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I recently posted about my experience with my Urge Flow rear rotors and how they lasted me 112 sessions before finally cracking due to a sticking caliper.
Today I'm reporting on my experience with 17x10 949 6UL's.
I purchased 2 set of 949 6UL in 17x10 size last year for my car for use with Hoosiers and Maxxis RC1. They seemed to be a decent wheel for the price/weight and thought they would be a relatively strong wheel coming from company that specializes in racing wheels. I went to get a set of new Hoosiers installed to find that all 4 of the wheels were bent! These wheels only had 39 sessions / 11 days total on them and the car never went 4 off or hit anything. I have had a wheel off or two here and there but I can’t explain all 4 being bent. The wheels themselves are spotless but have a decent wobble to them on the balancer.
I called 949 today and discussed the issue and they were unable to provide any assistance citing that the wheels are consumables. I just wanted to post my experience with these. I have never cracked or bent a wheel in the past and am just very surprised how short of a life these wheels have had. I completely understand that wheels are consumables but if I had any idea show short the life on these would be I would’ve tried a different option.
A quick google search found a number of other complaints of these wheels bending and cracking on various cars.
While the price and weight may seem attractive at first, I think these wheels are just a little bit too consumable (low quality) to stand up to any serious track use.
My replacement wheel is a 17x9.5 Weds SA72R, I'll report back in a few weeks with how they hold up. I'm hoping more then just a few days!
Did you happen to bend them individually with a single wheel drop between rotations and different race days? I dropped my left rear last season and noticed that it took more weight to balance and in two places on the next set of tires but I didn't watch it spin on the balancer. Unfortunately I haven't always had the best experience with Emilio, he's kind of arrogant and hard to deal with. I had the 949s on my miata, and I have them on my s2k and am considering buying another set but there are no good options for 17x10's around the same price range I can find.
Did you happen to bend them individually with a single wheel drop between rotations and different race days? I dropped my left rear last season and noticed that it took more weight to balance and in two places on the next set of tires but I didn't watch it spin on the balancer. Unfortunately I haven't always had the best experience with Emilio, he's kind of arrogant and hard to deal with. I had the 949s on my miata, and I have them on my s2k and am considering buying another set but there are no good options for 17x10's around the same price range I can find.
I've dropped a rear here and there but never a front. I found the same experience when I called 949. I called before posting anything to see if they could be helpful but when they picked up they immediately went on a defensive tirade about wheels being consumables and issues with other wheels out there before I even really said anything. It was even hard to get a word in but it read it just as a defensive statement covering up for the fact they are selling a cheap product and marketing it for race use. It goes hand in hand with the shitty customer service I faced when ordering in the first place and both your experience and mine seems to the norm as I read more and more about 949. I called Weds shortly after to talk to them about SA72R's and ask them to test the ST40 template and they were extremely informative and helpful. They also got back to me in about 10 min to very the BBK clearance. This is how customer service should be handled.
At the end of the day, there is a trade off of price, weight, and strength. While these 949s are cheap and light they don't hold up as experienced by myself and many others. Save yourself the money and buy a higher quality wheel right off the bat rather then going through these.
Last edited by Sickdayracing; 05-14-2018 at 06:58 PM.
If i had the money, I would just get Volk 17x10 +44 CEs or 17x9.5 +47 CEs.
I've accepted the compromise that is 949 since i'm too poor to afford much more than $1200 for a set of wheels. If i want 17x10 or 9.5s in offsets that fit and will clear ST40 calipers, then I'm looking at Rota, Forgestar, and 949.
Well that sucks, was hoping to get a set of these for a second set... I've been running the 17x10 Advans from Evasive, no bends after about 1.5 seasons and a handful of spins. I had RPF1's on my old Evo X and they were bent after only 2 events with Maxxis RC-1s on. That car was 1000lbs heavier than the s2k tho...
Shot of Andrie's car with Rota Grids. Not sure what BBK that is, but it looks massive... Go to Prima Racing to look for more shots and see if you can dig up more info.
And just so everyone is clear, yes, wheels should be considered long term consumables on a track car - especially if they're cast wheels.
Do enough searching on xyz brand of cast wheels and you will find failures. I'd say the 949 brand tends to see quite a bit more track time as a brand and wheel model (they only have one) versus other brands/models and thus likely will have higher reported failure cases simply based on the fact that the percentage of miles logged on track are likely higher than many other brands/model wheels (no data, big assumption on my part).
If you want a wheel that will last for track use with repeated berm hoping, impacts, etc. etc., get a true forged wheel from Volk or CCW.
Just so no one forgets the whole Forgestar bit... The lesson here, inspect your wheels - more often if you're tracking.
05-14-2018, 05:02 PM
Bent 17x10 6ULs
