stupid pothole! is this wheel toast?

[brittbolen]

Was going to post this on the regular car forum, but I knew more people would see it here....

My friend hit a pothole last night and it blew out a nice new tire. That sucks, but tire rack has 'em for $123. But I looked at her wheel this morning and i'm a little concerned...

here are a few photos...











You can see the slight bend in the wheel at 7 o'clock. It seems pretty small, and probably not an issue, especially since I had trouble shooting it so that it would stand out.

Should I be concerned?

thanks,

Britt

[widebody911]

I've seen much worse; doesn't look like a problem.

[Rot 911]

Looks like a cast wheel. If you don't see any cracks at the dent I wouldn't worry about it. Any cracks at all then replace the wheel. If it is forged then no problems leaving it as is.

[juanbenae]

it does not look toast, i would have the tire removed to get the full view of it. i just had to replace my two front tires because of an event much like yours. it looked much the same, i took the tire off and was assured that it was ok. its like 20 to r&r a tire while you wait and inspect the rim

[project935]

That ain't nothin ...

Come up and experience MI roads and see what happens to your wheels.

[brittbolen]

Good, I wasn't really worried, but I wanted to check! Amazingly I've already found a replacement tire in town.

thanks,

Britt

[UconnTim97]

You should try the roads in downtown Philly....had my tires balanced twice already....

[bluebullet]

thats a small scratch compared with what Ive seen come into my old job. Some guy had a 3 piece Lowenhart wheel on his M45 that he ran into a curb with and bent the lip 90 degrees....big triangle lookin thing and the wheel was trashed.

Since it is a cast wheel, I would have it dismounted and check for cracks in that area. You might not be able to see them with the naked eye, but filling the wheel with air and putting it in a tub of water will reveal any cracks (air bubbles will start coming out). Ive changed a tire several times on one customers car due to the fact that he didnt want to buy a new wheel (yet he bought several expensive tires each time one ran flat and destroyed the sidewall). After filling it with air and putting it in the tub, he finally realized that the wheel was indeed cracked and bought a new one...

btw whatever you do. If someone says they can straighten it DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO SO!!!. After a cast wheel has bent, it will have to remain that way. Trying to straighten it will only crack the wheel. Forged wheels on the other hand can be straightened, due to the fact that when they are made, the grain orientation of the metal is all in the same direction (think of it as a wood grain..all the lines go one way). Therefore, if it bends, it is easy to bend back. They resist being made to move to a point where they dont return to orginal shape.

Cast on the other hand, has no grain..the metal crystals are pointed in all directions. Once they bend, the grain changes and it it stuck that way. An attempt to straighten a cast wheel will break the grain and therefore crack the wheel.

[azasadny]

Looks repairable to me, I've had worse damage repaired successfully (Michigan roads...).

[LeRoux Strydom]

The damage to the edge looks small, but the wheel might be bent. Have the tyre removed and the rim checked on a wheel balancing machine, that will show up any out-of-roundness. If it is not too severe, it might be usable. Beyond certain disformation/out-of-roundness, you will have trouble balancing the wheel with the new tyre. Contrary to earlier posted opinions, cast wheels can also be straightened successfully by a professional shop that will weld up any cracks, apply the correct heat treatment to stress relieve and re-paint if necessary. I had it done to 2 wheels on my 530i BMW.

LeRoux

[Don 944 LA]

my cookies have a few of those