the reason you remember my wheels, is that I probably repeat to newbs that I'm rolling on custom 18's over and over and over on this forum.

By the way, they are Sport Edition P4's. I don't blame Tire Rack or the wheel manufacturer. I've driven almost 40k miles on these wheels, and wheels and tires take all the punishment from our pothole-filled roads. If anything, we can blame the local, state, and federal government for making roads using the lowest bidder, thus requiring construction nearly every year. If we used the contractor that bid the highest quality, the bang for the buck would increase dramatically.

A trick of the trade, when they're done blacktopping, they clean their tools with diesel fuel. All they need to do is spill a little while cleaning and a few years later there will be a big pothole. It seems to be standard practice for job security.

 

[Qinsp]

That appears to be caused by cold shut. This is when the metal meets during the pour but does not bond. It is a common and dangerous flaw in cast wheels.

Reply to question? Never try to repair a defective casting for a critical component. Bad castings remain bad castings.

 

[llninja]

That appears to be caused by cold shut. This is when the metal meets during the pour but does not bond. It is a common and dangerous flaw in cast wheels.

Reply to question? Never try to repair a defective casting for a critical component. Bad castings remain bad castings.

Yup, took your advice and bought a brand new wheel. It should be there Thursday. This one is going to scrap metal recycling - unless someone can come up with a cool alternative use for it... maybe mount it on a wall and put clock hands on it?

It might be a case of you get what you pay for. I think I paid $128 apiece originally, now they are $118. But they look great. maybe if I paid double or triple that price per wheel, I'd probably have a higher quality product. I also need to be more careful driving as 18s have less rubber and forgiveness over potholes and sharp bumps. I've pretty much stopped driving up and down State and Randolph just south of Bradley ave. in Champaign, IL because of the scary BAM!!! sounds caused by hitting something in those train tracks.

 

[Mister Dave]

This one is going to scrap metal recycling - unless someone can come up with a cool alternative use for it... maybe mount it on a wall and put clock hands on it?

Someone just did come up with a cool alternative use for it.

 

[llninja]

Pretty sure I remember that those aren't stock rims to begin with. Ninja rolls 18".

(WHY do I know this crap? I can't remember my own damned google password half the time...)

To hijack my own thread, I do keep a spreadsheet with login names and hints for passwords - a few letters, numbers, and characters to remind me of the pattern but not enough to allow anyone who finds this file to be able to log in. If I run into something where a 3rd party gave me a funky weird password that isn;t memorable, and it i cannot change it, I do a keyboard shift (up, down, left, or right) and type the whole thing out encrypted with whatever shift pattern I chose. Again, if someone found the full password written down, it still doesn't work. I don't trust those password apps like 1Password because I have no idea whether they implemented some sort of back door. If I were writing a password storage app, it would be so tempting to add that back door to phone home. Then for the wife and kids (in case I die in a fiery crash), I have a printed copy of the spreadsheet in the safety deposit box with my handwritten full password next to it along with the will, life insurance policies, and other account information. Be sure to tell your family member where the important stuff is, otherwise they'all be in the back yard digging everything up trying to figure out where you buried the stuff.

 

[llninja]

Someone just did come up with a cool alternative use for it.

My garage doesn't have a clock anyway. So add color changing LED lights behind it with big battery pack and a motion sensor and we've got a winner.

 

[llninja]

Plus, if it rains tomorrow where I won't be able to mow, I might take this opportunity to dip the wheels white. As some forum member mentioned in a previous thread, I should angel out the car (as opposed to murder out). The wheels and lower rockers would be a good first and second step.

 

[llninja]

Volt rims are extremely thin. When I changed out my rims with Caddy rims you could definitely see how thin they were.

My caddy rims on on my caddy CTS.

 

[llninja]

For safeties sake I'd buy a new wheel. Do you recall hitting a pothole or anything else recently.

I can't tell by the photo's are those the factory OEM wheels? If they are you may want to have your dealer look at it on the off chance it's a manufacturing defect.

My dealership told me to pound sand when I came to them years go complaining that they gave me a car with 3 tires of one type and one of another. I'm never setting foot in that dealership ever again. I drive my volt q8 miles to the next nearest dealership where Paula takes very good care of me.

 

[wws]

Yup, took your advice and bought a brand new wheel. It should be there Thursday. This one is going to scrap metal recycling - unless someone can come up with a cool alternative use for it... maybe mount it on a wall and put clock hands on it?

One of the repair shops I use has an old wheel mounted on an outside wall with an air hose wrapped around it. I've been thinking of doing the same, but for my EVSE cable.

I am always a little suspicious of aftermarket wheels. They are often heavier than factory wheels, leading to poorer performance. Also, unless words like "forged" and "TUV approved" are involved, one has to worry a bit about quality.

 

[hellsop]

Yup, took your advice and bought a brand new wheel. It should be there Thursday. This one is going to scrap metal recycling - unless someone can come up with a cool alternative use for it... maybe mount it on a wall and put clock hands on it?

Plate glass to make an end table out of it?

 

[Taser54]

Use it on a street parked volt as a jackstand when you get a new wheel and tire.