[DeTomaso] Wheel weight

[Ken Green]

Jack,
 
They make one piece forged aluminum wheels:
 
www.forgedalloysusa.com
 
They aren't cheap, but seem to be very high quality.  They said they could make a Pantera specific wheel if there were enough (like 10 sets) ordered.  The wheels I saw were very light.
 
I looked at a lot of wheels at the SEMA show, and probably would only trust 3 or 4 manufactures.  These folks specialize in high strength forged parts for cars and aerospace.  Most the wheel manufactures appeared to be basically stylist, with no real technical knowledge.  Kinda scary
 
Ken
 
 

--- On Thu, 11/5/09, JDeRyke at aol.com <JDeRyke at aol.com> wrote:


From: JDeRyke at aol.com <JDeRyke at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Wheel weight
To: kenn_green at yahoo.com, detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 10:35 PM


In a message dated 11/5/09 10:05:35 PM, kenn_green at yahoo.com writes:


I talked to a guy at the SEMA show from a company in Ventura that make forged racing wheels.  He said his wheels in 17/18  are about 17 pounds.

Forged wheels of what kind? If the assembly is a bolt-together 3-piece wheel, be very very careful. Those things are meant to be used for a season or less, then THROWN OUT. People used to sell them for street Panteras, and after multiple failures, stopped doing so. The latest I'd heard about was last year with a Hall Ultra 2 that cracked circumferentially. THe rim-half could not be replaced as Hall discontinued them so it was welded. 3 months later it cracked again- this time into 3 pieces.
If on the other hand its a forged one-piece such as Porsche curently uses, they are safe on the street. But they will very likely weigh far more than 17 lbs.... I love light weight but I would never mount a 3-piece spun racing wheel on any car I was going to drive fast. Good luck- J Deryke