How serious is a cracked rim?

[PEZBerq]

Interested in peoples thoughts on this......

How serious are cracked rims and what is the priority during a restoration to repair/replace a rim that has a crack? Does anyone have a tale of woe because of a cracked rear rim - rather than say loose or broken spokes? What happened...did the rim just flat spot  :oor or did the wheel collapse :'( :'(  Was there much pain involved

Is a cracked rim a scrutineering cause for rejection..assuming it is detected?  Is a cracked front rim a bigger danger than a rear rim?

[oldfart]

I have just had a cracked rim TIG welded up last week ...went to all the trouble of removing the spokes ( thought I was doing the right thing ) had to take it back home put all the spokes back and tension up 

Informs me the wheel will distort too much .

You can hardly tell it's been repaired - still runs true - no flat spots      $25-00

 

[mainline]

or a secondhand rim from the wreckers (if you can find them of course) $50 each for the last two I bought.

[PERM250]

hey oldfart where did you get it welded ? and does he do a good job.

[mboddy]

Hey that sounds good.
I have a great wheel but the rim is cracked and so I thought I'd have to throw it away.
Can anyone TIG weld it or is there some skill involved?

[PEZBerq]

Why try to fix it at all?  Anyone ever hear of someone getting hurt or damaging their bike as a result of dirt riding using a cracked rim - knowingly or unknowlingly?

FYI I was told by a wheel respoking mob today in Albion that they will refuse to re-anodise any rims older than 7 years.  They reckon they are too likely to crack.

[Nathan S]

I've had a few bikes with cracked rims (stupid mid~late 1970s DIDs...). Always stress me out, and I always end up replacing/fixing them, but the cracks never seem to get worse from one ride to another.

Actually, one rim had a few cracks which I marked. Several events later, the original cracks hadn't grown, but several new cracks had developed...

[bigk]

We get them welded all the time, clean them up, polish and some times anodise them. They look great and have never caused a problem.
Cheers,
K

[oldfart]

Slacks Creek  - Hiley street - same side as Motorama Holden .

[Doc]

PEZBerq, to answer your question in part..I have never witnessed a known cracked wheel collapse nor have I heard of anyone being injured from such. Someone would have during the course of history no doubt. It stands to reason that anyone with a cracked rim should not go jumping buses but I can't say I've had any wheel collapse cracked or uncracked. Self preservation says ride it 6 to 7 tenths since you know about it. There would be a whole heap of undetected cracked rims in use as we speak but rarely (personally ..never)do you hear of them killing someone on a dirtbike

[PEZBerq]

Doc
That's what I figured would be the case too but wanted to get others experience.  I'll just monitor the crack and see if it grows much.  I reckon I'm not risking my neck and I certainly wont be jumping buses or doing 100km/hr + at Finke or anything! Vintage bikes and vintage bodies mean sensible speeds   Currently I'm getting the wheels respoked due to badly corroded spokes.  If it needs welding one day I'll get it done with the wheel fully spoked to stop distortion.

[Doc]

' Doc disclaimer' if the opportunity arrises I'd be inclined to say the sooner the better for the weld as the crack will get bigger maybe getting to a point where it may not longer be weldable. If the wheels are apart now wouldn't it be easier to find another rim and end the problem before it arrises?

[Pete Hoey]

You have to remember that there are an average of 36 spokes holding the rim together on the inside and a tyre on the outside. So long as the wheel is in good nic(ie spokes not lose) it should be ok.
 I raced my sidecar for several seasons with a crackered rear rim and never had a problem.

[vandy010]

when i dismantled this rim from my MX250 front wheel it appeared to only have a slight crack at the weld seam.
this is how i found it a couple of weeks later.

[Hoony]

How Serious is a cracked RIM ?

How serious is your well being.
How much insurance would you like to keep you out of hospital, for me i don't trust them .