The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Busted 49 OEM wheel

I had just turned onto the last 2 mile portion of my nice and long afternoon cruise when I 1st noticed a vibration in the frontend. It would come and go but after a minute or two it turned into a thump, thump, thump and the vibration got so bad I had to find a pulloff. it wasn't going to make it home unfortunately. Everything looked good until I pulled the left front hubcap and the problem was VERY obvious.
Only 2 bolts was holding the wheel on and they were very tight. The other 4 lugnuts were still tight but they were only holding the broken pieces of the wheel.
I'm going to guess the metal was fatigued from the pitted corrosion and finally let loose. I dunno, The pitures tell the tale.
Man am I glad I had a good spare and the tools to change it.
Wheel
pieces
front
rear

Wow, that is pretty nasty looking failure. This is the first time I have seen a posting like that.

THats scary... makes me think twice about using OEM wheels...

You were lucky you got stopped before it all broke loose.

That is something people don't think about checking. Everyone on this board who is running OEM wheels ought to pop the hubcaps and have a look before their next drive. Thanks for sharing your misfortune.

Good point Cletus.

We also should commend Volfandt for having a spare and the tools to change it. Many don't.

Inspecting wheels and tires should be part of a regular routine.

That wheel has had a very hard life. Look at the pitting and "patina" Not a typical wheel for sure. Good thinking with the stop. Any stop before catastrophe is a good stop. I have seen OEM wheels fail but always because there was a reason. Yes curbs are a reason. And as this one shows, corrosion is a very good reason. What size is the wheel? 15 inch? Fairly easy to find. 16 inch? Tougher to find. Now how about after market wheels? Oh yeah, seen them fail too. Most common fail is loose lug nuts. But this is a new fail to me.That vibration you felt was the wheel flexing, a lot. The thump was the breaking of the metal and that was the end of it. Great save.

Deep Corrosion pitting is a stress riser where a crack will
start from. And from the looks of it, there was some seriously
deep corrosion on that wheel.
Wheels are probably the most highly stressed item on a vehicle
and the most catastrophic when they fail. I'd agree with the
rest of the guys, don't take a chance on a less then near
perfect wheel, it could save your life, or that of another.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

The wheel is an OEM 16".
Since I'm the 2nd owner of the truck I'll bet a $$$ to a donut it's original and came w/the truck new.
The truck came with 5 wheels/tires. I've picked up another good wheel & tire in a trade. This busted wheel was highly pitted & corroded. The others aren't. I've checked the others for any stress cracks etc., and all seem to be in good servicable condition.
I'm guessing this was the spare that lived most of it's service life bolted to the under bed spare carrier.
All the tires were 600x16's w/tubes but were mismatched brands.
All tires have been replaced w/4ea used Wrangler ST 225/75R16's and are tubeless. Large whitewalled radials are on the wish list.
The spare is still a tubed 600x16 but it's servicable for spare duty for now.

Normally I rotate the tires on all my other vehicles during oil changes (5k miles) but since the interval for the 3100 is shorter by 1/2, I'll be popping the hubcaps and checking the wheels even when not rotating.
Dave