Any one had any experience with chrome wheels and was wondering what a new set should be worth?
A Local detroit shop has a set of 8 new ones that have been laying around for several years.
chrome?
they have been around for a while because nobody wants them...truckers want alum for wt and ease of maint.
Chrome cracks and peals......and the process has been known to damage the steel wheel causing premature failures
Quote from: tekebird on October 01, 2007, 11:59:15 AM
chrome?
they have been around for a while because nobody wants them...truckers want alum for wt and ease of maint.
Chrome cracks and peals......and the process has been known to damage the steel wheel causing premature failures
Doug has hit the nail on the head! (or in this case the spoted the crack in the wheel!)
Back when I was trucking I had 1 trailer that had chrome wheels on it when we bought it! Well it never failed taht anytime we took that trailer to CA and had to go thru an open scale, they'd pull the trk around back! While the driver would grap his paper work and go in the front of the scale house a DOT man would go out the back and check the wheels on the trailer very closely, then come back in and tell the scale master it was good to go! After putting up with this for about 2 yrs (different drivers and different CA scales), one day I was in another of my trks following my driver when they called him in. So I followed him around to the parking area and told him to go on in, mean while I waited in my trk until I saw the DOT man walk up and start looking over his wheels. I got out and mosied on over and was closely checking what the DOT man was checking, when he finally looked over his shoulder and asked "cna I help you?". I told him "yes I own that trailer, and have been wondering why outta 6 trailers why did that 1 always get called in fo inspection?" His reply was "the other 5 must not have chrome wheels." Well to be honest he had me there and I agreed with him. He then explained to me that the chroming process that it took to chrome the big wheels fatigued them so bad that under heavy loads (normal for a big trk, but heavy for chromed toys), it was quite common to cause them to crack, and that they were checking them for the public as well as the driver and ultimately my safety! When I asked how my safety, he said let one break and see how fast you end up in court defending a wrongful death suit!
SO YES, DOUG HAS SPOTTED THE CRACKS IN CHROME WHEELS! Now keep in mind conversion buses don't weigh as much as a tractor trailer, nor do they log near as many miles! But I won't ever have them on a vehicle again ! (I like aluminum better anyway!) FWIW ;D BK ;D
BK-actually buses weigh more than trucks. That's why most buses use either 12R-22.5 or 315/80R-22.5. Ever see a truck with those sized tires? Most passenger buses are WAY over weight wise compared to trucks. But most scales just don't care.
Suggest either use steel wheels with simulators, or aluminums. Accuride makes a 10 hole light weight steel wheel that looks almost exactly like an aluminum wheel, except it is painted. Would look good with the same color as bus with chrome lug nut covers and hub caps. Then no aluminum polishing. Good Luck, TomC
I always used painted steel wheels and never had a wheel problem. I was told when I bought my first bus that I should buy heavy steel wheels with 5 hand holes and not the light truck wheels with two hand holes. The five hand holes should give better brake drum cooling needed with 22.5" wheels and the heavy wheels are needed for the extra legal weight with 12" tires.
The RTS I just sold had 5-hole steel wheels on it. I thought they looked pretty good and had planned to powder coat them the same color that I was painting the bus. Of course, I would have liked aluminum better but sometimes it's all about budget.
If you check your steel wheels and the part number stamped in it has a "C" suffix it denotes a balanced wheel.
My wheels are 22.5 X 8.25, PN 27834 C, Accuride says that number is a "special bus application" and balanced.
Ed