Leaking OEM steelie - WTF? (1 Viewer)

[canman]

Good news is that the areas I welded are not leaking. The bad news is that it is still leaking about an inch further away from where my weld ended. After grinding away some more of the paint on the inside of the rim, he discovered a stress crack! Not good! I’ll be gringing out of the metal around the stress crack on the inside and adding a bead to fill it back in. I’ll also continue the bead I lead previously on the outside. What a cluster. Really disappointed with Toyota. FWIW, I had my Hobart 220V welder set on its highest setting (175A) to lay that 3” bead, and it never cooked the paint on the other side. I would also suggest that @greentruck get his rim(s) checked out for any stress cracks ASAP.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Sucks about the cracking. How old are the wheels?

 

[canman]

I’m guessing about 10 yrs old. Frig, my 40 plus year old IH rims are in better shape! Lol!

 

[greentruck]

I would also suggest that @greentruck get his rim(s) checked out for any stress cracks ASAP.

I'll think about that. Keep in mind these are different wheels. No signs at all of stress cracking here. I suspect it's porosity in the weld that is the issue, at least with the two rims that the Loctite fixed of minor leaks. The two that the Loctite didn't completely fix? Maybe, but they're on a 1/4 ton trailer so there will be little stress (vs mounted ion an 80) in their future, even assuming it's an issue.

 

[canman]

I'm a little confused as the pic of the Toyota PN on my rim I posted is the same as listed in the link you sent. How did you ultimately fix your rim? if the stress cracks on the rims started off on your trailer, then I would guess that they will just get bigger over time. Even a tire at 30 psi will be ticking time bomb if the rim decides to let go. started on your

 

[greentruck]

I'm a little confused as the pic of the Toyota PN on my rim I posted is the same as listed in the link you sent. How did you ultimately fix your rim? if the stress cracks on the rims started off on your trailer, then I would guess that they will just get bigger over time. Even a tire at 30 psi will be ticking time bomb if the rim decides to let go. started on your

Hmm, now that you mention it, the PN is the same. I was going by the close-up shots that look like the web between the openings looked wider between the holes than what I have. Do you have a full shot of the wheel I could see to help resolve whether we're actually on the same page as mine?

The rims started on the truck when I replaced the original crusty alloy wheels 10 years back. The alloys were bumped to the trailer, then after the recent leak issues, I pushed the two that didn't quite seal completely back to the trailer, displaced the alloys that were on it. So they were on the 80 when these issues appeared, not the trailer.

I'm still not too uptight about this. Even presuming there are cracks, they don't seem to be prone to sudden catastrophic failure, rather simply starting to leak. That will lead to them coming off if it worsens. In fact, the leaks seems to have mitigated since the original Loctite repairs, which suggests that there's not a growing crack or anything like that on mine.

 

[matzell]

I have to ask, what vehicle are the wheels for? What is the weight rating on them and how much does you rig weigh? I see this a lot on larger trucks that have wheels not rated for their 1 ton work truck, but they look cool!

 

[canman]

Here’s a pic of the wheel. For @greentruck, if your rims developed cracks on your truck, you’re probably right about being fine on your trailer. For @matzell, the rims are off my LX450. Haven’t used my truck much at all over the last 5 yrs, and no rock crawling. Truck is pretty much stk except dual batteries, ARB front bumper with winch, and recently added Slee rear bumper with tire carrier. Tires are Toyo Open Country MTs 315. Wonder if the rear bumper and added weight might be to blame. Tire had been cometely flat several times lately, but I can’t imagine resting on the rim would be an issue on gravel. Going back at her now.

[edit]: of course, I just ran out of 0.035” wire, but have a 10 lb spool of 0.023” wire! Lol!

 

[greentruck]

Here’s a pic of the wheel. For @greentruck, if your rims developed cracks on your truck, you’re probably right about being fine on your trailer.

Might be the same wheel. Mine looks like the holes are larger and the webs between smaller. Maybe it's just the angle or that yours are somewhat grungier that's throwing me off.

I had some PM correspondence with an engineer who indicated that there were some issues with the painting process that might have contributed to this issue. The paint is applied electrostatically, but the pigment may not have been fine enough or something similar. Then when the paint molecules were crowding together, the coarser grind caused them to bridge and not fully seal the micropores in the weld they are supposed to mitigate.

The Loctite 290 obviates the porosity by filling these gaps that the paint failed to do.

 

[canman]

Pics of the finished welds. Not pretty, but I didn’t have a good ground initially, and had the settings screwed up. Hope it holds. Will drop it off back at the garage shortly.

Another pic of the stress crack.

Stress crack area ground out.

Stress crack welded.

Extented bead on the joint from the other side.

 

[canman]

Bad news folks. The bastard is still leaking. I’m at a total loss. Not sure what to do next.

 

[BILT4ME]

aS

Bad news folks. The bastard is still leaking. I’m at a total loss. Not sure what to do next.

As you weld it, you will chase the crack around the wheel. The heat from welding will cause the crack to propagate. The only way to stop a crack is to drill a sizeable hole at the end of the crack, then you weld to it.

However, if you are welding on a wheel, you are introducing more Heat Affected Zone areas and without preheating and post cooling, you're going to end up with a wheel that I would NOT want on my vehicle at 60 MPH.

Either do it right or don't do it at all. Welding a wheel isn't just slapping some wire on it and calling it good. You are messing with the structural integrity of a rotational cyclic piece of equipment.

Junk it and get a new one.

 

[canman]

I think you’re right. No point doing what I’ve been doing as it hasn’t solved the problem. Going to swap the tire onto my spare rim as the spare tire tread is bigger than the tire that was on the buggered rim. Going to have to get another. Going to check with the Toyota/Lexus dealer where I purchased them to see if they might offer some type of warranty. Haha!