Date: Sun, 07 May 00 22:44:54 GMT From: amesnopsamrak.demon.co.uk (Andrew Stephenson) Subject: Re: Alloy wheels
My thanks to all who had a go at my question about alloy wheels. In article <39151B82.9BB08CC9nopsam1.tuwien.ac.at> e9225126nopsam1.tuwien.ac.at "RCS" writes: > [...] Alloy rims were developed to decrease the wheel weight > (rotating mass) but nowerdays the alloy rims have nearly the > same weight as the steel rims. Yes, when I had to have an alloy wheel replaced on my Volvo 440, I was startled when I tried to lift the thing. Weighs a bl**dy ton. Now I have an expensive door-stop (the old wheel) hanging around, that could probably halve the UK's annual consumption of aluminium, if only I could discover how to recycle it. <g> > Alloy rims are not so resistent against deformations as steel > rims, you have to lever them more often. Warping was the problem with the old wheel. The garage, who also handle SAAB, did not offer to knock the wobble out; so I wondered what kind of grief might be laying in wait for me if I got a SAAB with alloy wheels. (BTW, I see you call them 'rims'. Is that truly the term for the middle bit, around which the tyre fits?) > The advantage is that they offer more cooling effect to the > disc brakes and you need no rim cover. Main point is that they > look much better and have little less weight. Another thought that occurred to me was that, as the car rolls along the road and the wheel hits various bumps, if the wheel as a whole has a lower mass, the suspension will be better able to push it down onto the road after a bump has kicked it up. Maybe this effect is not big enough to count as an advantage. -- Andrew Stephenson
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