Is this okay to use?

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Bought some second hand wheels only to return home to find this damage.... Suggestions?
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I don't know. Looks like a pretty hard hit. Does the inside of the rim flatten out in that area? You may need to hit it with a rubber hand sledge to round it out again. I had a set of C3 vette rims where one was like that and that's what I did.
 
Had an alloy with similar damage to that...would have needed a half housebrick to balance, and was still way out of round...until the shop did as turtlevette suggested and reformed it.

(Something that amazed me when we were in NY in 2010 was mobile wheel repair shops to straighter and repair rims)...many people means a lot of businesses are viable (or a cover for selling drugs)
 
I would want to spin it on a balancer and see if it's true.

The chip itself isn't that big a deal.
 
You may want to have someone with a Hunter GSP9700 run a rim runout procedure.

Find a GSP9700

The problem will be finding someone who knows how to do the procedure and properly interpret the results. Please note: The built in specs (the specs supplied by Hunter as default) are faulty and tend to grade wheels as acceptable that aren't. When I used the unit, I divided the wheel specs by half or so, so I could put the values in proper perspective.

But based purely on the appearance, I don't think that wheel will produce any vibration.
 
I wouldn't use it. If it was a steel wheel, I'd hammer it back out and not worry about it, but this looks like it's chipped AND flattened. I would be concerned it would crack or shatter.
 
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
You may want to have someone with a Hunter GSP9700 run a rim runout procedure.

Find a GSP9700

The problem will be finding someone who knows how to do the procedure and properly interpret the results. Please note: The built in specs (the specs supplied by Hunter as default) are faulty and tend to grade wheels as acceptable that aren't. When I used the unit, I divided the wheel specs by half or so, so I could put the values in proper perspective.

But based purely on the appearance, I don't think that wheel will produce any vibration.


I've seen rims with 1/4 inch of runout/ wobble and can eyeball them on a normal balancer.

These wind up on the rear where they don't generate much for complaints or even terrible tire wear.

Is this something someone can detect with a regular dial runout gauge?
 
Just the other day there was a CNN piece on insurance companies & repair facilities and the reported had this story about a woman with collision damage including a rim dent similarly to the OP's.

The reporter took the car on the highway and said it vibrated like crazy and took a lot of strength to keep the wheel straight.

Maybe as little as 1mm can make the difference between that and something barely noticeable. It could be fine on a rear wheel.

If you're mounting & installing & balancing it yourself it's worth a test drive. But if you're paying for those services then then it's not worth it because if it turns out to vibrate you'll have to replace it anyway and pay for all that stuff twice. See if you can get it fixed or get credit trading the set to a rim repair place for something they refurbished already.
 
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
.....Is this something someone can detect with a regular dial runout gauge?


Yes, but you have to take the tire off the wheel, you have to measure both bead seats, and you have to measure both in the radial direction and the lateral direction - and even then interpretation is a problem. Allow me to explain.

When you measure the runout, you get a maximum value and a minimum value. We call that peak-to-peak or composite. However, the vehicle reacts strongly to the 1st harmonic - that is, the best fit sine wave. While the peak-to-peak value is an indicator of the 1st harmonic, it is quite easy to get fooled. Plus, there might be a phase angle difference between the 2 bead seats and the side to side motion is larger than is indicated when using a dial indicator.

On the other hand, if a dial indicator is the only tool you have available ......

Which is why I recommend finding someone with a Hunter GSP9700. Not only does this machine do these measurements quickly and easily, the results are presented in 1st harmonic form, making it easy to diagnose issues. The only 2 problems I have with the Hunter GSP9700 is that it takes a trained operator and the built in specs are too high for the wheel.
 
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