[mattz280]

I've heard that three piece wheels are a pain in the butt. Apparently the seals break down and start to leak after a while and also the bolts need to be tightened periodically.

Does anyone have any experiences with multi-piece wheels? The last thing I want to worry about is doing maintenance on my wheels.

 

[macclass5]

I have a set on my supercharged 2000 Viper, 3 piece BBS LM's and between Viper Days events, open road racing, and the drags, I have never had a problem.

mark

 

[brian944t]

Blown Viper? stats please!

hey macclass, what kinda hp does it put out? do you have a 1/4 mile time for us? that sounds like a fun car (for a non-z of course).

 

[Matt 78Z]

The wheels on that Viper are also probably new and very expensive if you find some for a Z that are used rebuild them first unless you can afford new ones. I would still go with single piece wheels though for street use.

Matt

 

[John Coffey]

Re: Depends

It depends on two things:

1. The wall thickness of the rims.
2. Usage.

Most 3 piece wheels are built with rims of .190, .200, or .220 wall thickness. These are fairly strong and rigid and are a conservative approach taken by most rim builders. Wheels built with rims of this thickness will rarely leak and don't require retorquing. Some ultra-lightweight wheels built with rim wall thicknesses of .160 or .125 do require frequent retorquing and resealing. These wheels generally wieght about 2 to 5 lbs less than wheels using the thicker rims.

If a wheel is used on a race track a couple things will contribute to air leaks and the need for retorquing:

Off track excursions - You go off the track and there's a good chance you'll bend a rim or put a big load into it.

Heat - Surprisingly some 3 piece rims come with low temp powder coated centers. The heat generated from repeated high speed braking on a race track can cause this powder coating to degenerate. This opens up a gap under the fastener hardware and, in extreme cases, can cause the rims to separate from the center.

- John