Heavy Duty Wheel

Thanks for the excellent explanation of a light or heavy duty wheel.
Now about welding a crack. I do understand about the crack being at the edge of the weld but. What about tempering the wheel. Then welding it and then heat treating it again? I did this kind of "stress relieving in the machine shop after we machined huge stationary blades on steam turbines. We had an electrical oven that was maybe 10 ft by 10 ft. The cover was crained up off the raised plate and then we set on fire bricks what we wanted to heat treat. Each item got a probe spot welded to the thickest part and monitored for temp raise and reduction over a certain time. Always worked great too. I know if I still worked there I sure would do this.

Hello:

Determining whether a Cord wheel is one of the heavy duty wheels made or not is quite easy. If you look at the back of the wheel, a heavy duty wheel has a smooth dish from the rivets to the lug holes. A light duty wheel on the other hand has a one and a half inch wide raised boss ring just past the diameter of the lug holes in the stamping. The tough part is determining which of the at least three versions of heavy duty wheels you have. What many don't realize is that some versions of the heavy duty wheel still crack as much as the light duty variant. Sadly, even the best version of the heavy duty whe will crack if it is driven on the front of the car and improperly tightened. Most cracks can be seen with the naked eye as radial lines around the lug holes. When in doubt, do the visual test followed up by magniflux or another method performed by a competent shop. A tip to the wise is since the wheels are a heat treated unit, never attempt to weld them to repair. What will happen most of the times is that the welding bead will obscure the crack but the crack will still be there. The best and safest idea is to just replace the wheel with one that is unbroken and shows no sign of previous repair.

Mark

What do I look for in determining a standard wheel from a heavy duty wheel? I believe I have both but sure can't tell the difference between them. Thanks for any help.