DopeTL04

Friend of mine has a '03 TLS which was bout used with about 18K miles on it. Its now been a almost 1 year since bought used, with about 30K miles on it. The car shook when braking and when took into dealer, dealer said all 4 rims are bent and need to be replaced!!! They are charging like $1600 for 4 rims!! Is this possible for the rims to bend like that on there own?? Has anyone else had this problem or heard about this problem?? Dont understand how 4 rims can just bend on there own!!

Dare_IL

Rims don't just bend on their own . If it has been driven for 12k miles and the problem is just now beginning to show sounds like more of a brake problem. Hard spots on the rotors or bad brake shoes.

To bend all four rims it would have to be dropped, wrecked or driven will all four tires flat.

goldendragon576

4 bent rims?? NOT likely. I thought you were gonna say it was a rotor problem because you said it shook when braking. Does it shake all the time or just when braking? If it's just when braking it's a rotor issue, if it shakes all the time, it's the rims. Rims will make the car shake ALL the time, not only when braking.

MADCAT

Most rims won't bend because they can take alot of force. My new rims are very strong. One rim can take 2100 lbs in weight.

crazym0nkey

Maybe the rims bent because your friend has been driving over potholes at insanely high speeds Are you sure that the dealer said that ALL 4 rims are bent? because that seems very odd......one bent rim could be the problem and the dealership is probably just giving you bullshit so they can rip you off by selling you 4 rims instead of just one.

DopeTL04

That is exactly what im thinking! :tflamer: DAmn DEalers!!!!

ngcreese

I've had one OEM 17" rim, from my '02 TLS, bend on me. More like it went out-of-round, because I couldn't see any particular spot where the rim was obvisouly bent. However, at hi speeds, when the bent rim was mounted on the front of my car, I could feel the vibrations through the steering wheel very much.

I was travelling at pretty high speed when I hit a brick in the middle of the road that caused my problem. The thing is, when I did hit that brick, it put a bubble in the tire's sidewall, along with bending the rim.

I finally replaced the tire and rim, and everything was fine.

Chet03TL-S

If the car only shook when braking its normally due to warped rotors. If you had bent rims the car would shake in acceleration, cruising and braking. The dealer has been smoking some crack. You should go to another dealer and have your TL rotors and pads replaced as stated by the TSB that was released a while ago.

etxxz

the Dealer is trying to get into your pants...for money... i dont know what their smoking, but i'd like some of that. IF they are bent, you can get aftermarket 18s with Z-rated rubber and still be $500 under the stockones, but its probably wrapped rotors or you have dirt in your brakes...Do you see a bend in the rims? 1600 for stocks, pffff...stick the rims up their ***

ngcreese

Yep that's an important point:

If the car vibrates all the time, espcially at higher speeds:
- Off balanced rim, need new counter weights placed on rim.
- Out of round or bent rim, need new rim.

If car vibrates only when you apply the brakes:
- Warped rotor(s), need to be resurfaced (cheaper fix) , although it's better to replace warped rotor(s).

goldendragon576

go to www.hunter.com and find the GSP9700 wheel balancer and find a location that has it. They can determine if it's the tire or the rim that's off and which one. Might want to invest in doing that before you do anything. If it's the rim and it's slightly off, you can find place that can fix it. I did that to one rim and I haven't had a problem since.

spl1011

How bad of a bend on a rim does it have to be in order for it to be problematic.

My car shakes at highway speeds, starting at 45 mph. I noticed a rim had a vary slight wobble to it that a mechanic said wouldn't cause the problem. I slapped the spare on and the car still shook. I also noticed the spare tire isnt balanced and you are not supposed to drive above 50 mph... too low for the vibration to occur.

Anyone had experiences with bent rims and just how bad it was and just what where your symptoms?

NYZGREATST

deyum 4 bent rims is rear suspect. stupid dealer. i think its a brake problem. i have a similar issue with my tl. i just need new rotors and breaks

spl1011

maybe the Acura "technician" wasnt using a Sprint PCS phone and you heard rims instead of Rotors.

But the 1.4k price tag says otherwise!

Tom Blasing

I think the service limit for lateral runout of a rim is .003"...or was it .006"

Vicman17

If your friend is about to be snowed by the dealer to get $1600 worth of new rims, I would suggest just getting himself a new set of aftermarket ones. For a few hundred more, you can find much better rims that are lighter and more physically appealing than the stocks. Also, don't get the dealer to get you to shell out for the Michelin OEM tires. When you get the chance to replace them do it! IMO the stock HX MXM4's are the worst part of the car that definitely has to go.

If your friend is still serious about getting OEM rims, just look at used ones and most likely pay half of that amount and with tires on if you're lucky.

spl1011

What is the service limit for radial run out?

Tom Blasing

Now that one i don't know but I'll look and see.

Here it is, it's .030" for cars both radial and lateral. Had my decimal in the wrong place.

Here's a site I found:

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/tsbalance/12014.htm