What to look for when buying fuchs?

[Christien]

Had a blowout on the highway yesterday and in getting over to the side of the road, the tire came off the inside rim. I haven't yet got it off to inspect, but I'm fairly certain the wheel is pooched, so I have to find a replacement. There's a dismantler near me who's got a pretty bad reputation but seeing as how shipping a wheel is pretty expensive, I think he's worth a try. Can you find any problems with a wheel by simple visual inspection? What should I be looking for? Or can there be problems that aren't visible? Assuming I'm looking at a wheel with no tire mounted.

[Bill Douglas]

Ask if you can take it to a tire centre for them to put it on the balancing machine to see how "not bucked" it is. Look for hairline cracks too.

[Christien]

If he won't let me take them to a shop, is that a hard pass then?

[SkunkWorks]

Originally Posted by Christien

If he won't let me take them to a shop, is that a hard pass then?

The answer's obvious. Unless you don't mind gambling on a coffee table/hose reel...

[Reiver]

Often you can feel a repair you can't see by running your fingers around the circumference of the wheel...inner and outer lips. I discovered a wheel that looked perfect but was not properly 'round' so required a lot of weights by feel when my eye said it was good to go.

[smadsen]

Mount the wheel you want to buy on a hub, either your car or a wrecking yard car. Zero the lash out of the wheel bearing if possible. Spin the wheel on a dial indicator or just hold a screw driver on a steady rest up next to the inner & outer lip. The wheel was "true" when it was made on a lathe. It should still be "true" unless it's been whacked with a 3000 lb. slide hammer.

Then clean the bolt circle with a rag & some solvent. Examine for cracks front & rear. Look for small hairline cracks trying to connect the bolt holes.

And of course refuse any wheel with obvious dents, bends, wanks or obvious repairs.

[Jdub]

The width matters. A smaller width is easily found and replaced, but the wider can be problematic. That means you want a more reliable seller the wider the rim. Advice above spot on.

[Christien]

This is great advice - thanks everyone!

[Locker537]

It's not the most economical solution, but you can buy brand new Fuchs made by Otto Fuchs from our host or direct from Otto.

https://www.fuchsfelgeusa.com/

[911 Rod]

Obviously look for the FUCH symbol.
I'm pretty comfortable just giving it a good look. If it is out of round there will be a witness mark somewhere. Check closely for cracks. Take your time and don't listen to him complain about how it is better than the ones you have.

[KNS]

^^ The new Fuchs are beautiful and a 16X8 is under 13 pounds - that's incredible!

[chrismorse]

Put a straight edge across the back side of the rim and use a tape measure/ruler to check the distance from the straight edge to the mounting surface, some wheels have a different ET.

As has been mentioned, check for running true and inspect both sides of the wheel for damage/cracks and the presence of the Fuchs Fox - cute little devil :-)

chris

[s5uewf]

Another option is you can still buy new fuchs direct from Porsche, too, AFAIK.
Here is an example link to a Porsche dealer:
https://www.*************.com/category/CLASSIC91184CHASSISWH.html

From what I was told Porsche in Germany orders large quantities every once in a while, warehouses them and sells them - then re orders when inventory starts to get exhausted again.

[Christien]

Just got the wheel off and had a look. The tire looks to have separated from the inner bit that attaches to the wheel itself. There doesn't appear to be any damage to the rim! What do you guys think?

[Fixer]

Originally Posted by KNS

^^ The new Fuchs are beautiful and a 16X8 is under 13 pounds - that's incredible!

That's bc they are not forged the same as the original wheels and not as strong. They are spin forgings and thinner. What's left is reused.

I asked Fuchsfelge for the load rating on their new 7x15 to compare to ours and our Italian replica 7x15 has a higher load rating (by only 5 kg) but it's higher. Our 7x15 weighs 14 pounds though.

https://marianimotorsport.square.site/product/suitable-for-racing/44

The wheel in the pictures looks fine.

Matt

[hcoles]

That rim could be completely fine. Get the rubber off of it. Clean the hub and wheel where it mounts to the hub and spin it. Clean off the brake dust and look for cracks. I think under about 0.005" runout should be fine. I don't know what the spec. is. That's about what my wheels were when I put a DI on them.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by Fixer

That's bc they are not forged the same as the original wheels and not as strong. They are spin forgings and thinner. What's left is reused.

where is that whole statement of yours proven please?
Whenever you mention Fuchs it somehow has a negative touch to it.
Further, I doubt you have insight in the Fuchs production and access to their specs and testing data.

Personally from what I know (due a delicate contact to Fuchs) there is nothing inferior to what a customer would expect when buying and using their product.
And they sure won't have relounched the Fuchs for anything less than the better.