Ultra Light Wheels

[David Dixon]

Last weekend I was very lucky to acquire 5 Ultra Light Wheels, then considering they were only about a mile from home here in Brampton, Cumbria, and I "got in first" to say I'd purchase them, it was a stunning turm of events. In three and half years of living here I have probably only seen about 10 MGF MGTF locally too. I want to get the wheels checked over and a refurb, and I have decided to have a colour change from gunmetal grey to Sparkle Silver. I am seeking clarification that they are Forged Aluminium, are not or do not have any magnesium content. I believe they were manufactured by Tecnomagnesio, and when I mentioned this because of the company name the wheel refurbisher wanted confirmation that there is no magnessium content. Googling has produced some conflicting information (or is it opinion ?) I would be grateful of any informed comments, and also about how good, or bad they perform.

[EllsoJo]

I cannot say if the Ultralight wheels are definitely a Magnesium alloy, but according to Roger Parker, the UL wheels were "approximately 3.5kg lighter, so nearly 40% less than the standard wheel". As well as "about 4 times the cost". I cannot see how such a weight saving could be achieved, or a price difference justified, unless an Mg alloy was used. There must be wheel refurbishers who deal with race-car wheels, many of which will definitely be Mg alloy. suggest you find one of them and accept their (justifiably) higher costs & prices.

[David Dixon]

Thanks for reply. For me the ULW's are the best looking wheel design in what was offered by MG (and including the Swedish wheels) which is the motivation to put them on my TF. In getting them refurbed convience plays a factor as my daily is a Honda CR-Z so can only get two in the boot at time, and I have found a local business with a good reputation to do wheels. So it is just establishing beyond doubt the make up of the wheel.

[mgb281]

This is an opinion based on searching for lightweight wheels for my TF. Mazda produced several lightweight wheels for the MX5 including one five spoke design and one with five twin spokes, they are both 16x6.5 the latter is the lightest and weighs 6.4 kgs so a little heavier and a little narrower. On the basis that these were mass produced rather than ultra low production then a 6kg all aluminium wheel is entirely possible. Indeed both Advan and BBS produced 16x7.5 wheels for the MX5 that weighed 6kg's or less, knowing the long term downsides of magnesium alloys it is far more likely that the ULW contains no magnesium.
The main reference to the composition of the ULW is "an aluminium alloy" which is a meaningless term as virtually all "alloy" wheels are cast in A356 which contains 7% Silicon and 0.3% Magnesium so even the heaviest wheels contain some magnesium.

[mgtfnut]

I've got a set of ULW wheels, obtained back in 2011 from a guy who had three sets! I'm dubious that they are pure Mg, as would be expensive and a slight element of danger. As said, they are probably a small part of the "alloy", much as you can get S/S in various alloys mixes which can give virtually no rust protection.
They are very thin in construction and more liable to "damage" than say Trophy wheels which are considerably heavier - tank wheels come to mind.
I run Trophy wheels in winter, and switch to ULW when the worst of the salt/pothole situation eases a bit more later in the year.
It will be easier to keep in good nick in silver, as touching up the original gunmetal is difficult as the paint fades over time.

PS: forgot to add the plastic wheel caps are not the normal size, and supplies are as rare as the wheels

[David Dixon]

I agree they aren't pure MG but were a option late in MGF Trophy production (though possibly not for the UK market) and MGTF option (if you bank balance was OK with that). If the wheel cap size is the same as the Trophy wheel then I have a spare non orginal set without badges from my Trophy owning days. The ULW I have wheel did have grey caps but a couple of reverses ide prongs are damaged and the badges delaminating.

[mgtfnut]

When I said Mg, I meant the element Mg, not the MG car

Yes, the Trophy and ULW plastic wheel caps are identical, and different to the normal MG-R range. Luckily I have several sets of OEM ULW wheel caps.

Just to de-bunk an urban myth, the metal MG inserts can't delaminate. The white "growth" seen is aluminium oxide caused by corrosion of the bare, exposed edges of the aluminium sheet as it stamped out of the larger batch sheet of anodised product. Anodising is an electro/chemical oxidation process where dyestuffs can be protected by the relatively inert aluminium oxide process. Hence why gear lever knobs change colour over time/daylight exposure - fading of the dye.
Sorry about all that - 38 years in the chemical business

[David Dixon]

Just checked the ones I had and they don't fit. The reverse side prongs are too far apart. 15 years of storing them...wasted !. I can't tell if the badges are metal as plastic type covering material and the white growth appears to be under that.

A devastating blow to "I'll keep this just in case' policy. A leak at the flood gates. !

[EllsoJo]

Re. The original (implied) question of "Are these Ultralight wheels cast in a Magnesium Alloy; and therefore need more careful refurbishment than Aluminium-alloy wheels?

Tecnomagnesio are still very-much in business, and SOME of there current wheels are described by their distributors in the USA as "Magnesium Alloy wheels"

Tecnomagnesio have a contact email address:
info@mimtecnomagnesio.it

Hopefully they would respond to a clearly-framed question (I would suggest including a photo of one of your UL wheels) and would probably point you towards a U.K. company who they trust to do refurbishing of their wheels.

I am sure anyone else with these wheels will be interested to hear what response you get and the end-result of any refurb. you get done.

Regards & Good Luck

[Tomcatciller]

Hello David,

i am also looking for a single ULW because I managed to buy three at Ebay last year. How did you get yours? I am locking at Ebay all the time.

Just in case you want to sell the fifth wheel you have. Here is my search topic with pictures of my 3 wheels. They are new and according the the previous owner the last ones sold by Rimmer und another MG Internet shop I dont know. He tried to get a fourth wheel for 5 years and gave up.

I have another question. Can you please check the numbers on you ULWs? The last one seems to be a production number and I want t know how many of these wheels were produced. Mine are "00376" and "00393". The silver one I cannot read because somebody resprayed it. My guess is that there are ~100 ULW sets with total of ~400x wheels produced.

Another thing I had to learn is that the ULWs are illegal in Europe. I asked first owners of TF Cars with the ULW option and they dont have anything in their car documents (no part number). The german TÜV (german MOT) also dont have the part number in their system.

So going to German MOT is a pure luck thing with the possibility of failing and repaying the 120€ MOT fee again at someone else who maybe is more open to these OEM wheels.

Greetings form Germany

Tomcatciller

[David Dixon]

Hi Tomcatciller. Where are the numbers on the wheel ? The ones I have are currently fitted with tyres. I saw an add posted on MGF MGTF parts for sale facebook page with the location given as the town I live in. However there are two towns in England that have the same name (and a few villages) and I fully expected it to be the other town. The sellers also put them on ebay but by this time I had messaged to say I would buy them.

Ellso Jo. Yes you are correct about my question, which is the question the refurbishers asked me. Google searches revealed three or four comments (maybe off hand, ill informed) that suggested magnesium or part magnesium. Responses to these comments were that they were incorrect and the wheels are in fact "alloy" or another response was "forged aluminium"

I had them booked into refurbisher tomorrow, but with continuing doubt I will not now take them. I have time frame until the end of the month to get the five wheels at 5 for 4 price but also have a level of (because other non related factors) inclination to get them refurbed.

[Tomcatciller]

The number can be found at the inner side of the rim.

Next to the identification numbers (not on the picture - more to the right of the "JWL" symbol)


In case you want to repaint or pulver coat the rims you may should take a picture of the identification markings before they are gone by the coating. I dont know if these markings are of interest at the MOT. In Germany sometimes they are and a rim without identification or without documentation for the car is a failed TÜV.

Greetings

TCC

[David Dixon]

The company refurbishing the wheels are removing the old tyres (and disposing them) and fitting new tyres after refurbishment so I wouldn't actually get to see the wheels without the tyres.

[Tomcatciller]

You can see the markings with assembled tire.

[David Dixon]

OK I thought you meant on the inside of the rim which would be covered by tyre. I gave the outer surface a quick clean and didn't notice any numbers or text, though possibly still obscured by grime. Wheels now stored out of the way in the garage until I decide whether to pursue getting them sorted.

[EllsoJo]

Ultralight wheels??

Dave, you might be interested to know that someone is selling what look to me like Ultralight wheels on Facebook Marketplace: see above:

[David Dixon]

They are not ULW but OE spec' 11 spokes. I decided not to keep the ULW I had, I am staying with the original 15in V spokes on my TF, which are MY2005 exclusive (though some have found there way onto other F's and TF's).

[Tomcatciller]

Hello, can I buy one of your 5 ULW wheels? I can let them pick up from your home via DHL Express.

Here a photo of real ULW wheels:


Greetings from Germany

[David Dixon]

They were sold and picked up two weeks ago.When cleaned up by the buyer one wheel was not in good condition so didn't break even on them financially as I was hoping to do.

[Tomcatciller]

Hm, maybe the buyer want to sell me the single brocken wheel. I would like to give it a try in restauration. Can you please ask the buyer or give me his contact?

Would be great. Greetings from Germany.