Weird wheel question

I've got a 2001 S80 with aluminum alloy wheels.

My car is usually kept pretty clean but inevitably 2 or 3 days after a car
wash the brake dust begins to build up and becomes noticeable no matter how
clean the rest of the car is - but that's perfectly normal and not the point
of my question.

Today my wheels are dirty and I happened to see something on three of my
four wheels that defies description, and which I've never noticed before:
each of the three has at least one mark that looks like somebody has swirled
something against the wheel and made a shiny round spot amidst all the dark
brake dust. One wheel has two such marks. Two have one each, and the
fourth has none. They are not all the same size. They range from about
5/16" diameter to perhaps 7/8". All are near the outer edge of the wheel
within an inch or two of the tire.

Does anybody remember an old metal decorating technique known as "engine
turning"? Well that's just about what this looks like. The marks look like
the result of a deliberate act - but that's impossible.

I certainly didn't do it myself and the car is never parked in an area where
it might be vandalized.

I'm stumped. I have no idea what could cause something like this. I took
some digital pictures if anybody wants to take a peek and offer some kind of
explanation.

Reply to the group.

Pat

 

Send me a picture



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs http://www3.sympatico.ca/borism/

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

 

send picture to

chuck petterson
73ES

 

sound like a form of crop circle to me
send me the pics m8

 

Don't laugh. I've been thinking the same thing.

Pat

 

???????????????????????????????????????

got me m8?
it can only be someone messing about

???????????????????????????????????????

 

I've had something similar on my wheels - and in my case it's all the local
cats marking my car as their own...

 

That's as good a guess as any but go to this link, look at the actual spots
and then think a little more...

http://www.brickboard.com/GALLERY/index.htm?pix_type=TECHNICAL&js_link=

I listed my name on Brickboard as "crocodile"

Pat

 

Checked out your pictures at the Brickboard site, Pat - - -

Living in Anaheim, you've got some good institutions of higher learning
in the area. In your situation, I'd get on to an entymologist at one of
the Cal State campuses and see if there's some insect that lives in your
area, likes the color of your car, etc. They love weird things such as
this.

bob noble
Reno, NV, USA

 

I looked at the pictures on the Brickboad, and have a question:
Are the circles on the surface, or do they have depth?

 

dog pee

Don't taste it...

Dog's _can_ pee.. REALLY!

Dog pee.

Yup... dog pee...

__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvo
'93 960 Estate

 

To me it looks like one end of a short thread (or similar) was stuck to
the wheel, spun around in the wind for a while, then blew off.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

They must have some measureable depth although it is not detectable when I
put my fingers on the wheel.

I cleaned the car up this weekend and they vanished when all the brake dust
went away.

Pat

 

It does, doesn't it?

I cleaned the car up this weekend and it vanished when all the brake dust
went away. I was afraid there would be permanent marks but apparently not.

Pat

 

Ok Pat! It's *Nothing* like cats!

Heading into pure conjecture to try and whip up a broader set of ideas, how
about kids with one of those foam dart guns / rubber ball / Squash ball /
bow and arrow? It might just be something deforming/compressing on impact
leaving those concentric rings just as well as something spinning. Are there
any forms of BB gun that could use rubber beads this size?
I like the 'thread in the wind' idea posted elsewhere in this conversation,
but can't figure out why a thread would be stuck there in the first place,
and what would cause more than one to stick at one end and spin, especially
to different wheels.

I'm still thinking...
--
Regards,
Dom.

(Sorry about the return address - I'm sick to the back teeth with all the
spam. Please reply to the newsgroup.)

 

Did you get an alignment done when your car was last in the shop? If
so I would say they were the marks left behind from the the alignment
machine and they only became visible when brake dust was introduced.
If they are gone now then good riddance.

Jordan 1999 S70 Loaded!

 

No. The last service work was a brake job 6 weeks ago and the spots just
showed up last week.

They are gone now that I've cleaned the car up but the story of how they
were created remains a mystery to me. I'm curious about whether they'll
re-appear.

Pat