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i'll be powdercoating my LSS wheels
A lot of that is because chrome and aluminum are not close on a galvanic chart. It's possible to chrome alum rims, but years later, it becomes a source of corrosion between the two.shinoo said:
The last thing you want is to have your finish peeling and cracking like half of those chrome wheels you see out there...
had just done a session at Croix with Hailey as a passenger. Did about 10 laps and decided to come in just as I caught up with Simon. I was on my slow-down lap and just after the (almost) double-apex right hander I heard a new knocking noise as if something was caught in the rear wheels. After 'bridge' the noise got louder so I put my hazards on and drove slowly the last 200m back to the paddock.
Drove straight to the Sinclaires area and the look on Hailey's face when she looked at the rear wheel told me all I needed to know. The left rear wheel had 8 spokes snapped clean through and another was almost gone. Only 3 'good' spokes remained! The knocking noise was from the broken spokes banging together as the wheel rotated.
I can't say how grateful I am to Sinclaires for having a spare wheel with them and for basically saving my weekend. In about 10 minutes I was supplied with a 'classic' 5-spoke wheel complete with a decent looking Bridgestone SO-2.
I only did a few 'installation laps' on the new wheel at Croix but it was enough to know everything else was OK. No issues at all on the road run from Croix to Folembray.
At Folembray I discovered what an excellent tyre the SO-2 is. Held up to track use much better than the Toyos and still provided plenty of grip with no real evidence of wear. Had a great day
So, possible causes...?
1) Powder coating. An unusual heat cycle, although I'm told that powder coating ovens are only ~70°C. There could also be a chemical issue?
2) Abuse. Too many kerbs? I only ran over the exit kerb at the (ridiculously) tight hairpin at Croix a couple of times and it wasn't that harsh at only 10mph. That was the only kerb I touched with the LHS. Obviously it had seen plenty of other action on track and potholed roads in it's 68500 mile life. The week before I hit a stone on the road which put a small scratch in the rim, less that 1cm long.
3) Bad wheel. Accident waiting to happen? Why would it fail on a low stress lap?
I'll be speaking to Lotus and Rimstock about this to see if they can explain this failure