ZZ

Anyone have problems with cracked rims before, particularly HRE's?

I have a set of HRE 541's I purchased in 1999.

Last year I found a crack in one of my front rims. Sent it to HRE to be replaced/repaired. They supposedly replaced the rim and put my front piece back on, since they are 3-piece rims.

I recently noticed an air leak from my right front tire. The leak is getting worse, tire is now flat when it sits for over 24hrs. It loses 1 lb of pressure every 15-20 minutes while driving. I took it in to a Goodyear dealer, and they found the tire was fine but there is a prominent crack in my rim, I can see it bubbling from the crack when the soap is applied. I heard some horror stories this weekend of rims breaking apart at highway speeds, and do not feel it safe to drive now. I have some CCW rims on order. I plan to contact HRE once I get my new rims. I'm not sure if this is the one they replaced or a second one.

Some friends at the Cruise In last week mentioned that they had heard of others with cracked rims, including HREs. Just wondering if anyone else has heard of this problem with HREs or other brands in particular.
I had not heard much about this before.

I guess this is just an FYI.
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dcam

Do you take your car to the strip or track it? When did you start to notice the loss of air in your tire?

Allthrottleandsomebottle

I have tracked the heck out of my 10 HREs w/o issue
A pot hole is the worst enemy. I run 18", what size wheel/tires are you running.
Steve

ZZ

I have 18 x 9.5 front and 18 x 10.5 rear with BFG G-Force KDs.

They have maybe 50 drag runs, no formal track time.
I live in rural Iowa, roads vary from exellent to terrible. Many pot holes over the years, some really nasty ones around here.

The right front rim bent about 3 years ago when I had to take a curb vs hit a minivan that came at me in my lane while the driver was on a cell phone. I suspect that weakened it and it developed a crack. That's when I had HRE replace/repair.

At a recent tire change while my car was in getting other work done, they had noticed what looked like a stress crack, but she seemed to hold air. As I have driven her more, the air leak worsened, and the crack must have extended. I think it is the same rim I sent to HRE to replace/repair, but I'm not certain.

Vortech C5

All of the horror stories you are hearing related to HRE wheels are for a series of immitation ones that were being sold. Just because a wheel has a HRE badge on it doesn't mean it is real. The "real" ones are forged and VERY strong. I, as well as many others have put them to the test. I am not sure what is wrong with yours. You should send them back and see what they say. They are a first class operation that sells first class wheels.

The "HRE stories" started when a couple of them failed at a Viper track event a couple of years ago. HRE's were supposedly "banned" from the track. HRE investigated the situation only to find that the "HRE" wheels were immitations....

You have a first class wheel. I would'nt worry if I were you. They are A LOT of money for a reason!!! The real ones that is

Allthrottleandsomebottle

That is plenty of side wall so............I would say either a pot hole hit or some other damage. I have not heard of factory defects in HRE's but I doubt they are 100% NDT checked either.....Post a picture of the damaged area.