GTA Replica Wheels.

[GTV-074]

Hi All,

Just reading through the latest issue of C & S, I noticed a photo of a damaged wheel at the recent Winton 6hr Race. It was a NSW driver and he had the centre of his GTA replica wheel let go (basically for those who have not seen the photo, the centre section where the 4 mounting holes are, has broken away). Story says that when the other 3 were checked they all showed signs of cracking.

As so many readers here have these rims fitted, can anyone shed any light on what may have happened as I think it may be of some interest!

I mean were these used heavily for racing, were they an 'early set' etc. The fact all 4 have issues is a bit disconcerting to say the least.

Cheers.

[andrewi]

Hi I thought I had better put what facts are known out there (several people have emailed about the subject), so everyone has the same starting point.

It was my wheel that broke.  It was a set of 14 by 6 Alfaholic GTA alloy replica wheels, not to be confused with the 15 by 7's etc they sell as well, or the Classic Alfa wheels..  One wheel broke and another had a crack, the other two where fine by my examination after.  I shave shipped the cracked wheel back for Alfaholics to examine to see what can be learned.

Alfaholics have replaced this set of wheels with a new set of their 15 by 7's, it is what they more commonly have fun on in Europe (better tyre selection etc).  Boy do they have fun - have you seen the Nurburgring video!   Max Banks was onto it promptly and is a keen as anyone to resolve this.  I received them about a week after first bringing this issue up with them.  I have always found the Alfaholics team to be very responsive with all the products I have bought, have been very happy with mostly.  Yes I am a big fan of their products generally.  I'm a big fan of many Alfa product sites eg Classic Alfa, Highwood, Centreline Alfa and Paul Spruell if we are going to start dropping names etc

After examining the the failed wheel, it appears this one cracked well before failing (different colours in the metal).  So if you have any concerns about your wheels, a examination for cracks should ease your mind.   If you have further queries, I would direct them to Alfaholics.  As far as I'm aware, they know of only one previous failure of a wheel and that had had a hard life with some big bumps.  If anyone is aware of otherwise that would also be good to know.

I have had the Alfaholics 14 by 6's for about 3 years (without checking my records - shooting from memory here which is not great these days).  They have had my track tyres on for the most part - R specs.   First about 2 sets of Bridgestone RE-55s and when you couldn't get them about 2 sets of Dunlop DZ03G's, about 6 events a year for the past 3 years roughly, has been the use - mostly Supersprints, AROCA 6 hrs and my first 2 VRA races this year.  I know over fifty and finally not a race virgin anymore (competing that is, still long way to go for winning!) .   Only have had two spins in that three years - I know - not trying hard enough!!!!  Generally when driven on road (Car has rego and engineering certs for half roll cage and race seats/harness etc it is a 74 GTV 2000) has been on the Momo Vega replica's from Highwood Alfa in UK as well.

If there is one thing I have learnt, it is I will be examining all my wheels more carefully from now on, when you have the wheels off doing those other service activities.

As they say about life in general  - your mileage may vary!

PS While a NSW AROCA member, I live in the ACT, Canberra - Yes I think it is the best city - but I do so love my visits to Sydney (SMSP and Rob Panetta) and Melbourne (Home of Vin Sharp and Philip Island - Yeah!)

[andrewi]

Also there was a happy ending to this story.

After breaking the wheel rim on Saturday Qualifying for the AROCA 6 hr event in October, a local Benalla competitor Nick Talyor from Team AFRICA (our teams where sharing a garage) lent me a set of beautiful campagnolo rims, he has saved for a spider!   Virtually no damage to the car, aside from some small panel damage where the tyre rolled the guard out.  Brakes and suspension fine.  The brake shield had to be adjusted.  Luckly the centre hub seem to stay in the rim keeping the disk of the track till I was off the track and on the dirt - it was a warm up lap and was last hairpin before the old back straight there at Winton.

Sunday the car ran faultlessly - not the that the driver could say the same.  Evidently my brother described my driving as gentlemanly - I kept waving all the other drivers thru!

A big Thank you to Neil Choi and the Vic AROCA team and all who helped organise the AROCA 6 Hr at Winton.

andrew.

[GTV-074]

Andrew,

Glad to hear everything worked out OK in the end and thanks for the background story. As they say 'racing improves the breed'. Hopefully the boys at Alfaholics will find something to explain the failure. I guess the moral of the story is for all of us to have a close look at them just in case.

I have a set of the Cromodora Star replica wheels and they replaced a set of 'originals' that had seen better days and without them being crack tested I just didn't feel safe using them. We are so lucky that there is lots of good gear being made for our cars these days and the wheels are no exception.

For anyone who drives their car hard (or soft!) and has a set on (and a few years old) it might be worth giving them the once over.

Cheers.