Ok I picked these up today and once I started cleaning them up with the wire wheel and discovered this... One wheel has 3 cracks and the other one only has one. What are my options? The cracks doesn't go all the way through or all the way around. But I'm guessing the wheels are unsafe because of it, I planned on running them on the rear, they are 40-48 ford wheels Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Drill the end of the crack, v it and weld em. Honestly Ive used wheels as bad and worse without repair and without a second thought but ya know
Don't toss 'em. At the very least, they make good bases for machine stands and other things of that nature. You might be able to weld them up with proper prep and a good weldor (the guy, not the machine), but I would not be surprised to see them crack again later on. Metal fatigue is a bitch, and those wheels are telling you that they're all tuckered out. Were they mine, I'd make them into grinder stand bases and find something else in a little better shape, but that's just me.
To carry this one step further, it's all a matter of semantics. Here is the actual definition of the word wheel vs rim The terms "wheel" and "rim" are often used synonymously, as in decorative wheels being called rims. Some authors are careful to use "rim" for only the outer portion of a wheel, where the tire mounts, just as the rim of a coffee cup or a meteor crater does not refer to the entire object. Others use "rim" to mean the entire metal part to which the tire mounts, because the rim and the wheel are often cast or stamped from a single piece of metal instead of being distinct as with wire wheels. At the same time, "wheel" may refer to the entire rotating assembly, including the tire. Oh... by the way I personally wouldn't want to take a chance with that cracked wheel/rim on my car.
It seems like an unlikly place to crack. I have seen the holes split but never cracked at the base. Could this be from trying to use the wheel on a wire wheel hub? Any history on the wheel?