Horse drawn carriages and some old fashioned farm carts still provide work for wheelwrights; i.e. the skilled craftsmen who both make and repair wooden wheels. However, for most of us; wooden wheels are largely a thing of the past and our personal involvement with wheels is usually restricted to the metal ones on our motor cars.
Wheel Design
Like all wheels; the center of an automobile wheel is called its hub and is a hole through which connection is made to the vehicles axle; or, steering rod, as the case may be. From the hub the wheel enlarges in diameter out to the shaped rim that accommodates the tire. Whether your car has pressed steel wheels or the more expensive “mag” or alloy specially shaped wheels; the basic concept is the same.
Any Wheel Can Sustain Damage
Just because the wheel has a tire around its circumference does not mean that it cannot be damaged when in collision with something. The tire will absorb some of the blow but force will still be transferred through to the wheel. Hitting a curb or deep pothole can easily bend and deform the wheel and even cause breakage in some alloy wheels. This is serious damage and the wheel should not be used in such a state.
Sometimes, wheel rim repairs are possible but some safety factors must be taken into account. First off, will the repaired wheel have the same strength as when it was new? Secondly, will the repaired wheel be correctly balanced? Additionally, care has to be taken over wheel rim repairs to ensure that the seal between tire and rim hasn’t been compromised.
Steel wheels are generally easier to repair than alloy ones; but the high replacement price of the latter can make repair a more economic option. Just so long as this can be safely achieved.
Minor Damage
It only takes a minor miscalculation when pulling into a curbside parking spot for the wheels to rub against the curb. Invariably, this will scuff the metal at the very least. This is particularly true for those expensive alloy wheels which are mainly fitted because of a perceived improvement in the car’s overall appearance. Fortunately, smoothing down and/or painting over such scuff marks and scratches will not impinge on the car’s safety.
There is also another way of repairing this type of minor damage; or, I should say; hiding it. Since this damage usually occurs at the wheel rims it can be avoided by the simple expedient of fitting a polymeric rim protector to the car’s wheels. This can also be done after rim scuffing has occurred and used to hide most cases of this type of damage.
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