I remember reading some time ago about stress cracking of the stock TR6
wheel. Basically, if used in competition the wheels have been known to
crack. Well, I haven't had the car on the track...Yet....But I noticed
several stress cracks around the lug holes radiating outwards. To make
this short, The left front wheel is fracturing. The others seem to be
fine. All four wheels came from a '69 car. I saved my '74 wheels for
originality purposes since I painted the wheels white. What I had read
is that is has been a practice to weld reinforcement plates to the
wheels to cure this ailment. I am considering a few factors...First,
take one of my '74 wheels and strip it, and paint it to match the
others. Since the others are fine, I'm thinking the failure of the one
wheel is due to age and possibly a flaw....Of course going back over
what I just stated...Age would be a factor for all the wheels...So a
failure is a possiblity with any and all of the '69 wheels. Taken
further....Maybe the driving style contributed to the demise....Which
would mean the 74's could follow... I find this hard to believe though
since I really only drive this car on the street. I may go to the
occasional autocross but believe me that's rare since I have another car
to use for that..... So do I reinforce all the wheels and go through
the hassle of dismounting, fabricating (machine shop) .....welding (more
than likely another shop) beadblasting, then repainting (me). I do like
my "Vintage race" look and am not really looking to substitute another
wheel for the stock steel. But this is starting to cross my mind. I
don't want to go with a Minilight type wheel simply because everyone
seems to to go for this wheel and I have a set for the TVR....So an
alternative would have to be found......I do have an image in mind
though.... So basically, Would the added weight and slightly altered
offset be worth it? I know only I can really answer that but any
insight would be great. Has anybody else had this problem happen? I'm
assuming someone has since I have seen the tech on the welding
precaution....Does anyone know where I can find that TSB? I checked on
the VTR.....But no luck. I'll check at home as well. By the way in any
instance I'm retaining the 15" wheel.
Chris Young
74TR6
76TVR
94BMW
93Ducati
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