Wheel deformation and scratches are common situations we encounter in our daily lives. How to repair them has become particularly important, because it not only affects the appearance of the car, but also affects the safety of travel.
Straightening a bent alloy wheel is a lot more complicated than just hitting the bend with a hammer. What once worked on wheels will most likely damage the alloy wheels beyond repair, so it's important to take your bent alloy wheels to a shop that actually knows how to straighten wheels, as they have the wheel repair equipment to do wheel repairs professionally.
First, the tire had to be removed from the wheel, as there was no way to accurately hold a bent alloy wheel with the tire installed. Also, since heat is used when repairing a bent wheel, leaving the tire open while straightening the wheel could result in tire damage.
Next, the wheel must be attached to and rotated on a device with a gauge that will show exactly where the alloy wheel is bent. It's true that just spinning the wheel on a balancing machine, for example, can help you see wheel bends, but when it comes time to properly fix the bends in an alloy wheel, a gauge is a necessary tool to see where each bend is. Once you've rotated the wheel with a gauge and marked all bends, you can straighten bent wheels. The first wheel straightener attached to the bending wheel is used to take out larger bends. Once the wheel is secured to the machine, heat can be applied to the curved area of the wheel. Depending on the make of the wheel and the type of alloy used, we typically heat the wheel to between 250 – 350 degrees. When the wheels are hot enough, the bends are massaged away. In some cases this may take a few tries, as the aluminum wheels sometimes want to return to their starting point. The use of a gauge is crucial here because when a bent wheel is straightened there must be an indicator of what is "back to round" - you can't just press down on the curved part of the wheel until it looks is round.
When all major bend has been removed, the wheel will run fine with only very slight bend around the rim. At this point, the wheel is connected to a second straightening machine, where a high powered torque motor rolls the wheel onto a "shaping machine", which reshape the wheel. This process changes timing, but eventually removes the slightest flex in the wheel, so the wheel will truly run to within a hundredth of an inch.
The scratched wheel can be repaired on a professional diamond cutting wheel repair machine. Only a small amount of cutting is required to repair the wheel , making the wheel take on a new look.
