Bent rims? Garbage or salvagable?

by **Danillo17** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:14 pm

Turns out I have 2 bent rims in the rear? Should I expect to pay $600 to get new rims? Or should I look to get the 2 unbent? The tires are almost new all the way around.

by **02slera** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:24 pm

i dont know anything about rims, but before throwing them away i would atleast try to bend them back into place. maybe a rubber mallet or put a block of wood on the rim and smack the block with a hammer to try and bend it back. i dont know.
from time to time you'll see a set pop up for sale here for around $300-$400 depending on condition.

by **ToyoSolV6** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:27 pm

i used to see this all the time at the shop i used to work for if the air of the tire is not coming out through the bend then it should be fine, take it to a tire shop have them balance it and see if it shakes on the balancer or how much weight it would need. We used to get anything to beat it back into place as much as we could that way the customer wont get as much vibration. Also make sure those two wheels always stay in the rear not up front you will feel uncomfortable vibration up front, so when you go and get your tires rotated make sure they dismount those tires and mount them on the other wheels.

by **mig0s** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:34 pm

I've had different bent rims in the past, similar to the pictures you posted. I drove like that for a whole year without problem before selling my car. From what I see in the pictures, you should be more than fine driving with these rims. If you wanna get them fixed, search in your area for shops that unbend rims. In Montreal, they usually charge 40$/rim to make them round again.

by **Danillo17** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:58 pm

Thanks for all the replies. I do get some vibrations already at different speeds. I recently balanced the front rims and changed the front tie rod ends but the vibrations come back. I put on the spare today instead of one of the bent rims and that seems to have helped. I know usually the rims have to be heated up to be bent back but imp going to try a 2 by 4 and a sledge hammer to see if I can do anything to help it. A new set of rims all the way around at discount tire would cost me around $600 installed so I'd like to avoid that.

by **Danillo17** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:59 am

ToyoSolV6 wrote:i used to see this all the time at the shop i used to work for if the air of the tire is not coming out through the bend then it should be fine, take it to a tire shop have them balance it and see if it shakes on the balancer or how much weight it would need. We used to get anything to beat it back into place as much as we could that way the customer wont get as much vibration. Also make sure those two wheels always stay in the rear not up front you will feel uncomfortable vibration up front, so when you go and get your tires rotated make sure they dismount those tires and mount them on the other wheels.

You are 100% right about keeping them in the back. I had to have discount tire flip them back after balancing the front wheels and rotating back to front.

What are the kind of things you used to try to bend them back in to shape?

by **SleeperSolara** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 11:06 am

The bend doesn't look too bad.

by **ToyoSolV6** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:41 pm

Danillo17 wrote:
ToyoSolV6 wrote:i used to see this all the time at the shop i used to work for if the air of the tire is not coming out through the bend then it should be fine, take it to a tire shop have them balance it and see if it shakes on the balancer or how much weight it would need. We used to get anything to beat it back into place as much as we could that way the customer wont get as much vibration. Also make sure those two wheels always stay in the rear not up front you will feel uncomfortable vibration up front, so when you go and get your tires rotated make sure they dismount those tires and mount them on the other wheels.

You are 100% right about keeping them in the back. I had to have discount tire flip them back after balancing the front wheels and rotating back to front.

What are the kind of things you used to try to bend them back in to shape?

we used to put a few shop rags so the rim wont get damaged and then just hit it with a hammer, either way it doesnt look too bad and should be ok.

by **GreeKAvaLoN** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:48 pm

^ what toysol said, if it isn't leaking air it shouldn't be bad in back, but these are the oem rims right? be careful hammering them, one of my oem alloy rims got bent a little worse and was barely holding air so my dad decided to try and hammer it back in (i already had a aftermarket set of rims) and he ended up cracking the rim lol. i believe DSM_Lara is selling a set of OEM rims, if not him just check around for another set of 99-03 sle rims before paying 600 for brand new ones.

by **unbalancedwood** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 9:00 am

Look on your local craigslist or call a few 'wheel tire shops' in your area...they usually know someone who does this work.

I needed a wheel fixed (a small bend like yours) called a few places, found a guy how had done previous work for a friends wheels for $55 dollar a wheel. He needed the tire off...your local walmart will usually dismount for free, just wheel it up to them and ask kindly (I use to work at one back in college, we did this all the time).

by **DSM_Lara** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:49 pm

GreeKAvaLoN wrote:i believe DSM_Lara is selling a set of OEM rims, if not him just check around for another set of 99-03 sle rims before paying 600 for brand new ones.

Sold them already Locally.

It's on an old school Lexus es300 and it's clean.

by **Ruski** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:58 am

i had a bent rim just use it as my spare now , it bothered the hell out of me i could feel it wobbling so bought a brand new one on ebay lol for half the price it would of cost to repair