I think this is the first time I've heard the term "road rash" applied to a vehicle. Up here it's usually the term when one takes a serious spill off their motorcycle.... the abrading and loss of some serious skin.
I've been driving in the Northeast, primarily NY's southern tier and PA's northern tier for well over fifty years... and rusty steel wheels is certainly not a problem, except perhaps in the most extreme negligent situations. It it were, I quite imagine that the accompanying lug nuts would rarely allow for tire change. I would think that with such negligence aluminum-alloy wheels would be just as likely to be a problem.
I would agree that getting a new replacement wheel is the best way to go, but the question was whether a "repair" was a good choice, considering the cost comparison... and I still think that it is, though not the best choice. Again, much of the issue lays with where the damage is and most likely any dealer in that repair business should be checking the dynamics and integrity of the wheel in the process. You just don't do a weld fix without ensuring that the rest of the rim isn't warped or otherwise not in good shape.
My comment regarding road debris was regard to haulers of a private, individual nature, not just the big commercial vehicles. Like I said, I've been driving more that fifty years and made uncountable trips on 17/I-86, such negligence with any kind of vehicle just isn't tolerated; and especially in the age of cell phones, and the frequency of highway patrol presence I would say that you wouldn't be able to travel very far with a sloppy load of any kind, especially in a pickup or trailer. In my all too frequent 150-mile round trips, it is rare that we don't see a half-dozen State Police. But I've never seen a ladder, furniture, wheel, or anything other than the occasional piece of shredded re-ply from a tire gone bad... and even that is pretty rare.
But, no doubt that your highway system and its traffic, especially in the Houston area, is probably far more heavy. Hopefully you have a heck of a lot less pot-holes though.
CWS
I've been driving in the Northeast, primarily NY's southern tier and PA's northern tier for well over fifty years... and rusty steel wheels is certainly not a problem, except perhaps in the most extreme negligent situations. It it were, I quite imagine that the accompanying lug nuts would rarely allow for tire change. I would think that with such negligence aluminum-alloy wheels would be just as likely to be a problem.
I would agree that getting a new replacement wheel is the best way to go, but the question was whether a "repair" was a good choice, considering the cost comparison... and I still think that it is, though not the best choice. Again, much of the issue lays with where the damage is and most likely any dealer in that repair business should be checking the dynamics and integrity of the wheel in the process. You just don't do a weld fix without ensuring that the rest of the rim isn't warped or otherwise not in good shape.
My comment regarding road debris was regard to haulers of a private, individual nature, not just the big commercial vehicles. Like I said, I've been driving more that fifty years and made uncountable trips on 17/I-86, such negligence with any kind of vehicle just isn't tolerated; and especially in the age of cell phones, and the frequency of highway patrol presence I would say that you wouldn't be able to travel very far with a sloppy load of any kind, especially in a pickup or trailer. In my all too frequent 150-mile round trips, it is rare that we don't see a half-dozen State Police. But I've never seen a ladder, furniture, wheel, or anything other than the occasional piece of shredded re-ply from a tire gone bad... and even that is pretty rare.
But, no doubt that your highway system and its traffic, especially in the Houston area, is probably far more heavy. Hopefully you have a heck of a lot less pot-holes though.
CWS
LCHIEN
Loring in Katy, TX USA
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