I have recently been considering getting a set of lightweight
17s for the Max, during my search and talking to various people, some
have shyed me away from Volks because they say they are "Brittle"
and on certain road conditions ( Large Potholes, Rough Train Tracks..Etc..)
They can crack.

From my limited knowledge of wheels I find this very hard to believe,
from what I've read, they are all forged and therefore the strongest
and lightest wheels on the market..Thus their premium price.

Has anyone ever seen a cracked bent or otherwise severely damaged
Volk/Rays wheel from normal road conditions?

Markus.

 

No wheels are indestructible. I only had my GramLights for about a month, so I can't really comment from experience, but from what I've read, heard, and seen, Volks are very high quality. If you hit any sizeable pot hole at 60 mph, expect to cause damage, regardless of the brand. Just be careful and watch the road!

 

I found a web site that may help answer your question. I am certainly no metallurgical engineer, but based on my understanding, ultimate tensile strength describes the point of fracture, yield tensile strength describes the point of permanent deformation, and elongation describes how much it will bend. (bending is good, brittle is bad.)

(EDIT: unfortunately, when I copied and pasted the information from the website, the charts lost form. Sorry if they are hard to read. Just click on the link to see the original.

Mark)


Taken from http://www.tawvehicle.com/alloyperf.htm

GENERAL ALLOY PROPERTIES THAT AFFECT PERFORMANCE

Alloy Process Density Outlines Weight of Material
AI-356.2 Aluminum Cast 2.7 gm/cm3
AZ-91D Magnesium Cast 1.7
AL-6061-T6 Aluminum Forged 2.7
MA-14 Magnesium Forged 1.8


As you can see from the above the cast and forged magnesium produces the lightest wheel. Magnesium is 34% lighter than aluminum.


Alloy Process UTS: Ultimate Tensile Strength
Al-356-2 Aluminum Cast 228 mpa/33 KSI
AZ-91D Magnesium Cast 230 / 34
AL-6061-T6 Aluminum Forged 310 / 45
MA-14 Magnesium Forged 328 / 48


This is an area where the forged process gives you higher strength and performance. The higher the number the stronger the wheel. This means that the forged aluminum wheel is 36% stronger than the cast aluminum wheel. The forged magnesium wheel is 42% stronger than the cast magnesium wheel.

Alloy Process YTS: Yield Tensile Strength
Al-356-2 Aluminum Cast 166 MPA / 24.1 KSI
AZ-91D Magnesium Cast 160 / 23
AL-6061-T6 Aluminum Forged 276 / 40
MA-14 Magnesium Forged 287 / 42



Again, this shows the yield tensile strength of the product. You can see that the forged aluminum is 66% stronger than the cast aluminum. The forged magnesium is 79% stronger than the cast magnesium.


Alloy Process Elongation
Al-356-2 Aluminum Cast 3.50%
AZ-91D Magnesium Cast 3.00%
AL-6061-T6 Aluminum Forged 12.00%
MA-14 Magnesium Forged 10.00%


This shows how brittle the material is. The higher the percentage number the stronger the material is. The lower percentage shows that the material is more brittle and is more likely to fail under an impact.





What conclusions can we draw by comparing a “stock” 27 lbs cast aluminum rim to a light weight 17 lbs forged rim? It is certainly lighter, but is it stronger? In the case of ultimate strength, I will argue no. It is weaker. The 27 lbs cast rim is 17% stronger than the 17 lbs forged rim. With regard to yield strength, the 17 lbs forged rim is only 4.5% stronger than the 27 lbs cast rim. With regard to elongation, the lighter forged rim is significantly stronger than the heavier cast rim.

Which of these characteristics (ultimate, yield, or elongation) applies to us? I certainly don’t know. But I will argue that we should not blindly state that forged rims are stronger than cast rims. Their increase in strength is offset by their huge decrease in weight. It seems possible that any light weight forged rim may be more prone to damage than a stock rim. Food for thought.

 

I have two sets of volks... the first set i had on for about year and about 25000 miles on them and still no problem. I drive through San Francisco almost 3 times a week.. through pot holes, EVERYTHING you can imagine and no problem yet with either set of volks.

 

My SSR's have seen some nasty potholes during their lifetime...haven't had a single problem so far....granted, I don't drive in the big city everyday...

I may be one of the lucky ones...becuz I hear SSRs are prone to bending...

 

London SE, I share your concerns. I have 2500 miles on new Centerline forged rims. My stock 18” rims weighed 28 lbs and these forged 18” rims weigh a little less than 17 lbs. I am not convinced they are indestructible.

Most rims come with a load rating. That may prove helpful in determining if they are a suitable match to your car. If you choose to use that as a guide, just remember that 62% to as much as 68% of your car’s weight (depending on load) rests on the front wheels. My guess is that a 1200 lbs load rating or more is okay for a Maxima.

I don’t know if this means anything, but I know of only one person who damaged their forged rims and of four people who damaged their cast rims. All five claim their damage was the result of a very hard, unusual impact. Coincidentally, all five people also had very low profile tires.

It seems to me that larger rims, regardless of their forged-cast properties or even load rating, are at risk of damage if they have very low profile tires. The lack of a meaningful sidewall height means that the tires provide almost no cushion to the rim.

If it helps, even knowing the risks, I'm very glad I bought my rims. Like Bran808 said, just be careful and watch the road. Good luck.

 

I drove through tons of potholes w/ my SSRs and Volks w/ low profile tires. Not a single dent

 

1 of my volk gl cracked.
Jae