new 7/20/03
I need convention pics. I am thinking of Gen 3 cars on the track for a photo gallery on V8SHO. Send pics to me or Larry.
Doug Mellum "reminded" me to get my tires rebalanced twice a year, which was the source of my vibration, (not a ball joint as feared). I have a cord showing on my front driver's side tire which was difficult to spot with the tire mounted on the car.
I ordered a set of Bridgestone S-03 in 17" for my summer rims from Doug Mellum's shop in Madison on Friday, but one rim has a small bend. Can any one recommend a good shop they like for fixing bent rims?
Tim
Tim,
I suffered a tire separation on the left front KDWS at about 32k last Oct. for the same reason...and I check my tires religiously. The wear, w/ the cord exposed on the inner edge of the tire, is very difficult to see. I had to drive on the donut 150 miles to get 1 new KDWS at Discount Tire ($150 total!). The shop missed the cord coming through on the right front inner edge & missed another sale. Fortunately I caught it on the drive back home during a rest stop (along w/ a very large nail in the right rear) & found a shop that had an old RSA plus a patch job to get me back home at speed, and 3 new KDWS's for $106 ea. plus mounting / balancing & tax. I didn't get a vibration until the separation occurred. Needless to say, I'm keeping a close eye on my KDWS's this time - originally thought there was a slight out of spec toe-out issue - maybe not with more reports coming in. My tires are rotated & checked for balance every 5k.
I know of a very good shop in Tulsa that can straighten & turn rims if they're not badly bent.
Here's the info I sent to our SHOklahoma club after the repair last August:
The wheel was put on a Hunter System 700 balancing machine & checked for runout which was .050 out. Once marked, the wheel was placed into a press w/ a long bar & the wheel was heated by torch in the affected zone for only about 15 - 20 seconds. Sam let the wheel cool for less than a minute & the press was activated. The wheel was then placed back on the Hunter to check the runout which came down to .010 out. To finish truing, the wheel was placed on a lathe to cut the high side of the inner flange removing very little material. Due to the chrome plating, the outer rim was left alone (said it would take $1 million in new equip. to be able to completely re-finish chrome wheels). The tire was mounted & the wheel was balanced using stick-ons. Total time was about 30 minutes & only charged me $50.00 instead of the $75 quoted. No issues were present on a quick run up to 80 on the way home & $$$'s well spent.
The max runout they can repair is about .250 out before they scrap the wheel. This shop also welds, paints & clearcoats wheels - does an excellent job in looking at the numerous repairs they've made on other aluminum
wheels. FWIW, Sam stated that he's had no complaints or returns from their work.
If anyone has any questions or concerns, contact Sammy at:
3 Point Wheels, Inc.
104-B S. 111th E. Ave
Tulsa OK
918-438-1298
Bill H.
http://www.audiworld.com/news/01/wheelrepair/content2.shtml
Here are two other sources:
You might also call 1-800-USED-RIM and AAA Rims (1-877-533-7467) to see who they recommend. They take in a lot of used OE wheels, and I’m sure they use these services regularly.
With one option you got no choice. With two options you have a dilemma. With three options now you can make decisions.
JiMP