Bent Rim

paul c · February 23, 2004

A little while back, I purchased 4 new tires for my GS3 from a local chain. They installed and balanced them. After driving the car, I noticed there was a humming noise. I took the car back in a few days ago to have them check it out. The manager said two were out of balance and a third was actually bent. He showed it to me on the balancing machine, where it read "reccomend replace rim". I asked him if this was like this when I purchased the tires and he said no. I guess my question is, could they have done this during the installation process and not told me about it? The rim looks perfect and has not been curbed or anything. The bend seems to be on the inside of the rim, which leads me to believe they might be responsible for this. I asked him how this could have happened and he said i probably ran into a pothole. This seems peculiar, because only the inside is bent. Help me out here fellas.

SKperformance · February 23, 2004

Is there any physical damage to the rims inside lip as in a rough surface ?

Is the tire bulging in that area?

Did you purchase the rims with a mastercard with buyer protection, who will replace it for free?

Does the bent rim have a large amount of weights on it ,like a few stiprs on the oppostie side of the rim? If so then they balanced it with the problem before and it got worse. If you don;t see any physical damage other than a bend , then rip the manager a new one or selling sub standard wheels ( tsw always bend). btw who makes your rims ? If the tier has a buldge in the same spot then you did hit something pretty hard and it shifted the sidewall . But to bend a rim and not damage a tire is very rare as tires give before rims.

Either way a brand new rim bending is ridicuals.

They should replace it for free

SKperformance · February 23, 2004

Is there any physical damage to the rims inside lip as in a rough surface ?

Is the tire bulging in that area?

Did you purchase the rims with a mastercard with buyer protection, who will replace it for free?

Does the bent rim have a large amount of weights on it ,like a few stiprs on the oppostie side of the rim? If so then they balanced it with the problem before and it got worse. If you don;t see any physical damage other than a bend , then rip the manager a new one or selling sub standard wheels ( tsw always bend). btw who makes your rims ? If the tier has a buldge in the same spot then you did hit something pretty hard and it shifted the sidewall . But to bend a rim and not damage a tire is very rare as tires give before rims.

Either way a brand new rim bending is ridicuals.

They should replace it for free

paul c · February 24, 2004

Hey SK, this is actually a stock rim on a platinum edition GS. The tire has no physical damage, which makes me doubt it was a pot hole. It seems this rim could have been bent during removal/installation by the technician.

SKperformance · February 24, 2004

It would be almost impossible for a installer to bend a rim even with a machine, but i can;t see the damage to make a correct anaylsis. I would try lexus and see if they will replace it .Or get an estimate for repair.Some rims need only to be heated slightly and hammered back into place for under $100.

steviej · February 24, 2004

Was this chain Town Fair Tire in Quincy,MA?

Sounds like a very similar story that I had. I had taken mine in for a simple rotation front to back. When I got the car back, there was new vibration. I took it back and they tried rebalancing and so forth. They said that two rims were bent and had to be replaced. However, they could not tell me what the runoff was on the bent rims.

I had them rerotate the tires and then off I went to a better tire chain in the area. They were able to turn each tire about the rims and match up the supposed bent area with the high spots on the tire and then rebalance the tires while applying road force to them. This type of balance machine that first stated the tires were bent now indicated that the tires were within specifications. Problem solved....for now. It only cost $30 per tire to have this done. Expensive..a little...... but alot less than replacing a rim.

Potholes are an everday occurance in New England. I don't know where you are from but you probably have potholes too. Alloy wheels bend very easily when coming in contact with potholes especially at high rates of speeds and when tire pressures are low. The original tire place I went to had the car for the entire day. I don't know if they hit a pothole on a test drive while they had the car or what. It didn't vibrate when I dropped it off, it did when I got it back and their final answer was bent rims. Were they bent when I dropped it off, don't know, nothing idicated they were bent.

Don't give up yet. Find another tire chain and explain the problem. If you can get a knowledgable technician to spend a little time, they might be salvagable.

steviej

m2pc · February 24, 2004

I had the exact problem a year ago. I went to http://rimandwheelworks.com/ in Newton Mass and they did an excellent job. If you are looking to repair, they will do a great job if it can be done.

Good luck

paul c · February 24, 2004

It was actually a local chain in the Chicago metro area (lake county) called Waukegan Tire. I think they have a pretty good reputation. He showed me the specs on the electronic balancing machine. I forgot what it was off by, but it was off. I would think the wheel is very repairable. You had to search to find the bend.