Date:         Fri, 16 Apr 1999 03:49:34 PDT
Reply-To:     vwvanman@EXCITE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Lilley <vwvanman@EXCITE.COM>
Subject:      Warning about machining steel pasat rims cracking!
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-Type: text/plain

To those who are thinking about or have the pasat steel rims:

I just got back from a local machinist that would NOT machine the rims.  He
told me that he "Would not touch the rims to machine it because it would be
unsafe."

 He told me that if the center flange is machined away, allowing it to fit
on the vanagon hub, that the rim to flex and crack.

He raced cars in the past. He used rims with machined out centers and they
suffered from cracking.  He took them to an engineer and was told that the
center prevented the flexing and with it removed allow the rim to flex and
fail.

I now also wonder about the alloy rims that are machined out to be made to
fit, are they as safe also?

Well, for me, I have decided to use ONLY rims designed for  the vanagon's
weight, bolt pattern and off set.

  While a rim can be made to fit, is it as structurally sound and safe?

Robert




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