Cast Aluminum Wheel Fix

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I did a tire rotation and I guess I forgot to tighten the lugs on the rear wheel. By the time I figured out what the noise was I wore slots  in my Cast Aluminum wheel of my 98 Ford F150. Has anybody welded lug bores of cast  aluminum wheels ? Did you Tig them ? Mig ? What Filler ? 4043 , 5356 ?  I don't know what the Base Compostion is of the Cast is ?Thanks
Reply:no expert here but I think 5356 would be my choice as it is an alloy, I think tig would probably be better but not sure about that.....I am confined to the mig world at this point...Guy_48Welding is an art......Millermatic 252Lincoln SP175PlusLincoln 225 AC/DC
Reply:I have welded up some aluminum rims in the past using 4043 and my tig.  I would imagine you will have to grind thru the finish first.  I know I did.  Cast can be tough to weld.  You have to get the impurities out of it.  have you tried any salvage yards to see if they might have a rim for your truck?I'm a Lover, Fighter, Wild horse Rider, and a pretty good welding man......
Reply:I did the exact same thing on my '98 Dodge Dakota a few years back. I wondered what the strange knocking sound was when I was driving to work. Ha.All of the holes were nicely egg-shaped by the time I realized what it was and got the wheel off to look at it. I considered welding since it was aluminum alloy but quickly realized that I would have had to preheat it to even make an attempt. This was out since the wheel has a coat of some sort of silver material on the outside and it would have been unsightly to say the least if that were to melt. I also only had a 250 amp Lincoln TIG at the time and I felt that this might not have been sufficient. The matter was finally decided when I spoke to the local machinist who is a friend of mine. He offered to index the 6 holes back in and reseat the angles for the nuts for $10 but then there was the issue of taking the wheel to a tire shop and breaking the tire off...they get $15 for an R&R and re-balance. That would entail two trips, too.......So there I would be with $25 and a whole day invested with a possible safety issue if I used too much heat or if the nuts ever came loose. This was getting unpleasant.So, I called the local tire shop and luckily they had a matching replacement dealer takeoff wheel for $80 so I bought it. They even changed the tire and balanced it for the same price......My advice is to bite the bullet and maybe get a good one from a wrecking yard.My 2 cents!   Last edited by gnm109; 03-02-2008 at 03:49 AM.
Reply:Get the replacement rim..Welding and machining everything so it stays in balance would cost way more unless you can D.I.Y.I can D.I.Y. if I wanted but I'd opt for the rim.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I've been approached numerous times about repairing cracked aluminum rims and I always send them down the road. I'm not interested in that kind of liability. I work out of a salvage yard and factory wheels can usually be had fairly cheaply. The custom ones are a whole different story.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:Originally Posted by Jolly RogerI've been approached numerous times about repairing cracked aluminum rims and I always send them down the road. I'm not interested in that kind of liability. I work out of a salvage yard and factory wheels can usually be had fairly cheaply. The custom ones are a whole different story.
Reply:at work my boss has me fix the wheels on his BMW ,19" wheels and michigan roads ,the rim ars $500. each so far i have done 6 one for his sons car and 5 for his none have come back brokenChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder