[DeTomaso] How tough are the 15" factory magnesium wheels?-UPDATE-"I'm no Mad Dawg"

[Kerry Maguire]

I took my wheel and tire to Discount Tire this morning and they declined to repair the tire because it was more then 10 years old. I am running 8's and 10's on the factory magnesium 15" wheels.
 
As you all know, 305/50-15" tires are made out of "unobtainium". 
 
I was sent by Discount Tire to a "Hispanic owned" tire store that wouldn't ask too many questions and would plug my tire. Even though my Cat #5606 is driven enough to keep the tires in good shape, Discount tire was concerned that if the tire was dismounted, that the bead would fail. So, I had my tire plugged at the "Hispanic Tire Store".
 
I do not drive fast and competitively like Mad Dawg. 
 
I have plenty of tread left on my 1995 era BF Goodrich tires, so I am going to make them last a little while longer and drive them with one tire "the plug" in it.
 
The good news is that a couple of months ago, I was able to source 4-Toyo Proxies ST in the 295/50-50" size for the rear wheels. In the next year or two, I will broom the BF Goodrich tires and have the new set of the Toyo's mounted front and rear.
 
My apologies to all of the performance driver's out there, but I want to make the BF Goodrich's last as long as possible. 
 
I really like the appearance of the factory 8's and 10's and do not want to purchase an updated set of wheels and tires at this time.
 
Regards,
 
Kerry M. Maguire

________________________________

From: JDeRyke at aol.com [mailto:JDeRyke at aol.com]
Sent: Thu 1/8/2009 12:08 PM
To: Kerry Maguire; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] How tough are the 15" factory magnesium wheels?


In a message dated 1/7/09 5:35:55 PM, kmaguire at landrovermiramar.com writes:
snip.....


	I am going to a Discount tire store recommended by an officer of the San Diego Pantera Club. Also, the wheel weights are mounted on the lip of the rim. Is this the common wheel weight mounting
	method used on these wheels?
	


Absolutely not! The weights always vibrate a little, chip the protective paint and then water gets in and dissolves the magnesium! ALWAYS use glue on weights placed on the horizontal backside of the wheel, with a couple of protective strips of duct tape over them.
Second problem: be very sure the tire people know that this is a 35-year-old MAGNESIUM wheel before they use their automatic tire-machine on it. Wheels have been chipped and broken in two by these machines. When I'm forced to take a wheel to such places, they often elect to do the disassembly (and reassembly) by hand once they know what they're dealing with! 
To answer the question in the post heading, Campagnolos are pretty tough but are quite thin (only 3/16" thick in spots), and as time goes on, mag gets harder and more brittle. Its best if such wheels are annealed in an oven every decade or two to remove this brittleness. Good luck- J DeRyke



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