VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Spoke wheel condition... safety???

Well guys I really need some help here. As you might remember I just got into this old jalopy stuff and am pretty green . I brought my car 31 coupe with 18" wheels on it Once I found out they were not correct (19") I had four spare 19" and I purchased one more.

Here is my problem.... I recently sold the 18" wire wheels to a gentlemen in New York (all five).
I thought he would realy be pleased once he got them......WRONG. He wrote me back saying the spokes were deteriated to a point that they were unsafe!!! I know its hard for anyone of you to make a call on something like this you can't see but, I hope you can give me some guidance. The wire spoke wise looked good there is some pitting on the inter rims. Mostly around the outer edges. They rode well on mine and I am now concerned what is good and whats bad. The ones I have to put on my car (the 19") have some of this "same pitting on the outer edges". I have stripped and sandblaster the rims and they have no other visible problems (spokes). Can anyone tell be at what point a rim can de determined un-safe. I feel obligated to compensated the gentlemen and I also question if mine are OK as well!

Confused....... Shocks

I have scrapped some I thought were too badly pitted to be safe. Most were only rusted on one side from sitting in mud.

Mine are in the same condition and so were the ones I sold to this gentlemen. I e-mailed him tonight and told him I would try and compensate him. He replied by saying he was going to the state of NY to get them inspected. I guess the bottom line will be he will never be confortable with the rims, so I will try to work something out there.
The only remaining thing I would like to know is how I can tell visually when a rim is unsafe ?

Hi Shocks
I have seen vintage sports cars at races with broken spokes but the wheels had not yet failed.
Perhaps he should have the spokes inspected and replaced as required. I have a card for Valley Wire Wheel Service on Coldwater Canyon in No. Hollywood, but I don't know if they are still in business. He should be able to find a similar service on the right coast. I found several hits on Google under - wire wheel repair .
Herb

Thanks Herb.
I don't know if your response will help the gentlemen in NY........ but it sure gives me some kind of guidline on my project car. I thank you very much for your input.

Shocks

You probably would not please him if you gave him all his money back and compensated him for his time. Some people cannot be pleased. I know that you didn't sell him something that you wouldn't use for yourself. I am the same way. But as I try to tell people AS IS NO WARRANTY.

Thanks Sportcoupe, But I thiunk I learned a big lesson here. You ar probably right on plesing most people. But I still feel bad. The lesson learned here is sale everything directly if possible. Then the purchaser sees what he/she is buying and then there should be no surprise. The other thing, you take items of this size and weight and mail them ..it even hurts more for the end buyer to deal with if not happy. In situations where condition can not be well illistrated in a photo I think I will just deal with future sales nose to nose. That will get me better sleep at nights.

Shocks, Don't loose any sleep ovet the wheel deal. You did not intend to scam anyone. If the buyer doesn't like the wheels let him pay the shipping to return them. He must take some responsibility for the purchase of sometning withour seeing it. Rest easy, you have done nothing wrong.

Shocks-

The key to selling something sight unseen is in the thorough description. If there was heavy rust around the spoke nipples, chances are, when sandblasted, it would lessen the diameter at that point and loosen the spokes. Everything, whether you think it is important or not, should be described in detail. The fact that you are green and don't know much about these things should also be disclosed to the buyer, so he knows where he stands and can ask questions accordingly.

The fact that you didn't intend to scam anybody is neither here nor there. Selling junk, represented as good merchandise because you don't know the difference, is a scam in itself.

If you make it clear before the sale that you are green, that he should ask questions until he is satisfied before he commits his money, and that the merchandise is sold as is, then you have done your part and the responsibility rests on the buyer.

Good luck.

I also have 4-19" wheels that I am getting sandblasted and painted in a few weeks. If I were to sell them I'd say they were in good shape so I'll see what they look like after sandblasting. They are somewhat pitted but would be happy if I found another like it. The honest peole are the ones that feel bad about something going wrong. From your post, I'd have no problem dealing with you at all. Yes, I agree with you Back Roads.