I bought a dump truck and one of the ears that the inside rims contacts has a crack in the corner. I was wondering if this is a big deal or just run it. Its a six spoke Dayton rim. Thanks for the help.
It's not the end of the world, but I'd replace that hub. If you find as good truck parts place, a new one should be under $200. If it breaks and the rim moves, it will destroy your rims, or your tires, or if they come off, (not likely but it can), kill somebody.
Be best to find a replacement wheel if possible ,new or a used one in good condition . A lot of pressure on that flange .
I found used ones for $250 and new ones for $460. Just a pain pulling axle, seals just to replace spoke
Everything is expensive these days . I did weld up a crack in a flange last year for a customer . Looked just like the crack in the photo. Ground it out deep & preheated to a dull red then used 7018 rod to repair it . It was a trailer wheel on a lowboy . They wanted like $750.00 for the new wheel & let on like it was a rare item & hard to get .Customer said weld it .
Be verry careful of welding on rims the liability sould something happen, accident or failure, is totally on the person who performed the repair. Sometimes you gotta do repairs in an emergency situation but be careful it can cost big time.
Another thing to keep in mind on the Dayton style wheel when installing is proper alignment . I just wonder if that is what causes the cracks to form in the first place ? Wheel miss aligned and puts extra pressure on the outer edge of the flange . I generally take my time when installing & use a jack stand as a gage on the wheel rim itself as I spin it checking alignment . I also like to torque them down by hand with a 3/4 drive breaker bar so I can feel what each wedge is doing .
Thanks everybody for the info. Going to put some new ones on. Thanks again!
If you really over load them they will break. We were supposed to haul 2 and 1/2 loader buckets of gravel a bit heavy at times but not that bad. Well they up it to three buckets and my drivers don't tell as it's the only work I had. They started blowing tires , breaking wheel spokes, etc. So I go down and have them weigh some loads. Something like 26 to 28 tons on a tri axle with 38,000 mack rears. That job ended that day for us.