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Has anyone ever cracked a rim like the picture above. Was driving around 70mph and hit a 4x4 cracking front and rear driver rims, I'm more concerned about what other damage may have been done, has anyone seen this type of damage before?
Thats extreme rim damage. Never seen that before even on cheap aftermarket rims. Was this an OEM rim?
Yes, this was on OEM rim, it was actually my daughters boyfriend that was driving, this was the piece of wood that was apparently hit. No idea how that would damage the wheel so badly. I havent been able to inspect the car yet but not sure what other damage there could be.
Not exactly like that. But back in the mid 90's I was driving a Volvo 960 4 door sedan in S. Florida on I95 daytime and a pice of 4X4 about 2feet long was scooting across the interstate and I was going about 65mph and with heavy traffic formation and I hit it with passenger rear tire. Made s very loud noise. The wheel edge which was OEM got "indented" beyond repair. The tire blew out at the side wall. I did not want to claim insurance. So I paid dearly out of pocket.
Fast forward to around 2013...... I was driving around in a construction zone going about 45mph at night. There was a metal rebar of some sort in the middle of the road. Cars in front of me had hit it and it started to scoot across the highway. I hit it with driver's rear tire. Something......blew out my MB SLK55 AMG hardtop convertible tire and wheel. Similar damage as in my Volvo above. This time I had the MB extended warranty including tire and wheel package so I got brand new wheel and tire for $100 deductible. Otherwise it was like around $2500 for that one tire/wheel.
Both of the above case, the wheels NEVER cracked like yours. The "integrity" of the wheel held together. Just severe "indentation" at the wheel edge where the contact was made that caused the damage. I was able to coast in a controlled manner to the road shoulder and stop. Yours are WAY MORE DANGEROUS bc the whole wheel split and cracked. That's a "CATASTROPHIC FAILURE" which you will totally loose control of the car due to total collapse of the wheel. This will happen in literally in seconds where in my case I had a bit more time to bring my car to a stop safely
I wonder if your wheel was really OEM? DID you buy the car brand new?
Originally Posted by Scotty765
Has anyone ever cracked a rim like the picture above. Was driving around 70mph and hit a 4x4 cracking front and rear driver rims, I'm more concerned about what other damage may have been done, has anyone seen this type of damage before?
The car was bought used with around 12000 miles on it, the previous owner had purchased it new from the dealership I bought it from with the f sport package installed, I have no reason to believe they were aftermarket wheels. When your wheel was damaged was there any other damage to the vehicle? I will probably take it to the dealer for inspection but knowing dealers they will automatically tell you everything is compromised and want to fix it.
A wheel is supposed to crack like that. He hit a 4x4.
Modern wheels are designed not only to be light, but to break apart upon an impact as an overall energy absorbing package. If that wheel didn't break, something suspension-related may have, including the body of the car or its passengers. That energy has to go somewhere.
A wooden piece of 4x4 is a pretty big f'ing deal.
Completely normal, completely acceptable, and completely desireable. Engineered w/ purpose on purpose.
No other damages as inspected by the Volvo and MB dealerships for my two separate incidents. I kept both cars for several years after the incident without any problems
Originally Posted by Scotty765
The car was bought used with around 12000 miles on it, the previous owner had purchased it new from the dealership I bought it from with the f sport package installed, I have no reason to believe they were aftermarket wheels. When your wheel was damaged was there any other damage to the vehicle? I will probably take it to the dealer for inspection but knowing dealers they will automatically tell you everything is compromised and want to fix it.
Car components are a different beast today. Wheels are lighter for efficiency and they're also (as i said above) designed to break apart. The wheels of today's cars are designed as part of the car's crash structure.
Cannot compare a 90s car with heavy dense wheels with modern wheels. If your car today had 90s wheels on it, it would get less fuel economy, the wheels would intrude into the cabin on impact, and they'd also dull your steering and handling response. Lose/lose/lose.
But my MB SLK55 AMG hardtop convertible was a 2008.
None of these "older designs cracked/split".
Times have changed with newer designs.
Originally Posted by E46CT
Car components are a different beast today. Wheels are lighter for efficiency and they're also (as i said above) designed to break apart. The wheels of today's cars are designed as part of the car's crash structure.
Cannot compare a 90s car with heavy dense wheels with modern wheels. If your car today had 90s wheels on it, it would get less fuel economy, the wheels would intrude into the cabin on impact, and they'd also dull your steering and handling response. Lose/lose/lose.
^I wouldn't wear that as a badge of honor. You want your wheels to crack and split upon impact. A big problem just as recently as 5 years ago was car wheels were too strong and they were basically coming into the car upon impact/crash and chopping the drivers legs off.
In fact some super cars, like the ZR1 Corvette, their wheels are known to crack and split just under really heavy track use.Yep just from going fast and turning--not even hitting anything. That's how close to the bleeding edge some wheels are made. You won't see that on a typical street car as usually they have more durability built into them on purpose, but for specialty cars where every ounce counts, you'd be surprised how little it takes for them to crack.
Here's a car (BMW 5) where you see the wheel split apart so it doesn't intrude into the lower rocker/hinge pillar, also part of the energy absorbing package working in conjunction with the chassis. In other words, it breaks so you don't =)
And here's a 2IS where the wheel forced its way in.. (too strong) Same exact test for both cars.
Yes, new designs is to collapse upon impact to save the driver and passengers.
Originally Posted by E46CT
^I wouldn't wear that as a badge of honor. You want your wheels to crack and split upon impact. A big problem just as recently as 5 years ago was car wheels were too strong and they were basically coming into the car upon impact/crash and chopping the drivers legs off.
In fact some super cars, like the ZR1 Corvette, their wheels are known to crack and split just under really heavy track use.Yep just from going fast and turning--not even hitting anything. That's how close to the bleeding edge some wheels are made. You won't see that on a typical street car as usually they have more durability built into them on purpose, but for specialty cars where every ounce counts, you'd be surprised how little it takes for them to crack.
Here's a car (BMW 5) where you see the wheel split apart so it doesn't intrude into the lower rocker/hinge pillar, also part of the energy absorbing package working in conjunction with the chassis. In other words, it breaks so you don't =)
And here's a 2IS where the wheel forced its way in.. (too strong) Same exact test for both cars.