Why did this wheel fail?

[bjstare]

Alright, since this is (ostensibly, at least) a car forum, I've got an actual car question.

The wheel failed/fell off my MIL's car today. It seems the center section just sheared itself away from the rest of the wheel. Anyone know what would cause this? I can't think of a reason, aside from improperly torqued lugs - but that seems like quite a stretch.

Pic for reference:

[ExtraSlow]

@tirebob do you have any thoughts? My only thought is its NOT improper lug torque. Possibly manufacturing defect in the wheel? Although steel wheels should be reasonably strong. They don't look rusted or anything that indicates they be weakened either.

[Tik-Tok]

Chinesium alloy steel.

[littledan]

Too much NOS. She's just lucky she didn't blow the welds on her intake manifold.

[lilmira]

vtec kicked in? Haven't seen that before. I don't think it's from under/over torquing.

[tirebob]

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@tirebob do you have any thoughts? My only thought is its NOT improper lug torque. Possibly manufacturing defect in the wheel? Although steel wheels should be reasonably strong. They don't look rusted or anything that indicates they be weakened either.

Now I have seen a lot of shit in my day, but never have I seen a steel wheel with the centre broken out like that so perfectly! That is a head scratcher for sure. I mean steel bends... Sure you can break it but I think if that wheel was hit from the side or anything to the degree that would be needed to break the rim, there would be some kind of extra obvious damage. Over or under torquing I cannot see causing that either. I mean if the rim was loose and banging around it could cause some damage to be sure, but it would have been obvious and just seeing the centre still attached to the hub leads me to believe that is virtually impossible to have happened.

My instinct says some kind of defect but as to what I can't say for sure... That is crazy!

[SJW]

Bad welds. Chinese wheel. Corrosion/bad welds.

Need better pics.

[DonJuan]

I can see aluminum breaking. But steel wheels? That's crazy.

How cold was it? and to make it break in a circle.

[vengie]

Shitty welds, too much curbage and dukes of hazzard

[lilmira]

black wheels matter

[bjstare]

It happened today, so not that cold. The wheel broke very shortly after she got off Stoney trail, thankfully it didn’t happen at speed.

Glad to know I’m not the only one stumped by this.

[Thaco]

definitely shitty welds, maybe combined with some curbing...

Nothing to do with lug torque

Only other possibility might be the wrong wheels and it was dragging on the caliper scoring the inside of the wheel creating a weak spot.

[ercchry]

I would think that whole face would be stamped, no welds?

Would appear to be defective, bad tolerances on the die or build up of materials, over working the material

Or a combo of that + over torque, hard to tell from the photo but looks like it aligns well enough with the edge of the brake rotor, that could have been enough force to tip it over the limit if the torque was high enough to disfigure the face of the wheel

We’re they hub centric? If not the vibrations could have also tipped it over the edge

[Flexray]

The center of the wheel is one piece that is welded to the barrel of the wheel, there is no welds on the front part of the wheel.

My vote is something got caught in between the brake caliper and wheel, and cut the wheel apart. When Chevy/GMC trucks went from rear drum brakes to disk brakes, rocks would get caught in between the caliper and wheel and slowly cut the barrel of the rim until it blows apart. I have seen brake pad shims slip out and cut brake rotors off of the hub.
You don't see that every day.

[bjstare]

Debris or something caught between wheel and scoring it seems like a potential scenario. She didn't mention any sounds though.

I believe they are hub centric. Zero chance they are the wrong wheels and dragged on the caliper (the failure area isn't close enough to the caliper, caliper isn't scratched). There were no vibrations either (I drove the car within the last week) and she's pretty cognizant re: new sounds and stuff like that coming up, she's not a typical clueless old lady.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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The center of the wheel is one piece that is welded to the barrel of the wheel, there is no welds on the front part of the wheel.

My vote is something got caught in between the brake caliper and wheel, and cut the wheel apart. When Chevy/GMC trucks went from rear drum brakes to disk brakes, rocks would get caught in between the caliper and wheel and slowly cut the barrel of the rim until it blows apart. I have seen brake pad shims slip out and cut brake rotors off of the hub.
You don't see that every day.

I suspect that the bolt circle & flange piece are certainly welded on (exactly where it failed) so that China can keep making China things in China ways.

"Heat Affected Zone" causes ductile-to-brittle metal behaviour.

[Buster]

conversion to center lock wheel.

[TomcoPDR]

[Flexray]

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Debris or something caught between wheel and scoring it seems like a potential scenario. She didn't mention any sounds though.

I believe they are hub centric. Zero chance they are the wrong wheels and dragged on the caliper (the failure area isn't close enough to the caliper, caliper isn't scratched). There were no vibrations either (I drove the car within the last week) and she's pretty cognizant re: new sounds and stuff like that coming up, she's not a typical clueless old lady.

Every now and then I will pull a wheel off of a car, the noise damper shim on the outboard brake pad has slipped out and cut a few mm slice into the hat of the rotor. The owner was not complaining about a noise, most of the time I have driven the vehicle and heard nothing. Same thing with stuff rubbing on drivshafts, sometimes they don't make any noise.

I don't know if I have ever seen a bolt circle welded into the face of a wheel, not saying they don't exist but I don't think I have ever seen it.

[jutes]

Damn. How old are those wheels?