[sr71bb]

If you guys track for any length of time, it is pretty common that you might wind up with a bent wheel and not even know it.

Generally the best way to check this is to observe the wheel and tire on a balancing machine while it is spinning.

A slightly bent wheel may or may not cause a vibration at speed. In my specific case I hit a rumble strip on the track VERY HARD and it slighly bent BOTH the wheels on the left hand side of the car. These were APEX EC7 wheels which are pretty strong but they are NOT forged.

It is MUCH more likely to bend the wheel towards the INSIDE of the barrel as opposed to the outside of barrel of the wheel since the Wheel SPOKES give the wheel MORE support on that side.

As long as the wheel is not STRUCTURALLY damaged then a bent wheel is pretty easily fixed by wheel repair vendors like WHEEL TECHNOLOGIES down here in my neck of the woods http://www.wheeltechnologies.com

The process involves heating up the wheel and then using a hydraulic press to press it back round.

Typical cost for this is 125-150 a wheel including re-powdercoating the wheel.

I have used this vendor for about ten years now and I have been pleased with the results FWIW.

[Eric10905]

Ouch, regrets, don't like hearing that. Curious, how did you discover yours bent? Was it vibration, or just suspicion from hitting the strip?

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by Eric10905

Ouch, regrets, don't like hearing that. Curious, how did you discover yours bent? Was it vibration, or just suspicion from hitting the strip?

Well I was getting some vibration but confirmation was when I had discount tire rebalance the wheels.

When I was running slicks I would get a little vibration also that was caused by some of the melted rubber sticking to the inside barrel of the wheel but after clearing that out, the vibration went away.

Also I am now running CLIP on METAL wheel weights on the INSIDE barrel of the wheel because the brakes when running DTC70 pads and slicks would get hot enough that the stick on weights could become dislodged when the adhesive was heated to a high enough temperature.

[1LE4free]

Sorry to hear that you blasted these on the track but glad you have a good relationship to repair these without getting an entire wheel!

I currently have a 1LE but my old car was a mazdaspeed 3 and those wheels bent like paper, so I am always disturbed everytime I hit any bump in the road, from ms3 wheel bending experience.

Could you describe what this vibration was like that you experienced? I hit a decent hole in the road early this season with 1LE "fOrGeD" wheel and not sure if any slight vibration at high speeds through the steering wheel is just road feel or my wheel. It wasnt violent, but the person I was on call with heard it through the in-car microphone and said 'what was that??'.

I dont think the vibration is at a regular cadence/frequency and is usually only felt if the road is shittier. Additionally, if I look at my passenger seat I think it always slightly vibrates but I did not take account of it before I hit the bump so I dont know if thats new. If you could let us know where and how you experienced that vibration we'd appreciate it

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by 1LE4free

Sorry to hear that you blasted these on the track but glad you have a good relationship to repair these without getting an entire wheel!

I currently have a 1LE but my old car was a mazdaspeed 3 and those wheels bent like paper, so I am always disturbed everytime I hit any bump in the road, from ms3 wheel bending experience.

Could you describe what this vibration was like that you experienced? I hit a decent hole in the road early this season with 1LE "fOrGeD" wheel and not sure if any slight vibration at high speeds through the steering wheel is just road feel or my wheel. It wasnt violent, but the person I was on call with heard it through the in-car microphone and said 'what was that??'.

I dont think the vibration is at a regular cadence/frequency and is usually only felt if the road is shittier. Additionally, if I look at my passenger seat I think it always slightly vibrates but I did not take account of it before I hit the bump so I dont know if thats new. If you could let us know where and how you experienced that vibration we'd appreciate it

Well I would feel it MORE under hard acceleration and since the wheels that were bent were BOTH on the diver's side of the car , I did fell the vibration mostly in the steering wheel. The LEFT front was bent more than the rear one was. Just for the time being I plan on putting BOTH of those LEFT side wheels on the rear.

APEX is still 4 months away from having their new FORGED wheels in stock so I will probably wait for that.

[1LE4free]

Originally Posted by sr71bb

Well I would feel it MORE under hard acceleration and since the wheels that were bent were BOTH on the diver's side of the car , I did fell the vibration mostly in the steering wheel. The LEFT front was bent more than the rear one was. Just for the time being I plan on putting BOTH of those LEFT side wheels on the rear.

APEX is still 4 months away from having their new FORGED wheels in stock so I will probably wait for that.

Ahh interesting that it would be felt more underload. I was doing some highway pulls last week and I think I didnt feel a thing under load and only just cruising at like 85+, as I think everything creates some small vibration at random frequencies when cruising at that. Im also hypersensitive with that and sometimes feel as if im looking for an issue.

How much additional weight will you get with those new forged wheels?

[5.M0NSTER]

P.S. One trick I have been using for some years now is to cover the stick-on wheel weights with a trip of aluminum tape. It deflects enough of the heat away so that the adheive doesn't melt.

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by 5.M0NSTER

P.S. One trick I have been using for some years now is to cover the stick-on wheel weights with a trip of aluminum tape. It deflects enough of the heat away so that the adheive doesn't melt.

I was doing that TOO until discount tire suggested we use the old school metal clip on weights on the inside rim lip and that works great. PLUS, I dont have to clean off all the adhesive form the stick on weights every time we mount a and balance a new tire.

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by 1LE4free

Ahh interesting that it would be felt more underload. I was doing some highway pulls last week and I think I didnt feel a thing under load and only just cruising at like 85+, as I think everything creates some small vibration at random frequencies when cruising at that. Im also hypersensitive with that and sometimes feel as if im looking for an issue.

How much additional weight will you get with those new forged wheels?

Actually the new APEX forged wheels are actually about 4 pounds LIGHTER at around 19 pounds than the non-forged flow form APEX wheels I am using NOW. (SM-10's and EC7's)

I also plan on switching out to GIRODISC front rotors SOON and they are another 4 pounds lighter than the ZL1 stock rotor.