Crack in wheel lip - Carrera Light wheel
 

While cleaning my wheels prior to putting them back on the car after finishing my winter ‘to do’ list I found a crack in the inner lip on one of the rear wheels. Now I know why that tire loses a couple of lbs per week ever since I brought it home (it’s bubbling soapy water from inside the lip between the lip and the tire). The other three are fine (except somebody gouged the cr@p out of the other rear inner rim lip).

Oh well, I’ll find a wheel repair place tomorrow and take it in next week.

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The wheel does not appear or feel when driving that it is out of round. Who knows what or when this happened in the car’s history. The wheel was so dirty on the inner rim that it was missed it in the PPI.


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Fred,there are probably good wheel places near you, but if not, Tire & Wheel Performance Center on Route 17 South in Ridgewood, NJ will send your wheel out and get it expertly repaired if it is repairable. https://www.tirewheelpro.net/ I have used them to have a few wheels straightened and also had my 18 inch Lt. Carrera wheels refinished - they will go back on the car come spring!

Hi Paul, I appreciate the referral. We’re in the middle of nowhere, so I’m sure I have to go north to Albany/Syracuse or south to NYC or NJ. I’ll give Tire and Wheel a call tomorrow. It looks like they’re about 2 1/2 hrs south of me, that’s practically next door.

A reputable local wheel repair company I used to do the TIG weld repairs for wheels like this would have probably been able to repair that crack, as long as it doesn't extend around the corner and past the tire seal safety bead. If so, their insurance wouldn't have covered it, and so they wouldn't have been able to repair it.

Although the crack can often extend further under the paint, the visible extent of the crack looks far enough away from the safety bead that I think in all likelihood, this should be safely repairable by a professional wheel repair outfit. So, I think you have a good plan. Hope it goes well for you. Those slow air pressure leaks can really be annoying.

Good luck, and by the way, any idea how this damage happened?

Hi Jake, thanks for the info. I’m talking to Elite Wheels of Albany (‘only’ an hour and 45 mins from me). From the pictures they think they can do the repair. In addition, I’ve decided to have all four wheels xrayed (or whatever it is they do) for cracks, roundness, etc and refinished. At some point in the car’s history someone had the wheels redone and they did a terrible job on the prep and paint (especially the Seal Gray centers).

The wheel inside surface was very dirty when I bought the car, so the PPI missed the crack. That tire/wheel has had a slow leak ever since I bought the car, so the crack was there prior to my purchase. There are no signs of an impact or prior repair and the wheel does not appear to be out of round, so who knows what happened. Other than the paint, the other three wheels visually appear to be fine after cleaning. I’ll post a follow up after Elite examines the wheel.

Just received an update and quick pic from James at Elite Wheels of Albany. The crack is repaired along with various inner rim gouges, etc on all four wheels. Final finishing is still in progress. Based on the pic from James, I’m thrilled with the results. They fine tuned the Seal Gray to exactly match my center caps and the Arctic Silver looks spot on. Originally the inner barrels were a putty primer color but I had them done in Arctic Silver from edge to edge. In addition I’m having a clear powder coat put down on top.

Here’s the pic:

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Can’t wait to get them back this coming week.


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WOW! They look terrific. One day I'll redo mine. Best looking wheels a Boxster can have.

Those are the nicest.

Great job, you will enjoy them. I've always wondered why Porsche didn't really paint the barrels on the interior side of the wheels.

Thanks guys. So far I’ve been fortunate to find good shops for PDR, body & paint (still considering installing the TA side skirts) and wheels in the central NY area. Should have the exhaust in by Friday and the car back on the ground before the end of the month.

Come on spring!

Picked up my wheels today. Perfect job by James at Elite on Wheels Albany. He even painted my center caps so that they are an exact match to the wheels. Here’s a quick pic, better pics to come when I have a chance to get the car out for a drive.

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James had just finished a set of Jaguar XKR BBS 3 piece wheels when I arrived today. They were awesome. Didn’t think to take a pic, but I know these wheels well from my XKR ownership and they can be a challenge to disassemble without destroying them.

Anyway, I’m a very happy camper. More pics to come after the storm passes.


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