I have these ET uni lug wheels that a friend gave me years ago. I never really looked at them closely until now, but I'm getting close to having the truck on the road. With all the discussion on these early styles of wheels, I got to examining mine a little more closely. I knew the one had some impact damage, but I didn't see the other fine cracks. Turns out, there are a few more cracks here and there. Is this damage from mounting? You can see that they appear to have been repaired some time in the past, then sanded down. I thought I would try to find one to match the one on the other side, but upon closer examination they are both junk. Both have been repaired. Both have hairline cracks that haven't been repaired. I'm wondering if this is from a mounting machine with an inept operator, or just impact damage from a curb or pothole or railroad track perhaps.
Is that a steel rimmed wheel, with an aluminum center welded in? If so, those cracks on the outer aluminum face are mostly just cosmetic. But, truth be told they are just cheap wheels and not worth risking anything on.
Pitch them or use them for hose hanger. Those wheels are all about looks not performance. I use steel wheels on everything. If your car has a Chevy bolt pattern, check out a set of Kelsey Hays Z-28 spoked Rally wheels. When the spokes are sprayed flat black or dark Grey with the rim painted aluminum or use a set of rings. They look great and they are real strong.
I think that those are the same set of wheels I had on my Toyota pickup ages ago. I was scared to run them then.
Most good tire busters would have installed or removed the tires from the back side of that wheel. Back in my tire store and front and brake days most of the broken "Mag" wheels I saw either had clobbered a curb or pothole or other object. Tire installation was usually a broken center. That coming from being put on a tire machine that wasn't designed to handle that style of wheel or put on wrong.
If tires were installed using an old Coates 10/10 or 20/20 it would have peeled the lips of the rim over the tire and cracked them that way. It looks like impact damage.
Am I the only one who has a hard time with this image? Where's the depth...the step in the rim? Or is that of a rim that's different from the others shown in the other pictures? Cause those show a step that has depth. Maybe it's my eye's?
Why risk anything with the wheels, hose hangers! I had 3 centers on spokes steel wheels come apart going down the freeway and they had only been on 1 day! Not worth the risk.
These would make a nice table for your man cave. Use one for a base and one for a top spaced by a piece of tubing in the centers. Top with Plate glass. @Moriarity would be proud.
Yep, it's your eyes. Go back and look at the first pic, you can see the step in it. Camera angle is off on the second pic.
. Motocross victim? Ever tell ya about the time I cracked the frame, bent a rear axle and blew apart the front stabilizer bolts? On dad's 65 Chevelle SW? I know I didn't tell him. Poor guy couldn't figure it out. The Chevy dealer ( since the car was less than a month old ) took care of the axle / suspension. The frame took a while to be evident. Carlson's alignment, on The Boulevard, remedied that. ( just rear of engine mounts ) Those rim cracks may have developed over time. Caused by pothole dancing
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