DIY WHEEL REPAIR w/ Aluminum Welding Rods, Do They Really Work?

[@KevinNguyen-zn4vv]

You gotta drill a hole at the end of the crack, and widen the crack for it to flow.

[@doacarnage]

When you sprayed the water the rod material was still molten and blew it out. You also need to open up the crack on the wheel with a thin grinder disc. Temp was also not high enough.

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the tips

[@ripoffrecords]

The crack has formed where the original manufacturing weld is. Though why they would weld a loop is beyond me. cheap I guess, should be made from one tube and pressed. Also when you repair a crack like that on a rim that will be under shock loads 1. it should be TIG welded, brazing rods are in no way up to the job, you are taking you life in your hands by being cheap - its not worth it. 2. Cracks like that should be drilled at the end of the crack to prevent the crack from continuing after welding. All the best. 😬

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the advice. I couldn't find anyone that would Tig weld it for me. No one will work on motorcycle wheels. Thought I would give it a try.

[@davidpetersen1]

That's a cool tip.. the drilling at the end of the crack.👍

[@Cyromantik]

I think I can understand about the drilling thing, you're relieving the tension on the material by opening at the point where the next tear would be.

[@nicolasparadis1407]

I forgot to say, overall, it was a very interesting way to see how things turned. I'm very happy that you tried something, just to see that you finally ended up with such good results.

[@411gtz]

Why are you heating the concrete too?

[@thunderdick6117]

you have to have the spot really really clean you have to take the oxide layer off . That rim has been anodized that's the difference between your test piece and the rim you can't braze aluminum with oxide on it and anodized aluminum is just aluminum with an extremely thick layer of oxide on it get rid of the anodizing and it will work the aluminum oxide is working like a heat shield it won't hold the temperature you need to melt the rod you don't need to have the torch turned up that high either try turning it down a little bit and the anodizing is some incredible stuff that oxide layer is stronger than the aluminum itself remember the second aluminum is touching oxygen it starts to oxidize so clean the oxide layer off and the sooner you heat it and get the rod melting on it the better your joints will become

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Great Explanation! That's why the material from the rod was jumping off the rim. Thanks again and Thank you for Watching!

[@67cudaksa34]

you have to heat the whole area. when you just heat that area the surrounding areas are drawing away the heat

[@tonyhannibal1580]

No substitute for a good AC set and a squirt of sheilding gas✌️

[@marksternberg9217]

Also from what I understand these rims are welded during manufacturing. You may be on the same joint.

[@davidpetersen1]

I dunno.. I'm not overly risk adverse but unless I was equiped to weld properly I wouldn't be trusting a backyard fix to a wheel on my motorcycle. Same with brakes.. looks easy enough but... lol

[@Steel_Valley_Vintage_Cycle]

That's really a type of solder. It's strong but I don't know about a motorcycle wheel. Anyway, you need to "V" the crack. You have to heat the aluminum to 700 degrees. DON'T HEAT THE ROD!! When your base metal it hot, start rubbing the rod into it. This is needed to break the oxide layer and form a bond. Let the heat of the base aluminum melt the rod. If you heat the rod directly it just falls apart.

[@allanknight1910]

That lip is a factory seam from when it was made. You need a better torch with a concentrated flame/finer flame. Get it tig welded

[@jimgray6166]

That band was the original weld joint. Aluminum is a heat sink, the larger the piece, the longer it takes the joint to come up to temp. You may have gotten away with Tig welding that joint with the spokes in it because you can concentrate the heat but considering the heat is running away from the source it's going to soften a large area. Map gas is better but an oxy/acetelyne brazing tip would have been even better, for this, Tig even better. There are a number of " dont's " that you did, more homework should have been done before you started.

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the advice and Thanks for Watching!

[@3613jeremy]

I wrecked on my bike causing my passenger peg mount to break in half and if I thought super glue would hold up Id be going that way. But I know the repair has to be strong enuff to withstand someone standing on it and if I have to I'll start searching for a replacement but parts are always hard to find and if found there always pricey. So I'm thinking about using a container and filling it with play sand and pushing the part into the sand as a hole piece and start melting the low heat aluminum brazing rod hoping it molds everything back together nice and strong before I start grinding, sanding, cleaning and repainting it or am I better off to talk to a few professional welders instead thanks.

[@kristinkarge4659]

Why aren’t you using the method that worked on the scrap piece of aluminum. Your not heating the the area around the crack like you did previously

[@marksternberg9217]

I am ready to try the same thing on a couple dirt bike tires.. I have watched several videos and because of the thickness of the rim I believe mapp gas will work better to keep the surrounding area hot without loosing the heat through induction. However I saw a video that the guy put his project in a grill to try to prevent that. I will see what happens.

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Good Luck!

[@Chickencoop2016]

This video really gave me anxiety. Clean it very good and you need more heat.

[@tayvonxxx1521]

Try using a Map gas burner which gets hotter than regular propane torch .. plus u need temperatures up to around 600 to 700 deg... don't prolong the concentration when applying the heat.

[@revolverguy]

heating that aluminum on the ground is killing your heat. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat and the ground is sucking all the heat away.

[@dararoth3979]

I have this problem too. I heat until the materia become damage.

[@arvinmoosa]

Lol 😂

[@zadokgeorge2742]

I was thinking, why not torch the Amazon aluminum rod so that it melts and drip on the crack to seal it instead?

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

I tried torching the rod directly but the material pops and jumps off the rod. Couldn't control where it went. Thanks for Watching!

[@ilyas5708]

The bond wouldn't be strong. It would be like sticking fresh playdoh on dry playdoh, falls right off yknow?

[@E85_STI]

The wheel is absorbing the heat and pulling it to the rest of the wheel and cooling it off much faster than you could heat it up. On your test piece that was a smaller piece of aluminum and it heat soaked and melted much faster. The welding rod didn’t even melt.

[@777morgan3]

frommy screen angle the wheel looks warped does it work

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Works great, no wobble at all. Thanks for watching!

[@EmeraldIgnacio-sl3du]

use MAP Gas...

[@kamarudinbinhanipah7918]

It is definitely not 100% aluminium because the melting temperature also differs from the material use before hand.....

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the advice and Thanks for Watching!

[@nathanielrhill]

Some things just have a weird way of working out....👍

[@nicolasparadis1407]

Thanks, that was very educative. One question though: Are they simple aluminum rods or core flux aluminum rods? Thanks alot!

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Core flux aluminum rods

[@G-THIRTEENMOTORSPORTSFABRICATI]

700 degrees buddy

[@JoeJoe-td1ke]

U of to grind d area as part of your preparation plus that metal looks more like stainless steel ..

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the tip and Thanks for Watching!

[@stayinginformed2843]

I did my car rim in side and out side it been some time still holding.

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for Watching!

[@josephscottparatore]

So it did hold up cause I was wondering if it would work on my cracked rim as well

[@SHWELL11]

There is usually a reason why Professionals wont do certain things.. Was the test piece the same Materials? Was the test piece the same thickness? Where did you read/see that keeping the heat on one specific spot a good idea? You heated up the original weld and that was the Band. But doing this kind of thing on a spoke wheel with the spokes installed was not a good idea.

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the advice and Thanks for Watching! So far the wheel has held up just fine?

[@wormer66]

you couldnt get it hot enough bc you shoulda been using oxy/acetylene... LOL ...

[@therookiefisherman5234]

because the rod melts at 730 degrees the metal you have is too large and the heat is dispersing theses rods will not work on large jobs because you cant heat the whole metal to 730 lol!

[@mikeshorsepowergarage7577]

Thanks for the explanation

[@redeyedray6376]

trying to heat the concrete

[@ridered408]

Awful