Why should I repair my wheels?

Many vehicle owners will leave damaged wheels on their vehicle because they feel that it is “good enough” or that repairs are too costly to justify. The truth is that even a minor damaged wheel will cost you more money over the long run, and worse, can lead to dangerous driving conditions.

Uncorrected vibrations caused by out of round or bent wheels, will cause uneven tire wear, extra heat and pressure, which will require costly premature tire replacement. Worse, this can cause a tire blow out during high speed driving. Beyond tire damage, these vibrations can also cause serious damage to both the steering and suspension systems of your vehicle. This untrue rotational mass can also be a safety hazard due to the contact patch changing dimension and location with every revolution of the wheel.

Cracked Wheel Repair

Some wheels may just have damage to the face or lip from scraping a curb. While this damage may seem cosmetic only, what has happened is that the protective layer of paint has been removed in that area, exposing the raw aluminum to the elements. This will eventually lead to oxidation, and corrosion of the base material. This can lead to low density areas in the aluminum which leak air from the tires or be more likely to crack during normal driving.

Cracked wheels present the most dangerous situation to you as a driver. Cracks are virtually always the result of a significant wheel impact, and thus are almost always accompanied by a bent wheel as well, which will cause all of the damage listed above. Additionally the Crack itself will not only leak air, but can continue to spread eventually leading to a catastrophic failure of the wheel.

If you plan now, or in the future to have your wheels chrome plated, black chromed, or powder coated, the answer is simple.

Most wheel repair or restoration shops return the wheel to the original “look”, by using body fillers such as Bondo to fill in curb scrapes, scratches or dents in the aluminum. They are then painted over, to give the wheel the original alloy look. If such a wheel were to be stripped for chrome plating, the body filler would be removed as well, leading to even further repair costs, or an unsatisfactory appearance as a result.

Additionally, many wheel repair shops will simply try to pound out of round wheels into shape with nothing more than a lead hammer. All metals including aluminum alloy, has a ‘memory’. Given the proper heat and precision force, the wheel will return to its original shape with much less strain on the rest of the wheel.

At Houston Wheel Repair, our repair techniques all center around the assumption that the wheel will eventually be chrome plated. This means that we repair your wheel the correct way, by reshaping the metals, welding in new aluminum where required, and shaping and polishing the metals back to their original shape.

While body fillers may work on a wheel that is going to be painted, a proper repair is absolutely required when a wheel is to be chrome plated, black chromed or fusion coated, as these finishes are applied to the wheel via electric current. Obviously electric current does not flow through a body filler.

Once the wheel has been straightened to within oem specifications, and passes a visual inspection for any facial repairs, the wheels are turned on a precision lathe, which machines the bead seat on the wheel wheel perfectly round