The other evening I was picking up my oldest son at the High School. As I pulled into the drive, I heard a "whappitty-whappitty-whappitty" noise coming from the right rear tire. The first thought that jumped into my head was, "Dang you, Weather Spotter!"
I pulled over and took a look. Here I had run over some kid's earbuds, and the miniplug end had wedged in the tread. The earpiece ends were obliterated. The vinyl tubing was still intact as ever on the discs.
I had used some hard plastic tubing as spacers between the lugnuts and the backside of the discs. I didn't really like this set up, as the plastic tubing felt like it was being squished as I tightened the screws. So I bought some aluminum tubing and cut spacers to replace them.
When I removed the discs, I found that dirt and grime had gotten under the vinyl tubing on the discs, and had worn into the finish on my alloys. Drats! Maybe I should seal the juncture of wheel/tubing with some silicone sealant.
I still plan on ABA testing the discs. Just waiting for a calm evening when it's not; a) raining b) snowing or c) freezing. Stupid Northern Indiana weather.