Just had a few questions about bent wheels and what can be done to save them.

I have a set of aftermarket 18" running 215 35's and have been an unlucky (or rather expected) victim of pothole attack. Two of my wheels now have slight bending on the lips, causing minor to major vibrations when the car is in motion. The tires are retaining air, but I am mot sure what is causing the vibrations. My suspicions are:

a- the bends are causing the tire deformation due to the buldge or mis-shaping, much like having a lump or recess in the tire's rotational area

b- damaged tires

c - egg shaping wheels (I hope not)


My questions are:

1. Are bent lip wheels repairable?

2. Are egg shaped wheels repairable?

3. What would you recommend as a remedy? (obviously a new wheel and tire or just wheel would be ideal)

4. Will tire re-balancing help?



Many thanks and Happy New Years from a miserable tuner.

 

Pictures for entertainment

 

Wheel repair is possible.

Where do you live?

I doubt that your wheels are egg shaped.

 

Errm, London

 

I did something similar, hit a curb head on. Bent both front wheels the same way. I ended up replacing them, no one had a fix for bending the lip of an alloy wheel.

 

They can be fixed. Depending on the damage, quality of workmanship, etc.. it can sometimes be cheaper to source a new wheel.

Some brands (ok, a lot of them) aftermarket wheels are "sweatshop" cheaper copies of well known designs and brands.

You'll find that most brand name wheels hold up better. That said, there are some quality wheels that are so light they do bend, since they are really made for track use.

 

I assume that the bent wheel is on the front... its probably slightly out of balance now... they can be fixed... It can be rebalanced and might be ok. . . personally, the easiest solution is to move it to the rear and you likely won't even notice it any more

 

For London,

see
http://www.wheelxchange.org/solutions.html

 

This sounds so sad......and I might be victim of the same thing..

Thanks for the hope, I'll try to look for a reasonable shop and see their asking price before committing to a new wheel. Well wheels.

I am quite aware of these sweatshop knockoffs, since I happen to run a set on my car which are reps of Volks' forged ultra-light TE37s. I guess I'm just not in the time of my life where I have that kind of money to afford BBS level priced wheels for my car yet, and though I used to be black and white about it (my friends from back in LA were retailers for Varrstoen), looking down on "replicas being unoriginal and taking the credit from the originals, I sorta grew up and changed my thinking. And now I'm looking for a set of Rota MC's in 18s. I used to hate Rota..and XXR....and Varrstoen.. (my reps are from Inovit)

But you're right I have seen evidence of the real deal in bent condition myself. Probably due to the fact that they're track oriented and are more prone to joining up with stretched tires and slammed rides..

Thanks..I'll probably do a re-balance after sorting all the bends out since I'm quite annoyed knowing there are funny looking bends on my car. Sadly I've done as you recommended (which helped a little) but ended up making another bend on another wheel in the front.

I f*cking hate potholes and the government's ability to repair them. There are at least TEN on my street.

I'll check that out, cheers!

 

Yea, I hear ya. I have friends who spend huge $$$ on proper brand name wheels. Too rich for me.

 

I've had two bent OEM wheels straightened by small independent wheel straightening shops, no worries. I've no doubt with a little searching you can find a similar shop in your area. Both jobs took about 30 minutes and cost less the $100.00.

 

Thanks buddy. I just received a quotation from an indy shop asking for £60 + tax per wheel and £90 + t for two. I don't suppose it's too bad although I wouldn't mind putting out a little more to buy a completely new wheel..