How hard is it to bend a rim? I've gathered that a lighter wheel (like SSR Comp) will be more prone to bending than the OEM wheels. But how likely are you to bend a rim? Can a simple pothole do it? What can be done to prevent rims from bending? I'm about to get some light wheels and tires, and it makes sense that a light tire might have lost some of the weight from the sidewall. Weaker sidewall -> less rim protection, right? I know runflats would probably be best for protection, but since I'm not doing runflats, what should I look for in tires?

 

I'm sure some potholes could do the trick, but I've done the most damage from hitting the edge on a curb once as I slid it to it because of ice on the road. I hit hard.

 

I've bent three rims on potholes on the WONDERFUL Cleveland Ohio roads... Not the MINI... Thank God!!!... Two on my Olds Intrigue and one on my Eclipse... The olds cost me $400 ea... and the Mit. Eclipse $250.00... SO... be careful not to hit those potholes... everytime I did damage it was dark and they were covered over with water, so I didn't even see them until it was TOOOOO LATE!!!...

Best of luck...
Keep paying those road taxes so we can have pothole free roads... LOL... yeah right...

 

You think the potholes are bad in Cleveland, just try and drive down here in south Louisiana.

 

>>How hard is it to bend a rim? I've gathered that a lighter wheel (like SSR Comp) will be more prone to bending than the OEM wheels. But how likely are you to bend a rim? Can a simple pothole do it? What can be done to prevent rims from bending? I'm about to get some light wheels and tires, and it makes sense that a light tire might have lost some of the weight from the sidewall. Weaker sidewall -> less rim protection, right? I know runflats would probably be best for protection, but since I'm not doing runflats, what should I look for in tires?

Wheels gain their strenth from one of 2 ways, sheer mass, or cunstruction process/ alloys. For example And ssr weighing 15 lbs is as strong as a gravity cast wheel weighing 20 lbs (example numbers) If pothole X will bend the SSR, it will bend the gravity cast counter part. Now A tank wheel, also cast, weighing in at 25 lbs hits pothole X, and recovers unscathed. All wheels can bend.

The only thing you can do is attempt to avoid impact, and when unavoidable use very low speeds. Typically ligher tires that weigh less,have less material in sidewalls and in tread cap. These tires with less contruction rely more on inflation to supply the support needed. They tend to comply and absorb more impacts than more ridgid tires.

For example a lower profile tire tends how have more in its sidewall to support the need for airpressure that caries the load. These highly ridgid sidwalls (also present in the self supporting tires) comply or flex less. They ride firmer aswell. They tend to tranfer more of the impact forces directly into a wheel. This also explains why its easyier to to bend 17's than 15's.

Dan

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MCO tire and wheel forum Moderator

 

Dan the man with the wealth of knowledge. Thanks for the explainations!

 

Thats what I am here for! Its my pleasure. Knoweldge is power. I'll give ya the power. Once you have it, the fastist line is up to you!
Dan

 

>>You think the potholes are bad in Cleveland, just try and drive down here in south Louisiana.
Hey DepShotgun, Welcome to MCO! Where in South Louisiana are you? I was just down there visiting my friends family in New Iberia. Those roads sure get a beating from the sugar cane, dont they?

 

I was told by my dealer I had two bent rims on the right side of my MINI.
I have the 17" run flatswith the standard wheels. They ride too rough, seem to increase the feel of every bump in the road, and cost too much (Wheel $225, Tire $312.00).
The dealer said my MINI would ride rough if I did not replace the bent wheels.
I felt that it already rode too rough and decided to wait and buy 16" normal tires and new rims from Tire Rack.
My recommendation to any buyer is do not buy the run flats!!!

 

Dan--thanks for your great response. Very informative, as usual. I have a couple of follow-up questions for you though.

I understand that *all* wheels can bend--regardless of weight, material and construction method--and that the best way to avoid bending them is to avoid hitting anything. Sometimes, though, it's almost impossible to avoid hitting ruts and potholes. I'm thinking specifically of some on the interstate right around here. There are numerous sections where the top 1" of pavement has come off at some point in a little pot-hole sized section. Since the sidewall of the tire will be at least an inch high, I'm guessing that these little "bumps" would pose very little bending potential even at highway speeds, right?

Also, i didn't quite get what you were saying about rigid sidewalls vs tires that rely more on inflation to supply support. Which would be most likely to result in a bent rim over a given obstacle at a given speed. Perhaps my confusion comes from a lack of understanding as to exactly what happens when rims get bent. Does the obstacle (such as the lip of a pothole), cause the tire to compress so much that the obstacle itself is pressing on the rim (well, on the completely squished tire which in turn is pressing on the rim), or does it never get to that point due to the pressures involved? Hopefully in all that i've said and asked you've seen where my misconseption is and can help me out! Thanks Dan!

 

Low profile tires tend not to flex or bend in their sidewalls. This means that when you hit a pothole the force is pushed right thru the tire that refuses to absorb, into the wheel. As a result the wheel may become less than round in compliance to the forces exerted by the pothole at speed, transfered right thru the tire.

Tires with taller sidewalls have less internal constrution and rigidity in their sidewalls. These tires when under inflated will tend do diflect, (sag around the contact patch) more than low profile shorter sidewall counterparts.

Dan

 

Thanks Dan...makes sense now!

Part two of the question. Are lighter tires (of the same size) any more or less likely to result in a bent rim? Or is that not a generalization that you can make?

 

I recently destroyed 4 '17 inch OZ rims i had on Mini that i had ordered from tire rack.. after sending them to turbex they told me they were too bent that the structural integrity was damaged and they were never to be driven on again.. i've been sitting on stock rims since this has happened.. initially i had runflats on, im looking to change to regular tires and possibley in addition make a switch to '16 inch rims, would there be a substantial difference in '16's and 17's if i'm looking for a rim that will live and wont get bent out

 

The lower the profile, the more easy it is to damage the rims. If you run 16 inch rims, you can go with 55 series tires and if inflated corrected would be the quite good against rim damage.

How did you bend all 4 rims? Curb? Pot holes?

 

The lower the profile, the more easy it is to damage the rims. If you run 16 inch rims, you can go with 55 series tires and if inflated corrected would be the quite good against rim damage.

How did you bend all 4 rims? Curb? Pot holes?

 

they bent over time, i guess it was just from driving around fast and hitting potholes.. there were 2-3 major pot holes that stick out in my memory but it was a gradual thing.. my concern is i killed a set of tires&rims in 9months =\