aluminm front rim ?????

That is correct. IMO any tyres that have been fitted are eligible for a "checking" as soon as you have loaded and rolled and I will keep checking it untill it has settled.
Most times you can get away with not checking newly fitted wheels but its that one time that gets you.

 

I'm not even gonna spend the time to look, but would you have the balls to roll into a Level 1 with a welded wheel?

It "may" be legal, but that's one of those things I wouldn't even push.

 

lostNfound has a good post as it's slow heat treated. Another thing is metal acts alot like a windshield crack and likes to run. To properly stop the crack from running you have to drill a hole on each end of the crack and then weld it. But then you are putting heat to it and hardening the surrounding area making it brittle.

As critical as a front tire and rim are, you don't want to be messin around. The rim would probably bring around $50 at a recycle place.

As far as violations, it falls under OSHA standards forbidding the welding of wheels. There's shops around the country that still do it though.

 

I've had the balls to do a D.O.T. inspection in California with recapped steer tires. The IDIOT civilian inspector (who was zoned out on pain meds for a "bad back") kept sending me to a Sheriff's Deputy working in the trailer in Banning. I requested a supervisor after wrongly being put out of service and drove away smiling. If you know the regs, you already know more than most of the inspectors.

I wasn't loaded with hazmat, and recapped steers are NOT prohibited unless you're under a Hazmat load. (Sometimes) And, re-grooved or recapped steers are illegal ON PASSENGER BUSES, re-grooved steers are prohibited on CMV's. City delivery fleets and some regional fleets roll on recapped steers all the time.

And, just FYI, the shocks on that truck went bad almost as soon as I installed them. (I'll NEVER buy that brand again). They cupped out the steers in 30,000 miles. So I capped 'em and got another 75,000 miles out of them with a new pair of shocks.

We're all driving to pay the bills- sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Oh- and last fall, one of my NEW, VIRGIN Goodyear LHS steers exploded for no apparent reason on I-94 in Wisconsin. I drove those recapped steers 'till they just wore down and had to be replaced.

You won't make any money in Trucking until you learn to think outside the box..