Bent Wheels = Pissed Off

[Kenny D]

I started to notice a vibration earlier this month, I went and had a rotate and balance at a different Discount tire location than my local one, (it was on the way home from work). I have had it done once before after purchasing the Tahoe at my local one with no issues, but this last time which was last week, I left the location and once I got to freeway speeds, the vibration was worse. I went to another location right here by my job the next day and had them check the balance. It got a better, but still a slight vibration. The wife and I took a trip to San Antonio and the whole trip I was constantly adjusting the speed to keep the "massage" to a minimum. So yesterday, I went to my local Discount and talked to the manager, he said to let him road force them. In the process, he brings me out to the machine and shows me that my wheel is bent on the back side rim area. There was a visible dip on the bead area but no signs of damage. He told me that he could balance it the best he could and put it on the rear. He ended up saying that another one was pretty bad too, and a third that was very slightly bent. I wouldn't think that the techs at that location would have bent three wheels just on the balancing machines, I watched them do the work.

How in the hell did I go from a perfectly smooth ride in Feb when I purchased the Tahoe, to 3 bent wheels in Nov? I have not curb checked, went off road, other than just normal driving. I have had to hit a few potholes but nothing to bust a tire on.

Is this a common issue with the 20" wheels or did the dealership just do a great job of ride matching the new tires on the wheels before purchase?

I guess I will be looking into wheel repair or new wheels, which ever is cheaper. No matter what, I am pissed off.

 

[NathanJax]

did the dealership just do a great job of ride matching the new tires on the wheels before purchase?

I'm guessing they just got it really good...

I guess I will be looking into wheel repair or new wheels, which ever is cheaper. No matter what, I am pissed off.

I can get you a deal on any reps you want.

 

[Kenny D]

@NathanJax PM sent.

 

[Kenny D]

Ok Wheel guys, answer me this.
I have been looking around on the web, spoke with a few of you guys here that deal in wheels, and looked on Ebay. Why is there such a big price difference on the same wheel. All the replicas come from China, so who's is better?

 

[PG01]

Not that this will help you in any way, shape or form but....I have a guy that fixes any rim you want, he even paints if called for and My tire place uses him all the time. 2 of my honda rims hit a large pothole( just the rims not the car....hehe) and the wife curbed one. $40 each to fix bent ones and not sure how much he cargrd me to fix cutb rash...they all balanced perfectly...maybe look to get them straightened before dropping more on rims.

Sorry @THE YETI and @NathanJax not trying to steal business just giving an alternative answer

 

[NathanJax]

Ok Wheel guys, answer me this.
I have been looking around on the web, spoke with a few of you guys here that deal in wheels, and looked on Ebay. Why is there such a big price difference on the same wheel. All the replicas come from China, so who's is better?

There are a few different manufactures. Some have no warranty on finish or structure. Some companies carry 1 one year warranty, etc, etc. Ours have a 2 year finish warranty and lifetime structure.

Lets say you don't care who makes the rim, because you offer NO warranty. I'll have the cheapest company make the cheapest rim they can, and ship as many as I can, as fast as I can. If I care about quality and want to make sure each rim is right, I'll pay the little extra to make sure they are produced right. Because I'm paying that extra, the company will warranty out any issues they arise from their mistake.

Not that this will help you in any way, shape or form but....I have a guy that fixes any rim you want, he even paints if called for and My tire place uses him all the time. 2 of my honda rims hit a large pothole( just the rims not the car....hehe) and the wife curbed one. $40 each to fix bent ones and not sure how much he cargrd me to fix cutb rash...they all balanced perfectly...maybe look to get them straightened before dropping more on rims.

Sorry @THE YETI and @NathanJax not trying to steal business just giving an alternative answer

No worries. If someone can do it right and cheap, I'd do it too. But if not, we can set anyone up with new rims.

 

[Kenny D]

Not that this will help you in any way, shape or form but....I have a guy that fixes any rim you want, he even paints if called for and My tire place uses him all the time. 2 of my honda rims hit a large pothole( just the rims not the car....hehe) and the wife curbed one. $40 each to fix bent ones and not sure how much he cargrd me to fix cutb rash...they all balanced perfectly...maybe look to get them straightened before dropping more on rims.

Sorry @THE YETI and @NathanJax not trying to steal business just giving an alternative answer

I have searched online for repair places around here, Being I only have one vehicle, I would have to do one at a time. Reason I am leaning towards new ones is that the clear is failing on all 4 around the valve stem area. I have corrosion spiderwebs that are pretty bad. It was that way when I purchased. I was living with it but now that the wobble is pissing me off, I'm to that point where I just don't want to deal with it. I probably can recoup at least half my purchase price by plasti-dipping and selling them at a cheap price. Some people aren't as sensitive when it comes to ride quality as I am.

 

[jerryjoe28]

Ok Wheel guys, answer me this.
I have been looking around on the web, spoke with a few of you guys here that deal in wheels, and looked on Ebay. Why is there such a big price difference on the same wheel. All the replicas come from China, so who's is better?

@NathanJax explained it to you really well, also just a FYI the finish on the cheaper ones regularly have imperfections in them. I see a few sets a week that people come in and want to get something different because the cheapbay wheels they bought 10months ago don't look as good as they did. we don't really sell reps and nothing on the lot ever has reps on them. but if a customer just has to have them we will only order the higher quality ones. at the end of the day its your ride so what ever makes your happy go for it.

 

[gat0r]

lots of roads seem to be getting worse.

def. dont replace w/ black rhino (BR) rims.

i have had 5 replaced & found another 2 bent. so far no shake or shimmy yet.
1 was done in by a big pothole covered w/ water...city paid for it.
rest were small potholes, no deeper than 1".
all have been replaced, but its super annoying. all of my past vehicles, never a bent rim
i even went to a slightly taller tire to give more cushion.
i have no idea what to replace with.

 

[Rocket Man]

Ive had a motorcycle wheel straightened and widened so I know the technology is there. When I bent one of my 26" Dubs last winter I was going to have a local place straighten it until I found they can only do up to 22's. It's not too expensive to have it done but probably only worth it if you have one or at the most 2 bent and you either can't get single replacements or they're expensive rims. Definitely an option though.

 

[Lightning 95]

As with all positive offset wheels ,and low pro tires nowadays, it doesn't take much to bend a wheel. I bent a steel wheel on my wife's Camry running over a baseball size chunk of ice awhile back. The backside of most wheels are like the open end of a 5 gallon bucket. The front side is much stronger, so you never see them bent. It always shows up on the rear of the wheel on a balancer. I see bent wheels on half of the cars I change tires on, with our never smooth roads in Iowa.

 

[steve45]

I see that you're in Crosby, Texas. If you ever drive in Midland, the roads will tear up your wheels. I've cracked two factory aluminum rims on my truck. Thinking about going with steel wheels on my next truck. Our roads absolutely suck!

 

[PG01]

Roads suck all across the US but come to the northeast after a freeze/thaw cycle and a winter of salt...tires, rims, shocks, struts springs.... ive gone thru it all on pretty much every car ive owned.... and on top of those things the rust starts about 1/2 a sec you drive anything off the lot.... scratch that... it starts on the car carrier when it crosses state lines... you can actually hear it start to bubble....lol. But, nothing, nothing is worse than wife that curbs your shit every now and again.

 

[Kenny D]

Just placed an order for these. 20 x 9 with a 0 offset. Price was about the same and a little cheaper than OEM replicas. Maybe with a 0 offset instead of 31mm, they might be a little stiffer.

Wheels are not to scale, but this is Discount Tire's rendention

 

[NathanJax]

Maybe with a 0 offset instead of 31mm, they might be a little stiffer.

Stiffer?

Depending on the rim, that just means the wheels and tires will stick out further past the fender now. Would change the stiffness at all.

 

[Kenny D]

As far a the barrel, the backside of the rim is virtually unsupported with the 30mm offset putting all the support up front. At least with the 0 offset, the support would be closer to the center.

 

[Nashoba]

Only bad set of wheels I have ever had were on a new 2005 Southern Comfort Avalanche we bought in OKC. All four rims went bad within 12 months and the dealership and Southern Comfort made them good. No problem with the new ones, ever. I don't usually look for super bargains when buying parts for my vehicles. If the deal is too good, I pass on it. I find a good mechanic or use the dealership with whom I have dealt for almost 40 years and make sure I get good, reliable parts. That way I don't have to wonder and worry about reliability, normally. Wheels and tires are so important to the ride I want to have that I just don't mess with the equation very much.

 

[Kelsda]

FYI I recall a video on line of someone doing test comparisons on oem vs reproduction wheels huge difference in impact testing like life and death not saying all reproduced wheels are bad if I find the link I will post

 

[Nashoba]

One thing we all should do, however, is torque our lug nuts to proper specs after every rotation. I usually check the torque setting on mine within 150 to 200 miles of the rotation. I "always" find at least one lug nut per wheel off by ten ft lbs. They don't use a torque wrench at the tire shop or dealership so we must do that on our own. If you check the torque right after the rotation, you ought to do it again at 150 to 200 miles, just to be on the safe side. Never have had a wallered out (as we say in Oklahoma) lug hole on one of my vehicles but I have seen plenty over the years. Never a need for that to ever happen. Too dangerous for such a simple operation.

 

[gat0r]

FYI I recall a video on line of someone doing test comparisons on oem vs reproduction wheels huge difference in impact testing like life and death not saying all reproduced wheels are bad if I find the link I will post

this the one?

if not, when you find it post it.
its all good info to take in

some are always better than others & sometimes there are just bad batches.
i am already on a new set of rims, dealership repaired 3 rims for a total of 5 times. then i got a whole new set. so far so good on these <knock on wood>