MAJOR WHEEL REPAIR

Another wheel fix. This one is for a Lexus (I think). Anyhow this is a real process to get any near right. The other thing is it turned out more serious than originally thought. The crack had migrated further into the backside of the wheel than I first thought. We're going for it to fix it so it meant alot of filling and finishing. All done it took about 2.5 hours.

The crack is easily visiable, typical aluminum, the crack is longer than what you see here.aption

Tire side view of the crack. This is where the crack had become extended.on

By this time I ran a pass on the front side, went to do the back side and struck the arc only to expose a much longer crack. Stopped, had to V out the extended crack and clean again. This is where it's serious. Any longer and wheel strength integrity becomes a concern. I V'd it out as far as I could.

Ground the crack out, looking closely you can see the grudge in the crack. Need to get that crap out for a good strong weld. View from the tire side

Crack view from the back side.

Pre heat the wheel to about 300deg. Use a digital meter to measure temp.

When welding aluminum, cleanliness is absolutley crictical. To get no impurities in the weld preperation is extremely important. So nothing like using some HYDROFLUORIC ACID to get the impuities out. Be careful, this stuff will eat lots of things including your skin!!!

This is a first pass with filler rod. Tire side view, this is where the tire actually seals to the rim.

First pass back side view.

Close to finishing this wheel. This area needs to be very smooth for the tire to seal properly.

This is a second pass view. I filled and ground down a couple of times by this point. This was serious crack, thats the reason for a couple of passes.

I'm calling this good enough. The tire should seal properly.

I'm leaving the backside like this. Leave some filler on the crack to help with strength and weld integrity.