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[lemansblau135is]

I recently purchased a set of used rims and while we were making the sale, I noticed a 1/2" hairline crack on the inner rear rim. I pointed it out to the seller and it seemed he never noticed it before. I was re-assured it was ok. Anyway, I bought the set and said I'll deal with it. I've seen other wheels welded and repaired, but is this safe? The next day while at the tire shop, they said they wouldn't mount a tire on a cracked/repaired rim without even seeing the wheel. Should I have it repaired or just buy another wheel?

[tracer bullet]

Either is fine, repair or another wheel. I wouldn't use it as is. Hope you got a good deal.

Repair involves, generally, drilling a small hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from getting longer, then welding the area to fill everything in and seal it up. Then getting it back down to the correct shape (machining it) so it doesn't stand out, then refinishing the wheel in whatever coating it came with - which in my experience is never as good as new.

I think the right answer depends on the wheel - how much a new one is, what you're using them for (show, daily, winter only, etc.)

[blue135]

Ran into the problem on another vehicle. The crack had been welded and worked well for about 3-4 years. No balance problems. Then needed new tires and shops would not mount tires on repaired wheel.

[ShocknAwe]

Have repaired cracks on wheels before, works fine. As with any trade, find a competent tradesman and you'll be fine.

Have the barrels refinished and tire shops wont be able to tell!

[lemansblau135is]

Thanks Guys. I'm leaning toward having it repaired and keeping it as spare and buying a new one. Unless anyone is looking for a slightly used Apex EC-7 18x8.5? JK

[tracer bullet]

Not a bad idea. Cost dependent of course. Some $ amount will make it an obvious choice to fix, another will make it an obvious choice to throw away (or recycle). You'll have to decide where those amounts are for you.

If it stays a spare you might consider skipping the finishing work and only paying for it if you end up using it. From that standpoint you might consider skipping it altogether and just putting it in say a garage attic as a backup in case something serious happens to one of the others that completely wrecks it, then pulling this one out to get worked on. Or you could refinish it, load up non-directional tires on them all, and having a set of 5 to rotate every so often Or, or, or... so many options.

One consideration too is regarding a tire shop having an issue putting a tire on a repaired wheel, as was mentioned earlier. I didn't encounter that on the 2 repaired wheels I had on my last car, but then again I went to a shop managed by a friend and so I may have been given a pass if it was a normal policy. If that's a normal thing, you may have to have the repair shop be the one to mount and balance, which could throw a wrench in the works as well.