Wheel Warning

[V AR 164]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd post up a small discussion regarding wheel choices on Alfas and trying to convince you if you are looking at aftermarket wheels if it is worth it or not.

So on my 164Q I am running 17' wheels from the later model 156's. Recently I have been experiencing a rough ride at speeds around 100km/h. Well I had the car up on jack stands yesterday for some work under it, I started it in 1st and watched as the front wheels spun in the air.

To my surprise, both front wheels have been significantly buckled resulting in imbalanced wheels.

Now I know that these wheels have a reputation for buckling, but I am surprised that mine have buckled as I drive the car very carefully and have never really hit any big potholes.

So just be cautious guys when upgrading the wheels on your cars, sometimes its not worth the headaches!

Cheers, Andrew.

[poohbah]

Andrew its an absolutely common issue with Alfa factory alloys, due to them being relatively soft (which is still better than brittle and cracking...)

100kph is exactly the speed the teledials on my first 156 had a shudder due to minor buckling.

But if they just need re-rolling its not a huge expense. I paid $90 for an alloy on my current 156 to be repaired.

[philpot]

Hi Andrew,

It's no biggy to rectify. The rear Selespeed 16's on my '98 156 when I got it three years ago were found to be out of round when I took it for  it's RWC.  Sent them off to Neway in Heidleberg to be re-rolled, problem fixed. 

The 'JTS' 17's with a much less sidewall bag are quite prone to out of round. As Poohbah says, better to bend than break...

Think you may have more than one spare rim to put on in the meantime!

PS:  This has been a great post of you and your 164's. Damn shame Photobucket has 'kidnapped' the photos. Keep up the enthusiasm, and roll with the soon to be back-in-round, punches!

Cheers,Phil

http://www.newaywheelrepairs.com.au/

[V AR 164]

Thanks for the info guys 

I will give Neway a ring and see what they can do.

Thanks for the kind post Phil, yes a big shame but I plan to fix it sometime in the future when I have some more time.

Thanks! Andrew.

[Citroënbender]

I've had non-OEM 17" wheels crack from potholes in a Sydney driven car. Best thing I ever did was go back to original 15" rims on that one; only a marginal loss of dry grip but so much smoother! 

[poohbah]

that's an interesting observation CB. I've had 16" factory alloys which buckled, but an aftermarket 17" alloy which cracked.

[kaleuclint]

I think "Fondmetal" is Bergamese dialect for world's softest alloy.

[Citroënbender]

Is it a compound word, made from "fondue" + "metal"?