3 Piece Wheel Maintenance & Leak Detection
08-17-2011, 01:57 PM
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3 Piece Wheel Maintenance & Leak Detection
Maintenance
In every day street use, three-piece wheels will provide years of service and require no special maintenance other than standard tire care and valve core replacement at tire change intervals. If you use your wheels for competitions and racing, it is recommended that both 1-piece and 3-piece modular wheels undergo inspection at the end of each season. For monobloc wheels, a thorough cleaning and visual inspection for any signs of stress cracks or fatigue as well as runout checks would be sufficient. If the wheels have undergone any type of impact damage and remained intact, it is strongly recommended that they are x-ray tested or have their finish stripped and undergo a dye penetrant test. The former is the most preferred, but if your preparation for a new season involves refinishing the wheels, the latter may be more practical since the finish will be removed anyway.
Three piece modular wheels require the same periodic maintenance as described above for monobloc wheels. Additionally, since racing involves frequent tire mounting and dismounting, it is also advisable to disassemble, thoroughly inspect, clean, re-seal, and re-torque each wheel.
Leak Detection
In the event you come across an issue where you’re losing air, below are some methods to further test where the leak is coming from.
The most popular cause for leaking wheels:
Assembled wheel with cured silicone:
Assembled wheel with stainless hardware & 90 degree valve stem:
Have Questions? Call Our Forged Wheels Experts 305-477-5850
In every day street use, three-piece wheels will provide years of service and require no special maintenance other than standard tire care and valve core replacement at tire change intervals. If you use your wheels for competitions and racing, it is recommended that both 1-piece and 3-piece modular wheels undergo inspection at the end of each season. For monobloc wheels, a thorough cleaning and visual inspection for any signs of stress cracks or fatigue as well as runout checks would be sufficient. If the wheels have undergone any type of impact damage and remained intact, it is strongly recommended that they are x-ray tested or have their finish stripped and undergo a dye penetrant test. The former is the most preferred, but if your preparation for a new season involves refinishing the wheels, the latter may be more practical since the finish will be removed anyway.
Three piece modular wheels require the same periodic maintenance as described above for monobloc wheels. Additionally, since racing involves frequent tire mounting and dismounting, it is also advisable to disassemble, thoroughly inspect, clean, re-seal, and re-torque each wheel.
Leak Detection
In the event you come across an issue where you’re losing air, below are some methods to further test where the leak is coming from.
The most popular cause for leaking wheels:
Assembled wheel with cured silicone:
Assembled wheel with stainless hardware & 90 degree valve stem:
Have Questions? Call Our Forged Wheels Experts 305-477-5850
08-17-2011, 04:49 PM
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Eurocharged 2004 E500, Eurocharged ECU/TCU 2005 SL600, 2010 Caddy SwaggerWagon
When re-assembling the face, should the connecting hardware be torqued in a star pattern, like lug bolts. Or can you just go around the circumference of the wheel, increasing torque each rotation. Meaning, torque them in clockwise order down to 15 lbs, then again to 20, then again to 30ft-lbs, assuming straight through bolts, w/ nuts.
08-17-2011, 05:01 PM
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When assembling go around the circumference. If you have a 8mm blind bolt use 15 ft lbs, whereas through bolts with nuts are recommended at 28-30 ft lbs. 
