Warning ! See what happened!!!

This is the picture of my Fairmont Futura´s right frontwheel.It is a Weld Racing Pro Star 6 x 15, bought& fitted new 1993 and driven approximately 8000 miles. Only taken to 2 mile asphalt course once 7 years ago.4 years ago damaged very slighty when car got out of control/sideways at abt 20 mph.Other than that nothing except normal street driving.
All the 5 spokes are in the same condition as this one and the metal has also fractured same way in all 5 outer spoke/rim intersections like in the picture. I figure the wheel would have given up totally within the next 20 miles or so.
I felt my car´s handling was not ok this summer, it felt very unstable and also there was vibration in the steering wheel.
A friend of mile noticed that the wheel is wobbling quite much on the highway, and when I explored it I found out this.
In Pro Star aluminum wheels there is a metal " spacer" between the inner and outer parts of the wheels.I realize now this metal part had made like "tickling" noise for quite a while already in the wheel:Lately the sound got worse and worse but when I took the brake rotor /wheel/ stuff apart for inspection I did see nothing unusual in any part, including the wheel.That was 2 weeks ago.Needless to say anything about driving speeds/habits now...Just this: if you hear/feel anything unusual in your car , drive it very carefully until the reason is found.

[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]
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Scary! [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Feel fortunate that you found it before it took you out.

Good catch. [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]
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Holy moly! That's scary.

I guess that's why Weld makes the statement that those wheels arent designed for road racing or harsh lateral loads.
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Your very fortunate... hhhmmmm.... now wheres that JB weld epoxy at????[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]

Glad you caught it before it caught you! I run those as well. I had an '69 SS396 with Cragar Super Trick wheels on it. Got a loud "THUMP" one day & went home. Pulling in the driveway the center ripped out [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] No fun at all.
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I will forever be watching my stars from now on.Thanks for posting that[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_tup.gif[/img]
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you just helped narrow down my new wheel choices.

Good thing you caught that, Ville.I suspect it was caused by some spirited corner carving.I better check the Pro Stars on my Falcon. They have a warning "For Drag Racing Only".

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'58 Morris Minor 289 S/S MM
'62 Falcon 351W "Just Falcon Around"

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Just Jim on 6/19/03 11:15am ]</font>

These wheels have a Street Legal status ( that text actually appears in the wheels).
On the other hand for example Summit Racing catalog states" Not for use in road,sports,solo or autocross racing".
I think these wheels are best suited for dragracing.I already did replace my rear ones 2 years ago since they had gone out of straigness( realized this in wheel balancing machine, both wheel wobbled sideways by max 1/4". I am still using those replaced wheels though, with my 26 x 15 ET Streets.They work ok at the strip without any vibration.
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