[doug_porsche]

I recently bought a used set of Kodiak wheels for my Elise.
They were exactly as advertised, and that scares me.

If you have a set of Kodiak RT Wheels, please check for cracks where the spokes meet the wheel.

Both rear wheels had cracked spokes about an inch up from where the small bolts are that bolt the centers to the wheel. (see black circles in attached photo)

I suspect that this is an unusual thing, but I would have missed it.

Would hate for someone to have a wheel failure.

 

[zx9rpilot]

Looks like a very poor design. Looks kind of obvious why it cracked in that location. Maybe current owners should have a fillet machined in that area on every spoke. Or does it somehow support the rim?

 

[doug_porsche]

I talked with Andy at Kodiak and they have changed the design.

New centers are on the way, guess we will see

 

[mannix]

FWIW, I've used Kodiak wheels on an autocross car (non-Lotus), and they were fantastic. No cracks, round, light, good. Those wheels did a LOT of autocross runs with DOT R-compound tires on a 2k# car - they led a fairly rough life. Lots and lots and lots of tire changes, on and off the car countless times - saw a post here about how "the wheels will come off the car maybe 10x in its life" - heh, not in my world....I was really happy with the Kodiaks, personally.

I suspect the new centers will be very long-lived. Kodiaks and Bogarts are some of the better custom wheels out there - glad you found the cracks before they found you, but I'm a bit surprised they DID crack, and would be VERY surprised if the new ones fail you.

.02c!


Iain