I just went to the tire shop for a rotation and also asked them to rebalance since I was getting some vibration at high speeds. They balanced (using Hunter RoadForce) and came back and told me they did the best they could, but that 3 of my 4 wheels are bent. I've got the OEM 17" base wheels and while there have been plenty of mild potholes over the years it's not like I've ever hit a curb or other strange object. I don't recall any really nasty potholes either.

Do others have bends in their OEM wheels from normal driving with the occasional mild pothole here or there?

 

You might wanna go to another place and see what they say. Unless this is a trusted place.

 

Maybe they bent the wheels?

 

I know for sure that many people on this forum have had issues with bent OEM rims including me. I had 2 bents rims that I know of for sure. Seems like another expense we are going to have to eat is a new set of wheels and tires.

This vibration really pissed me off and there is a whole thread about it. Once I got my new wheels (A-spec) and new tires (conti dws) this whole vibration issue disappeared completely. Car rides better than how I bought it new from the dealer.

 

^Same situation with my rims. One with a repaired crack but bend, and one repaired. Don't know about the other two, maybe also bend.

 

try another shops sounds like they are trying to rip u off or sumin, did u ask to see all bends??

 

Got to say with the short tire sidewall, they bend pretty easily. In all my years of driving had only 1 bent wheel when I hit a curb in a snow storm and bent a steel wheel, but with the TL, struck a pothole that was in the shadow of a bridge and split the right front wheel and bent the rear.

Not certain of the year of your TL, but I believe the '07-'08 wheels are stronger with the new design.

If you want to check for a bent wheel, just jack up a wheel and place a pencil on a block of wood and the eraser end against the wheel and spin the tire to see runout. Dial indicator is best, but not everyone has one in their garage.

 

Mine is an '04.

Just a quick update. I brought the car in to a different tire shop and they confirmed 2 of the bends and showed them to me. They did not find any issue with the other 2 wheels.

One of them is a dent on the inside edge that is visible. I'm pretty sure this is the one causing me the most vibration troubles. The other wheel doesn't show any dents or flat spots, but has a slight wobble to it. Here's a pic of the dented wheel.


So, do I repair the bad wheels? I would do this one at a time, starting with the dented wheel. They said they would charge $175 and it would come back fully manufactured with all curb rash fixed. This hardly seems worth it since an OEM wheel isn't a whole lot more.

Do I just go out and buy a set of aftermarket wheels? If I go aftermarket, I'd want to go 18" for looks, but prudence tells me I should stick with 17" to have more sidewall depth and also so that I can keep my fairly new tires and not have to buy 4 new tires.

Thoughts?

 

Id say call around for pricing for wheel repair. Google wheel repair in your state. I've got quotes ranging from 50 to 140 here in Georgia and this is for a repair on an 19" wheel. Worst case scenario, upgrade to the 07-08 wheel.

 

Hmmm... I'll have to call around and see if it can be repaired for less. I'm starting to think this is a good excuse to buy new wheels. All four of mine are curb rashed pretty badly.

So does my risk of bends and dents increase significantly in a 17" vs. 18" wheel?

 

Not shocking. I bent one wheel already and pretty sure another is bent. Once these tires go I'm getting a set of aspec 18s or similar unless I can find a really good deal on refinished 17s.

 

I had the same problem on my TL 05. Had one cracked, and two bent. Rather buying all new ones or having them repaired the tire shop (AmericanTireCo.) Offered me a sweet deal on some wheels. I got into a set of TSW Nurburgring in Gunmetal Black Finish(17's to keep the new tires on the car). $700 out the door. Couldn't pass it up...

http://www.tsw.com/alloy_wheels_nurburgring.php

 

if you need new wheels, check out the black market section! Tons of members like to get rid of the factory wheels once they go aftermarket!

If you want new wheels for a good price, check into wheelsandcaps.com. They sell "replica" wheels that meet all DOT and TUV standards. Many BMW owners use them for their wheels since the factory wheels are ungodly expensive! Almost 7K for a new set of factory wheels vs. 1K from wheels and caps!

 

You can also try ebay or craigslist. I had a bent rim in my 04 a while back and got a replacement for $125, I think.

Joe

 

theres no actual way to bend a rim when you are balanceing.. unless you use a sludge hammer to do a static balance... (inside weights only).. i always recommend a hunter roadforce balancer or just dealer.

 

one simple pot hole is enough to bend a rim just a little. depending on how you hit it.. if you fell directly on the whole you can bend the inner or outer lip of the rim.. or if u fall and hit the inner lip as it seems you did then thats your answer.. ive installed brand new rims on my customers car before and they come back with all 4 of them bent in less thn 24 hours. and then again remember the profile of your tire defends your rim alot too.. example.. TL's are 235-45-17.... that tire will protect your rim alot more then a 235-40-17.. width does changes too but that gets complicated..

 

Just wanted to post an update here. I got a used wheel off of another member here (thanks BforBrian) and had it put on my car in place of the wheel with the visible dent on the inside edge. The vibration issues I was having are now gone!

The shop showed me the other two wheels that they are saying are bent on the balancing machine. The balancing guy spent a little time balancing them out and they are now balanced, but they each have a slight hop to them. As they spin, you can see the rim moving up and down a bit. One of them is very subtle, I could hardly notice it. The other is still pretty minor, but a bit more noticable.

If I can't feel any issue with these wheels when driving on them, is there any reason to do anything about this? Seems like no big deal to me, right? Or will I cause any sorts of other issues long term?

 

BUMP!
OP did you see any long term issues with the slightly bent rim?

I installed new tires and have 3 bent rims - hop is noticeable. Wheels were causing a humming noise above 50 mph. The noise is probably due to tire (general g-max) & damaged rim. They were moved to the rear but now it would be difficult to rotate the tires.

what was the outcome of your situation?

 

3 yrs old thread^^

OP no longer owns his TL.

 

If they aren't curbed, just get the bends fixed.
There are a ton of mobile wheel company's that will come to your house or job and fix the wheel on site....
A bent wheel may wear your tires unevenly

If they're bent and curbed...just buy new wheels. That's what I did. Wasn't worth fixing them.

 

Tri girl is right. I sold my TL earlier this year, but I still get on the board every once in a while and I still have an MDX (wife's car).

In any case, to summarize my 17" OEM wheel issues on my TL:

• Bent wheel #1 - caused lots of vibration issues. Replaced with wheel from member. Problem solved.
• Bent wheel #2 - mild wobble to it. Caused very subtle vibration issues when mounted on the front. Not noticeable at all on the rear.. Other than that it was no big deal and did not really cause any other trouble.
• Bent wheel #3 - really mild wobble to it. Never caused me any trouble.

In any case, since all 4 of my wheels were curb rashed pretty bad, I ended up replacing the whole set with the 18x8.5" gunmetal A-Spec wheels that I found off a guy on Craigslist (who had upgraded his TL to some beautiful aftermarket wheels.) Never had any bent wheel trouble with the A-Specs. Not sure if they were better quality or if I just avoided potholes better.

 

Lol haha. Thanks for the update.
My rims are curbed and bent. Plus just got new tires.
I'd love to buy new wheels in 18in but will instead look for aftermarket 17in to fit tires. No sense in repair current oem rims.