Fixing damaged wheels - my experience

[kzx03p]

After upgrading my '05 to OEM Chrome Gumby wheels this spring, I bent my 2 left hand wheels going over an unseen pothole in Michigan at a road construction site on Square Lake Rd. at Telegraph late this summer. Fortunately, nothing else was damaged. I Just wanted to let people know that if you find the right shop, bent wheels can be restored to factory specs without cosmetic damage! I took them to wheelrefinisher.com. They were confident in their ability to restore them, but I was not too hopeful - especially for the front wheel. I was told by several other wheel shops that the rear wheel could not be fixed due to the chrome plating, and that the front wheel could not be fixed due to the severity of the bend (several cm displaced on the inside edge, and looked "center-bent"). Wheel Refinishers told me that even fixing the front was no problem. The rear was bent less - probably < 10mm out of round. When I arrived to pick them up, I was amazed! Not only were both wheels running true, but there was absolutely no cosmetic damage done during the straightening process. The price was reasonable as well.

[ztheusa]

They don't have the same strength anymore. Don't drive faster than you want to crash.

[kzx03p]

I can't concede to that statement unless I see some numerical data showing yield strength before and after. It is actually possible that the strength has increased depending on the severity of the bend, the level of temperature used, and how quickly it cools, type of alloy, the original manufacturing process, and other factors. I would agree that it is also possible the strength could decrease. Many types of metal alloy products are produced by repeated heating, forming, and cooling. It's not necessarily bad. But without hard data, all one can say is that there is a potential risk of reduced strength.

The forged part of the wheel (spoke area) was not touched. Heating that area would almost certainly reduce strength.