Rim flange wear can be a concern for fleet manager. It happens most often in applications with heavy or shifting loads, such as in the refuse market. If you are experiencing excessive rim flange wear in your operation, consider these recommendations to ensure optimal rim flange maintenance.
Brian Thomas
Maintenance is a critical component to ensuring reliability and safety of fleets, their drivers and others on the road.听 Wheel maintenance is a significant contributor to the overall efficiency, lifetime operating costs and appearance of commercial vehicle wheels, and when spec鈥檌ng wheels, fleet managers should consider a variety of factors when making their equipment selections.
Rim flange wear, or irregular wear on the surface of the rim flange of any commercial vehicle wheel is caused by abrasion from the tire chafer and sidewall. This can be a concern for fleet managers. Rim flange wear happens most often in applications with heavy or shifting loads, such as in the refuse market. If you are experiencing excessive rim flange wear in your operation, there are recommendations to consider using in order to ensure optimal rim flange maintenance.
Determining Rim Flange Wear
Below are the essential steps to properly identify rim flange wear.
STEP 1. Remove the wheel/tire assembly from the vehicle. Remove the valve core to deflate the tire completely. Remove the tire from the wheel according to OSHA regulations, TMC recommended practices for tire and rim safety procedures and/or the manufacturer鈥檚 wheel service manual.
STEP 2. After the wheel is separated from the tire, check the wheel flange with a credible rim flange wear gauge to determine if the wheels must be removed from service for excessive rim flange wear.听 Virtually all wheels will be deemed serviceable by the gauge measurement. If you do not have rim flange wear gauge, wheel manufacturers like Alcoa Wheel Products supply them at no charge.
STEP 3. If the wheel is deemed to be serviceable by the rim flange gauge, examine the wheel flange edge for sharpness by using a rubber sharpness gauge. These gauges are constructed by having a section of tire side wall or a suitable piece of rubber attached to a block of wood. By running the sharpness indicator gauge along the wheel in the area of the wear, determine if the wear is sharp enough to cut or damage the rubber on the sharpness indicator. If the rubber is cut, then follow through with edge removal.
STEP 4. With whatever tool is selected, work the tool around the wheel鈥檚 circumference removing only enough material to eliminate the sharp edge. This should only be a small amount of metal. Perform this work on both flanges if there is evidence of sharpness. Regardless of the method which you choose, the objective is to remove the sharp edge. Remove just enough metal to smooth the edge. Take care to make sure the edge removal is as uniform as possible. Avoid gouging the wheel.
STEP 5. After the edge is removed, run the sharpness indicator gauge along the area of edge removal to check for any remaining sharpness. If the rubber is still cut, perform the steps again to remove the sharp edge. Always remove the minimum amount of material necessary to eliminate the sharp edge.
STEP 6. Check the rim flange height with the rim flange wear gauge to make sure there is adequate height remaining to safely support the tire. Be sure to move the gauge all around the wheel鈥檚 circumference and make sure that no area of the flange is below what the gauge indicates is acceptable. If the entire wheel flange is within the limits of the rim flange wear gauge, the wheel may be returned to service.
STEP 7. Always inspect the wheel for any other conditions that would warrant removal from service. Consult the manufacturer鈥檚 wheel service manual or the TMC User鈥檚 Guide to Wheels and Rims.
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Maintaining Rim Flange Wear
Maintenance is also a hot topic among equipment managers, especially as it relates to curbing damage. Forged aluminum wheels offer the strength refuse equipment can rely on, both improving maintenance and furthering the life of the equipment. Additional surface treatments offer maintenance advantages, such as those treated to reduce or eliminate rim flange wear, common among refuse equipment. Some types of aluminum wheels feature a specially treated rim flange that reduces wear and extends wheel service life for heavy haul and shifting load applications. This design feature makes these protected wheels most appropriate for applications where loads are heavy and prone to shifting, causing tire walls to rub against the wheel rims.
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Wheel Material Selection
When considering wheel choices, value should always be the goal. Forged aluminum wheels present lifetime advantages over steel wheels. Although steel wheels may be less expensive at the time of purchase, they become more high maintenance over time. Decisions come down to short-term versus long-term planning and navigating the available choices to ensure value over the entire life of the equipment for the fleet.
Not only lighter in weight than steel, aluminum wheels are five times stronger than steel and more durable to increase freight capacity, help improve fuel efficiency and lower maintenance costs for increased productivity and, ultimately, lower lifetime operating costs.
Brian Thomas manages marketing communications and product launch efforts for Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products (Cleveland, OH). Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, leads the commercial vehicle, automotive, and defense markets with products used in a range of applications including forged aluminum wheels and premium products such as Ultra ONE庐 Wheels with MagnaForce鈩� alloy, LvL ONE庐, Dura-Bright庐 EVO, Dura-Flange庐,听 and M-Series鈩� wheels for medium duty trucks. Brian can be reached at [email protected].
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A detailed guide to measuring and maintaining rim flange wear may be found at .
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