Alloy wheel repair - Suggestions?

[SMOODY]

I was recently on a lovely tour of Virginia wine country and the fall leaves with the Mrs. when I got distracted for a second and cut the apex of a turn a little too tight. The right front wheel dropped off the side of the road and into a drainage rut. The end result was a blown tire (quarter size hole) and a bent rim (about 1 inch out of being round). :sad:

This made me really appreciate the full size wheel and spare tire the car came with.

Any suggestions on a place in Northern Virginia where I could get the rim repaired? Or am I looking at getting a new rim?

[woodym3]

Radial Tire in Silver Spring is pretty good at straightend slightly bent rims. There may be some scars to the finish after they're done, but you've possibly saved the cost of a new wheel.
Woody

[bren]

You might want to put in a call to a local dealer...they most certainly deal with someone for wheel repair.

The only place I know of "locally" is Ye Ole Wheel repair in Elkridge (410-796-8400 or 800-526-8260) . I've never used them so I can't really give a decent review of quality or service.

[jkuper]

Wheel Worx in Millersville as well. Don't have their number handy but they are listed. About 140 to fix/repaint. Very close match to original paint, same as Ye Ole Wheel Shoppe. At the time, Wheel Worx was 2 days to fix and remount the tire while Ye Ole Wheel was 3 weeks.

[SMOODY]

Thanks for the suggestions. I called the dealer where I bought the car and was quoted $150 to $200 to do the repair, I will also contact the places you suggested.

A couple of sites on the web had reconditioned wheels for about $200. Although I have found sets of FOUR on E-Bay for around $200.

I also got a quote of $360 for a new wheel. Ouch!

I may end up just getting a full set on E-Bay and picking the nicest one to put on the car.

All of this is somewhat funny to me because when I bought the car, I wanted the dealer to swap the 16" wheels for a set of 17"s. The refused to give me any credit for the 16s claiming that they were not worth anything to them because nobody wanted them.

[SpongeBob]

Headed to Wheel Worx on Thursday (Nov 11) to drop off the wheel and tire. They seem to have a good reputation in the Baltimore area. Several club members on the tour this weekend also recommended them...

[SpongeBob]

Good operation. My wheel was past repair. He had a used one that was almost perfect. Got out of there for a real good price. Cash only operation.

I'll ops: use them again if I screw up again...

Now I'm waiting for Baltimore County to investigate the insurance claim.

Pothole Bob

[John in VA]

I'm sure they send them out. There's another place near Jessup, Transwheel, that Curry's uses. They pick up from & deliver to the shop, but you pay for that!
I've had good work done by Ye Olde, but it's been 3 years since they refinished a set for me, so the current staff might have changed.
I called WheelWorx for a quote on repairing/refinishing a bent 14" E30 bottlecap, and it exceeded new wheel replacement cost.
Wheel Collision Center in Bath PA does very good work, and has many choices in stock, accepting your less-than-straight-but-repairable ones as cores. But I can't get them to take these E28 TRX wheels from me!!

[JRG_in_MD]

I also had a very good experience with Wheel Worx, although they're a bit of a hike from NOVA. Good service, fast turnaround. Cash only operation, and call before 2PM. They stop answering the phone after that so they can work.

The delta in price is to be expected. Older wheels that are more common may be significantly cheaper to buy used, and out of a batch of 4 you'll likely find one that's round. In my case, I was looking at a $550 price for new, $300 e-bay price, or $150 repair.

Rich
00 M5
94 F-150 P/U

[wolfgang20878]

Question: Does anyone know if a repaired wheel is a strong as a new one??

I've used both 'Ye Ol' and Wheel Collision Center (800) 292-RIMS). Not sure what process(es) the latter uses, they indicate heat treatment...you can find wheels online that are warranteed to meet oem specs, their service was 2-3 days, you ship back your wheel (or not) for a core charge. 'Ye Ol' can take 2-3 weeks if they are busy (Spring), I've seen them using really big hammers (!!) to straighten wheels, but they have a very good reputation.