How did the term "mag" come to be for rims?

Magnesium

 

Are you asking something or...?

 

Large chunks of magnesium can and do catch fire....I was working for VWOA in the '70s when a large VW, Porsche and Audi parts distribution center in San Antonio caught fire. The building was full of engine cases and trans housings....the story was fireman hit the flames with water and it was like pouring fuel on it.....they had to get foam trucks from one of the Air Force bases to put it out. It was shortly after that some of the unburned parts began to appear for sale at various locals.

 

Go here for lots of good info about mag wheels, aluminum wheels, etc

http://www.roadsters.com/wheels/

 

Terms are constantly changing, and if used in an incorrect sense, the popularity of the "new" use seems to overwhelm the old definition.

"mags" was a slang name that evolved from the use of magnesium in early wheels. There is no other logical reason. Magnesium wheels became "mags".....then the term carried over to wheels with similar appearances. It is not correct....but that is the common understanding.

Another example of this would be the fact that the new uses of the term "gasser" is now changing from the recognized meaning used for decades. "Gas Coupe & Sedan" classes developed a slang name of "Gassers". The nose-up/straight axle profile of the '60s racecar was associated with the look of these cars...and now, anything with a straight axle and high stance is sometimes referred to as a "gasser", even though it does not fit the class definition. It is not correct....but that is becoming the common understanding in some groups.

"rim" is the outer part of the wheel. It used to mean just the outer component on some types of wheels, but it has become associated with all types of wheels. It is not correct....but that is the common understanding.

 

As I said, the change was acknowledged in the vernacular for a short time when the aluminum wheels first entered the market. They were called "Fake Mags" for a while, disparagingly...mostly by people who knew the dif but couldn't afford either. Soon, they were just called "Mags" and that was that.

 

Spend some time in the bicycle industry? I did, and that was always a point of contention for me...

 

So you're saying none of the typical street car wheels referred to as "mags" were made from magnesium? I ask because if that's true, then I've believed the misconception.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

While I was in the Navy, in the aviation field, I viewed a training film on fighting flight deck fires. This included Magnesium parts in the wheel assemblies of the the aircraft. If it gets hot enough, magnesium burns and generates it's own oxygen as a by-product. Therefore a magnesium fire can be pushed overboard and still burn as it sinks to the bottom. They showed an example with underwater film following a burning ingot down. About the only way to successfully deal with a magnesium fire on-board it to shove it overboard. Perhaps on land, where your home isn't floating in the middle of an ocean, you could fight one down with enough foam and enough time.

 

magnesium enjoys a small advantage in atomic weight ....but it comes at a cost, aluminum is cheaper than magnesium because it is more plentiful (raw material) so unless people were looking for some important competitive advantage it made sense for mass produced wheel to be made from aluminium.

 

yawn...mmm pass me that beer over there

 

"So you're saying none of the typical street car wheels referred to as "mags" were made from magnesium? I ask because if that's true, then I've believed the misconception."

Real magnesium wheels go back into at least early fifies and a few were used on street cars at any time period you look at--lots of people would have used them, but they were SERIOUS $$ parts, and still are...a few people in rods and sportscars still use mags, and they are still reallydamnexpensive.
Typical speedshop/parts store "mag wheels" have always been the aluminum or composite one, I think. There just has never been a mass market able to afford real magnesium. Plus they'd probably just disappear after the first drive through slush with road salt...
And you need a fire extinguisher rated "D"...or is it "E"??

 

It's a pet peave of mine when folks call alloys other than magnesium "mags". I do find it entertaining when folks ask what kind of paint I used to make my magnesium wheels look that way.

 

Nope, the wheel industry.

 

Aluminum is a little more forgiving than magnesium. I've seen aluminum wheels bend where a magnesium wheel would have broken. Aluminum is softer and easier to manufacture. "Mags" are for sure lighter and well suited for the drag strip, but aluminum is safer for the street. Not to mention the cost factor.

 

Here's one for ya! Mags are magnesium!

 

Um, maybe because they are made of magazines...?

 

i remember busting up old lawnmower decks for the local repair guy and he used to keep the pieces in oil. every time he got drunk he would lite some off and that shit would burn all the way to china! the guy that worked for him somehow caught a customers mower on fire and as we all paniced the guy that owned the shop simply pushed it out in the parking lot. he used to bullshit us and say if we messed with it we were going to jail.