Problem with EC wheel (mounting and discoloring)

[alan]

Greetings from Gander, Newfoundland. Came here to replace our flat with a new ST/Maxx. Glad I had all the tools that I needed to change tires- 33mm lugs and not using a hydraulic wrench aren't part of the game up here. Anyway- very nice guys at OK Tire and they had no problem using my tools and allowing me to kibitz.

Got the new tire put on (spun balanced) and rotated the other tires (we are at 10,000 miles since April 8th). Paid my big chunk of change for the new tire made a right out of the parking lot and could barely hang on to the steering wheel. Braking was even worse. I drove to the end of the block- but the steering wheel shaking and the surging brakes were not getting better.

Went back to OK Tire and looked at the tire and wheels. The only thing that looked amiss was that the original weights were disheveled and looked to be scraped half off. Now I was there for the entire time that Brad at OK Tire was working with the wheels and he didn't do anything that would have caused that. The first guess was that the intro of the new tire was round and that the opposite side tire was out of round. But, opposite of the brand new tire was the the new spare that I had put on less than 500 miles earlier when I got a flat. Well, after crawling around under the truck for awhile what was decided, and we will find out tomorrow, is that if you mount the balance weights where they are normally mounted, they interfere with the seating of the front wheel against the drum- they not only wear away parts of the weights, they also scratch the wheel. They do not allow the wheel to perfectly mount up against the drum brakes and voila'.

When we originally had the tires mounted on the wheel, they put the balancing weights in the same area as OK Tires- the standard placement. I remembered there being a little pulsing in the brakes and problems with alignment. The little alignment that is allowed on Fuso's is toeing and the pulsing brakes really went mostly away. But this is a real problem and will likely cost me redoing the brakes very soon. The rear wheels were not a problem because of the room- the fronts need to be weight balanced toward the outside edge.

The other issue is when you rotate the aluminum to steel contact leaves severe discoloring that dill need some future research to find out how to remove.

The pictures show the discoloration and the worn away weights. We will not have access to internet for a while- so when I can, I will let you know how our solution works.

By the way- I still like the wheels and 25lb weight make it easy to maneuver.

Mark

View attachment 294665View attachment 294666View attachment 294667

As the importer and distributor of these alloy wheels i feel i should point out what has happened, clearly who balanced the wheels then fitted them to the vehicle has made the mistake of fitting the balance weights in the wrong position on the wheels, then bolted the wheels on the vehicle jamming the weights between the wheel and brake drum, this has distorted both the brake drum and the wheel, causing the brake shudder and wheel balance issue.

 

[skippythedog]

....possibly someone inadvertently contaminated your beads with tire lube during installation....Very specific instructions come w/ the beads specifying minimal amounts and placement of tire lube during installation. So too a contaminated compressor/air hose might have done the same...

 

[kerry]

- I love Newfoundland- but their roads are gawd-awful. Give me dirt or gravel any day.

.

That's the truth. We were up there a few years ago with our FG and the last few hundred miles up to L'anse aux Meadows were terrible. It didn't stop us from really enjoying the place though.