I recently got new tires for my car. The installer brought it to my attention that two of my rims were bent. He showed them to me as he tried to balance them.

This came as a surprise to me. I have had this car since it was new. Nobody else has driven it. All the miles have been put there by me. I have never gone over a bad pothole or anything like that.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem with bent rims where your car does NOT go over any pothole or sidewalk? Are the TSX stock wheels too fragile and easily damaged?

 

Not to my knowledge. I will say there are various ways to balance tires, because he wasn't able to balance them doesn't necessarily mean they are bent. Could you see them wobbling on the balance machine as it turned?

 

My wife bent one, but that was a pothole on a highway (from construction actually) that trashed the tire too. I'd guess they're no more rugged (or less) that most OE alloy wheels. Honda used to use Enkei as a wheel supplier (and may still; I haven't checked the wheels, though they're heavy and that's an Enkei characteristic). I had the wheel fixed, but it may be cheaper just to buy a couple of used wheels. And it doesn't really matter how it happened I suppose.

 

Well, sliding in the snow and hitting a curb flush at 25 mph sure as heck can do it like I did to mine.

Anyway, I'd say no. Between living in Denver, and then here in Flagstaff, AZ I can say that potholes and bad roads aren't going to bend the rims. In fact, aluminum alloys are more likely to be chipped than bent. That's one of the benefits of alloys versus steel rims. Now, if they are bent, you can just throw them on the back. Also, unless they are ridiculously bent, you can still balance them. A bent rim is about the same as a new rim for the purpose of balancing... you have to balance a rim because they are imperfect to start with anyway.