WOW Sixty Fiver! Reading your response and it all made sense. I am certain I over tightened all the spokes evenly, And thereby really overtightened the drive side. With the heft pounding relentlessly, no wonder the spokes were trying to pull through the rim. I guess I'll either learn the proper tensioning or leave it to the truing professionals.

DX-MAN I totally get that nothing lasts forever, add in my lack of basic maintenance to this bike and its a wonder I went as long as I did without serious failures.

Milice I just looked at the old wheel and the only label is on the shimano hub. I think Trek hadn't started the conversion to Bontrager when I bought the bike as the rack and trunk I bought then have the Trek labels. But it wasn't long until everything went Bontrager.

Thanks to all for the tips and insights.