ABSTRACT
A multipiece truck wheel, referred as multipiece rims, consists of a rim base over which a truck tire is mounted, and a wheel center which is bolted onto the axle of the vehicle. Multipiece rims consist of a design whereby one flange is in effect removable. The multipiece rims are designed so as to hold together loosely while under no pressure. Unlike the Kelsey-Hays wheel which may or may not have suffered fatigue cracking under overloading conditions by the user of the vehicles, accidents involving multipiece rim separations are routinely described in terms of some action taken by a repairman in servicing the tire. Regulation knows its effect only in counting mishaps or their converse, 'safety records.' Most of reasons are centering on the compromise nature of the regulatory process: standards weakened by private interest lobbying when they are set out, selective enforcement practices, the need to drag matters through years of civil suits in the courts.
