DIY Bent Wheel Repair ?

[Simon S]

I have a set of 15” weaves – but at least three are dinged as pictured below. (that’s the worst one)



Has anyone ever straightened out a bent wheel themselves?

I’ve seen shops with fancy tooling that get wheels to a NASA-straight condition – and I’ve heard about shops with JimBob out back with a hammer and torch.. if JimBob can do – I suppose I can too.

I’ve seen DIY guides where you heat the bent area with a torch – and then rest a chunk of wood on the bend and strike it with a big hammer. Has anyone ever done this?

With a tire on it – I don’t think a wheel needs to be NASA-straight – because I’ve seen plenty of dinged up wheels that hold air, and run/drive just fine.

Part of me wants to make refinishing these wheels a DIY project – which is fine and dandy – but I don’t want to be doing something stupid to these otherwise ‘saveable’ euroweaves.

Any thoughts or guidance appreciated.

[Hick]

nope

[Simon S]

What's the worst that could happen?

[george graves]

It could explode and unleash the demons of hell?

(you can move the metal a bit with a BFH and a block of wood.)

[Joe G]

tie like 98766544678lbs onto that side that is bent, then spin the wheel really really really fast. Gravity will do the rest.

[Axxe]

Propane, torch, block of wood, bfh, beer.

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

two blocks of wood, a small bottle jack and a lot of spinning

[geezerman402]

Check to see if the wheel spins straight or is warped first. A ding like that might warp a wheel, might not.

[BrettsE30]

Spin it first to make sure the whole wheels not outta whack. I just smacked the crap outta my bottle caps to make em straight but all my bends were on the inner lip.

[george graves]

I'd spin it.

[Simon S]

Thanks guys.
I guess my first step is to spin them and check for warp/wobble.
Should be able to mount them as pictured - and set up a guage to check them out.
If i'm lucky - and bends are localized to lip areas - then I'll go for it.

[BoxDriver86]

Method I used on a bent bottlecap. I just wanted to see if it works and it did.

http://vagwales.forumakers.com/t3235-diy-wheel-repair

Other options:
BFH - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAsYm...eature=related
How the pros do it in case you find a way to replicate - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNa5RmO-UDs

Best of luck saving those!

[der affe]

I'd spin it.

Thanks George, that made my morning.

[8380 Labs]

i've been told by knowledgeable people that heating an aluminum wheel up with a torch will change the properties of the metal and anneal it in a way that could be detrimental.

[frankenbeemer]

ASM Handbook Volume 2, Properties and Selection: Nonferrous Alloys and Special-Purpose Materials has the following information:

356-T6: aging at 305 to 315 °F for 2 to 5 hours
Yield stress = 185 MPa
Ultimate stress = 262 MPa
Fracture strain = 0.05

356-T7: aging at 435 to 445 °F for 7 to 9 hours
Yield stress = 165 MPa
Ultimate stress = 220 MPa
Fracture strain = 0.06

Don't heat the wheel over 300 degrees and you should be fine.