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Weld a cracked rim or replace? 03 2.7t
Took my car to the local tire shop after having to fill it up several times over the course of a week. Was told the seal was bad and they "fixed" the rim and it should hold air. Few days later tire was almost flat again.
Took back to same place and said they found a very small crack by the seal. My local "Car guy" said he could have a friend Tig weld it for me while an old friend who is a professional construction welder said not a good idea. The rims are stock with the 2.7t. Can be seen here: http://www.wheelcollision.com/audi6a.htm Part #H 58764 Thought about replacing all the rims any way as the previous owner like to grind them on the curbs. Also thought about having them refinished but haven't checked costs. Other Idea I had was to call the local scrap yards and try to locate a replacement. Never bought rims before. Read about these and from what I can tell options are limited because of the brakes. Should I just invest in a new set all round? or Repair the cracked one? |
its cheaper to find new rims, sometimes you can find really good deals on Craigslist and eBay if you just look around.
but always make sure the offsets are corrects. one time i bought Audi TT rims but it turned out there offset was like 110 not 112 or something and they would not fit my Audi 100...but they fit my Chevy cavalier which was a plus I guess the ones in the picture on the left of my Sig was a Craigslist buy, I got them for 400 dollars(all 4) which was cheaper than having rims refinished 150 a piece. |
Originally Posted by DigitalStone
(Post 24258463)
Took my car to the local tire shop after having to fill it up several times over the course of a week. Was told the seal was bad and they "fixed" the rim and it should hold air. Few days later tire was almost flat again.
Took back to same place and said they found a very small crack by the seal. My local "Car guy" said he could have a friend Tig weld it for me while an old friend who is a professional construction welder said not a good idea. The rims are stock with the 2.7t. Can be seen here: http://www.wheelcollision.com/audi6a.htm Part #H 58764 Thought about replacing all the rims any way as the previous owner like to grind them on the curbs. Also thought about having them refinished but haven't checked costs. Other Idea I had was to call the local scrap yards and try to locate a replacement. Never bought rims before. Read about these and from what I can tell options are limited because of the brakes. Should I just invest in a new set all round? or Repair the cracked one? |
Originally Posted by DigitalStone
(Post 24258463)
Took my car to the local tire shop after having to fill it up several times over the course of a week. Was told the seal was bad and they "fixed" the rim and it should hold air. Few days later tire was almost flat again.
Took back to same place and said they found a very small crack by the seal. My local "Car guy" said he could have a friend Tig weld it for me while an old friend who is a professional construction welder said not a good idea. The rims are stock with the 2.7t. Can be seen here: http://www.wheelcollision.com/audi6a.htm Part #H 58764 Thought about replacing all the rims any way as the previous owner like to grind them on the curbs. Also thought about having them refinished but haven't checked costs. Other Idea I had was to call the local scrap yards and try to locate a replacement. Never bought rims before. Read about these and from what I can tell options are limited because of the brakes. Should I just invest in a new set all round? or Repair the cracked one? |
One more vote for replacing instead of repairing.
I repaired the same rim twice for bends... Should have dumped it initially. Took 2 tries to realize once it's cracked/bent, they're garbage. |
Welding is a bad idea for several reasons...
...the weld metal will probably not bond well with the alloy the wheels are made of, and the heating will change the properties of that portion of the wheel. Do you really want to mess with the strength/balance of such a critical rotating part?
Plus, as previously pointed out, they are easy to find in Junk Yards and on e-bay. Or use it as an excuse to get some slick new ones... Jim |
Originally Posted by eejimm
(Post 24258978)
...the weld metal will probably not bond well with the alloy the wheels are made of, and the heating will change the properties of that portion of the wheel. Do you really want to mess with the strength/balance of such a critical rotating part?
Plus, as previously pointed out, they are easy to find in Junk Yards and on e-bay. Or use it as an excuse to get some slick new ones... Jim Was kinda hoping since it was a small crack it would be an easy fix. Can see how it would be a problem later. Did plan on upgrading the calipers and brakes. Dont have alot of time to do the research on it. Know they take into account with rims and offsets. Just get a cheap doughnut for the trunk until I get everything sorted. |
Yeah, the problem with welding on any type of Aluminum alloy is that you have to pre-heat the metal to get the weld to flow/spray properly, but the metal spreads the heat so much it's very difficult to get it right. And then you need to anneal the piece to get it back to the right strength and hardness. Almost impossible to do outside of a factory environment.
Most truly custom rims are CNC machined from a solid chunk of metal for just this reason... Jim |
I say it depends. I've had a dozen repaired; unles the wheel only costs $125 or less to begin with, try to have it repaired.
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I have welded more aluminum rims than I care to remember. They weld just like any other aluminum casting. 4043 filler, no preheat, cover with cardboard for a slow cool. I have never had one come back. With that being said, I would NEVER use one on my personal car.
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