Bent Wheel

[Bolsom]

I have copied this here from 'wheels & tyres' I live in France (in the sticks) and having lost 60% of my tongue to cancer and have difficulty in communicating with the French. The pidgin french doesn't help either. Should I start looking for another wheel or is repair possible?
I shall be back in the UK in mid December, south of Bedford, if anyone knows a company who might be able to repair the wheel.
Any help/comments would be gratefully received.


I was driving round a bend at about 60 when I hit something on the road. The tyre was immediately deflated although control was no problem. I have put a bend in the wheel rim which is about 1/2 inch deep and the contour now slopes back to normal after about 2 1/2
inches on either side. Can anyone tell me if this is likely to be repairable please?
There are no cracks in the wheel, its a bit like me, just bent out of shape. I had to run with it for about 3 miles to get home as the
spare was very soft, having never been used in 19 years. I kept the speed at about 20MPH but the tyre looks cooked on one side.
When putting the 'get you home' spare on today I noticed its size was 14inch. Is this standard, and if so why?
I went back in the Focus but was unable to find anything in the road to account for it. I suppose I should count myself lucky that
the front suspension looks OK.

Colin

[MPx]

That sounds like really bad luck Colin. It might be worth posting a pic of the damage as its hard to picture how bad it is. I have been amazed with the results that my local South West Wheels have managed on some dodgey looking rims so it may be possible. One thought though - if they can do it, a good repair and refurb will be around £80. It may be perfect, but it will probably be better than the others and you may then get suckered in to refurbing the other 3. Any chance you could pick up a replacement rim on here or fleabay as better value?

[HJ2]

I have good experience with repairing bent wheels as well!
So, post a piccie

[steve matthews]

A 4 lb. rubber impact mallet (filled with sand) often can bend a rim back in shape.
At least to the point wheel weights can take up the slack.
Steve

[Rice crispy]

I had a S2 wheel straightened a while ago which had a buckle on its inside and when repaired you would never have known.

[theelanman]

I had a S2 wheel straightened a while ago which had a buckle on its inside and when repaired you would never have known.

who? what? where?

[Gary1958]

Colin,

I have a set of four wheels (15") that I would sell you if you decide to do that rather than repair. Not too far from the M25 and south of Bedford too.

Best regards,

Gary

[Rice crispy]

I had a S2 wheel straightened a while ago which had a buckle on its inside and when repaired you would never have known.

who? what? where?

Can't remember will have a check.

thought it was in my post viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19776 but didn't name them

[Bolsom]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Herewith piccies

Colin

[MPx]

Well its obviously a bad knock, but looks reasonably benign to me - well rounded no creases or gouges, my guess is that would roll out pretty easily on their machines. I understand they can sort out these sort of dinks where the wheel is no longer round, but they cant do anything if the wheel is twisted. Repair alone (ie to make the wheel round again) would be about £20 down here, but I dont know if places will do a repair without a refurb, as I dont know if they would inevitably damage the finish in the repair process thus requiring a subsequent refurb. I also dont know any repairers in your preferred area. Lepsons in Swindon would be the nearest I've used - they would do a good job. SWWR in Exeter is the one I've used most but that's nowhere near Bedford - probably nearer France! Good luck

[whippit]

Bloody hell you must have fat French hedge hogs wondering around the countryside
ive a wheel you can have if you don't have any joy getting it fixed,
only prob i'm a little north of bedford about 200 miles at a guess, it does look repairable though,

[Bolsom]

Whippit, they don't have hedghogs anymore, they have probably eaten them all. I have yet to see one alive or flat. Wild boar or badgers are more likely and there were 2 roe deer in the back garden last month. I will come back to you on your wheel when I have explored
the costs and possibility of getting my wheel repaired.

Thanks Colin

[Neil D.]

Try this
http://www.fixalu.com/accueil.html

Had my S2 wheel "sorted" in Switzerland many years ago, I could not even tell you which one it was.

Bon courage

Neil