Alloy Wheel staightning?????

[Bilgewiper]

Well I finally got the 71' C-10 started and on the road. Quick recap: It has 85,000 orginal miles and hadn't been started in the last 3-4 years. After towing it home and changing all fluids/filters including draining what looked like ketchup and diaper residue out of the fuel tanks and letting the cylinders soak in Marvel mystery oil it fired right up and sounded like every good Chevy is supposed too. Didn't even crack open the dist. cap. It still needs all the tune up stuff but it ran good enough (ok, great enough) to drive it to the muffler shop for a new set of duels. It's there right now. Now for the questian, I had bought a set of used Centerlines (copys I think) with tires. One of them has a slight wobble. Do I just by a new one? Or, is there anybody that actually straightens them? It's not much of a wobble and the wheel/tire dosent look like it has any impact damage. Any ideas?

Thanks

[wnc mountain]

I have seen adds in the back of my car mags about that, but have never heard anydody that has tried it though. I would have to look later if you would like some names and numbers.

[sam's 72]

There is a place here in the Houston area that does this. If you want me to I can find out if you can ship it to them, have them fix it, then ship it back to you. I have a set of weld wheels, on my powerstroke, they are typhon wheels, I had them completly refinish them and straigten one.
Sam

[Reumster]

Any good machine shop with a larger lath could straighten or repair a bent wheel. But most will charge yo 60.00 and hour. ANd unless they are high quaility high dollar wheels they probably aren't worth the time.

[Bilgewiper]

Ok, great! at least it sounds like it's possible. Guess I better look in my area first becase I think shipping two ways and repair would cost more than what 1 new wheel would cost......or real close. Thanks

[jays68yak]

Stockton Wheel in Stockton Cali should beable to take care of it.

[70 longbed]

There is a place in Tucson, Wheel-Renew. The problem is that they charge almost as much to work on a wheel as it is to replace the thing.

[Bill72BB]

Our local Recycler also has places that do repair and straightening
advertising.

[Low68]

I had a torque thrust wheel repaired. It didn't wobble but it ran itself into a curb. I had nothing to do with it at all. Nor did the fact that I was showing off for a cute girl. That's another story. Anyways, I took it to a place in phoenix that did it for 180. It was a bunch of money, but for me it was better than buying a new wheel. You couldn't even tell that it had been smashed up. I think you might be able to buy a new wheel cheaper than it would cost you to fix it. Good luck.
Low68

[Gene]

I'd just find another used wheel, the centerline/copycat wheels are easily found. I'd bet you could pick one up fairly cheap.

I love the med blue/white/med blue color of your truck bilge! But I am predjudiced lmao mine is that same color

[70cst10_05]

not a clue on the wheel thing, but thats an interesting gas tank???(thats what i think it is anyway)i haven ever seen one like that, did you do that or did it come like that?
kevin

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

Those rims run less than $100.00 new. Post a picture of one here on the board with the size your looking for, maybe someone has one laying around in their garage. That rim looks like it might be a 8" x 15". Most rims have the size stamped on the back side.

[Bilgewiper]

here is better picture of the wheel.

to:CST70.... The fuel tanks look after market to me, one on each side.

[Bilgewiper]

oops.........here is the picture

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

Hey Bilgewiper.... what size???? It should be stamped on the rear periphery where a wheel weight would go. Sure looks like a 8" x 15" tho. Check for a manufacturer name too.

[Bilgewiper]

There isn't a manufacture's name on it anywhere. I am 90% sure it is a 15X8 rim. Won't be until next monday till I get a chance to pull the wheel and measure the offset.

[ChevLoRay]

For anyone who is interested, www.fixrim.com has a website that tells us what they can do for bent/damaged alloy wheels. I have a friend who bought a set of Impala SS (17") wheels and had to have them straightened before he could use them. He sent them to the Dallas area facility and had them done. They list their prices on the website, I believe.

Some wheels will be cheaper than the repair, so that is always a consideration. But for those times when it isn't possible, i.e., a factory wheel that you can't locate a replacement for (like my daughters' Mitsubishi Eclipse Turbo 16" wheels @ $299.00 each), then this is a good alternative.

Another alternative: Buy a new set of wheels. So, here I am with two good Mitsu wheels and two bent ones....asking the question, "Do I want to have these straightened for $107 each and put them on the Celica?" Then, there's the tires (205r50x16) that I would have to buy, to keep the diameter the same as the 185-14's.

[Bilgewiper]

Thanks for al l the info guys