I am calling on the wheel experts to please help me with a problem. I just got one of my rims repaired at a wheel repair shop, because it was bent. I took it to my dealership to get it mounted back on with my tire, but it turns out the rim is still not round. The repair shop warrantys their work for life, and apologized and said they'll take it back and make it right. My question is, should I trust them to actually get it right, and will the wheel still be safe? I don't want to ride around on a wheel that might not be structurally sound. What do you guys think? Thanks for any input you can give!

 

I am not familiar with wheel repairs but do they perform any kind of inspection on the wheel after the repair to ensure there are no cracks or they have damaged the wheel? Again I don't know if this is done or necessary, but when metal parts are repaired in the aviation industry and the material is affected like bending or welding they perform non-destructive testing to ensure the part is not cracked after working the part back into shape.

I guess it would depend on how they do it, like do they heat before working it or is cold worked, just my 2 cents which may be not applicabe to wheels but a thought.

 

Yeah those are exactly the questions I have too. I have no idea what they actually do to bend it back out. They obviously don't even test their work, or they would have known that the wheel still wasn't round. I'll definitely ask them about checking for cracks. Thanks!

 

It's been my experience that alloy wheels shouldn't be fixed after being bent; any serious work on them will definitely weaken the rim. Personally, I'd replace it (or get a new set) just to be on the safe side.