5 things alloy wheel repair services CAN’T fix

Since we’ve been sharing all the great things we CAN do for you we thought it was time we told you what alloy wheel repair can’t do. This is important for you to know when talking to companies so that they don’t make promises they can’t keep. A professional repairer will be able to check each wheel and let you know whether the damage can be safely repaired.

Here are 5 things to look for that means you might haveally wheel  to scrap the wheel and buy a new one:

1. Badly Cracked Rim. The rim supports the full weight of your vehicle when cornering. Some minor cracks can be repaired by welding but the stresses on the wheel could cause the cracks to enlarge causing a blowout.
2. Buckled Wheel – Damage caused to the wheel by a large sideways force, for example, sliding sideways on ice or a very wet surface into a kerb, can cause the wheel to buckle. This means the wheel won’t run “true”. The symptom of a buckled wheel is felt as vibration through the steering. If the wheel has buckled in all three dimensions it can be impossible to repair or the cost of repair becomes more than the cost of a new wheel.
3. Bent Rims – Usually caused by running over something in the road at speed. Sometimes caused by mounting a step on to a pavement or into a car park. Another way a rim can become bent is by running with deflated tyres or with a puncture. The weight of the vehicle either suddenly or constantly on the wheel rim can bend the rim. This breaks the seal between the wheel and the tyre and may result in a blowout. As before, minor distortions can be repaired but anything.
4. Severe Corrosion – If you allow alloy wheels to become so corroded the alloy becomes perforated they can’t be safely repaired. Some parts of alloy wheels, especially split-rim wheels can be quite thin. Minor corrosion can be filled or ground out but severe corrosion creates tiny leaks in the wheel that allows air to leak. The symptom of this is like a slow puncture and can be dangerous if your tyre deflates and you don’t notice.
5. Distorted Wheel – this is where the wheel becomes slightly oval instead of round. This can also be caused by striking something in the road, even at low speeds. The wheel becomes deformed. The deformation is not just something that can be bent back into shape. The process of bending the wheel in this way makes it stretch slightly in different directions so it can’t be put back to its original dimensions. As with a buckled wheel the result will be vibration felt in the steering. In minor cases this will just be uncomfortable but severe cases can make the car vibrate so much it becomes dangerous to drive.

As always please call the experts at We Fix Alloys if you have any concerns about the damage to your wheels. Advice costs nothing and we will always offer you impartial advice about what’s best for your alloy wheel repair.