<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'>Pe<font size="2">ter, your photos did not come thru but Hall Ultra wheels are 5-spoke ( maybe 10-spoke too) three- piece spun-aluminum rims, held together with a circle of twenty (or less) 1/4-20 SAE stripper bolts. Many have decorative 3-ear spinners simulating knock-off wheels. They are bolt-shank-centered, not hub-centered which makes changing them difficult and less precise. <br>
<b>Problems</b>: the stripper-bolts are very small and hardened to gr-8 all the way through, making them brittle in an area needing a little flex. The bolts are never checked for torque. <font size="2"><font size="2">The inner and outer spun rim-halves are made of a non-weldable aluminum alloy and most will leak unless siliconed inside. </font></font>In use, any rim flexes in turns; the thin alloy work-hardens under load and usually cracks horizontally behind the tire bead, resulting in an instant flat. I've now seen three different Ultra rims broken- always a rear, usually an inner. On a Pantera, the rears are the most heavily loaded.<br>
<br>
The man who made them for Gary decades ago has passed and there are no spares. They are true racing wheels really designed for 2000-lb lighter formula cars and have </font><font size="2"><font size="2">long ago </font>passed their use-by date. Racers throw such rims away after one season but may re-use the centers. A friend has a set of similar (much newer) wheels on his 1600 lb Sports-racer and all it took to crack one was running off the road onto the dirt at Thunderhill 2 months ago. EVOD Industries (pg 11 in your POCA Newsletter) has spun up some replacements for owners that insist on continuing to use them. The replacement rim-halves are not cheap and are marked 'FOR RACING ONLY'. <br>
<br>
IMHO all 3-piece wheels used on a heavy street car are a bomb waiting to go off- and I'm a guy who loves lightness. I'd love to use such on our Pantera but there <i>are</i> limits... I suggest making a coffee table out of them. Good luck- J Deryke<br>
</font>
<div> <br>
</div>
<div> <br>
</div>
<div> <br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:helvetica,arial;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Peter Cajthaml <pcajthaml@gmail.com><br>
To: detomaso <detomaso@poca.com><br>
Sent: Fri, Feb 7, 2014 11:47 am<br>
Subject: [DeTomaso] Hall Ultra Wheels<br>
<br>
<div id="AOLMsgPart_2_6d0a196a-5f74-41b9-9cb3-8b55a82b68eb">
<div dir="ltr">[resending w/o attached picture]<br>
<br>
<div>
<div>
<div>All:<br>
<br>
</div>
I am in the process of replacing my
tires, and thus started to research 2761's wheels - all I know is that
they are an early version of the Hall Ultra wheel - probably put on when
the car underwent the "Group 5 Conversion" in the late 90's. They are
17", probably 13" wide in the rear, perhaps 9" or 10" wide in the
front. I really don't know as I had never unmounted a tire. The tires
are Bridgestone Potenza 335/35-17, 255/40-17 (13", 10" wide). <br>
<br>
</div>
I read some horror stories online about the 3-piece Ultra
wheels (which is what I think I have). Apparently the wheel (or the
small bolts holding it together) sometimes crack, resulting in an
instant tire deflation. Another post suggested that these wheels should
be x-rayed every year to look for cracks.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>I'll attach a picture of the car to see if anyone can
recognize the wheels. I'd like to hear others' experience with the Hall
Ultra wheel - should I be looking to replace them? (If I keep them, I
may have them powder-coated black - do they have to be disassembled for
that, and what kind of can of worms does that open?)<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>thanks for the advice,<br>
<br>
</div>
Peter<br>
#2761<br>
</div>
</div>
<div id="AOLMsgPart_3_6d0a196a-5f74-41b9-9cb3-8b55a82b68eb" style="margin: 0px;font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif;font-size: 12px;color: #000;background-color: #fff;">
<pre style="font-size: 9pt;"><tt>_______________________________________________
Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
DeTomaso mailing list
<a href="mailto:DeTomaso@poca.com">DeTomaso@poca.com</a>
<a href="http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com" target="_blank">http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com</a>
</tt></pre>
</div>
<!-- end of AOLMsgPart_3_6d0a196a-5f74-41b9-9cb3-8b55a82b68eb -->
</div>
</font>