[Bumbleboy92]

Was informed one of my rear wheels had a bend in it, imagine my surprise getting this photo. Haven’t tracked the car and no pot holes I can recall. Alignment’s been straight since I bought the car 2 years ago and no wobble or unsteadiness in the drive, I’ve never even got a tire to leak or plugged. No clue when it was bent, I do know the previous owner had records of having the OEM tire changed on that corner and then it leaking within the same month. I’ve put on the PS4s’s since.

I did find someone selling a single wheel with curb damage for $280, my go to shop would charge $160 to clean up the damage but they told me they don’t do wheel repairs for this type of bend.

My options are:

1) $440 ($280 used wheel + $160 curb rash fix) - only hesitation is driving hours and it potentially also having a bend.

2) Get it fixed from a shop for $150-200, my experience in old bent wheels repairs has not been good. I’ve been able to have a noticeable difference after the repair but maybe I just went to bad shops as it’s happened only twice before on regular 18” wheels

3) Leave it be as it’s driving fine and has been for who knows how long

Let me know what you’d do, thanks!

[SpeZ]

I would probably keep it like that, unless you plan to track the car. Then I would buy a new or a used rim.
Getting it fixed, might weaken the material even more but for sure check closely if you can see small cracks.

[Bumbleboy92]

Originally Posted by SpeZ

I would probably keep it like that, unless you plan to track the car. Then I would buy a new or a used rim.
Getting it fixed, might weaken the material even more but for sure check closely if you can see small cracks.

That's what I'm leaning towards, I don't see any cracks. It appears practically flawless to be honest other than the bump.

[m6-lt1]

#3 if the car drives smooth like you said. I had a bent wheel on a civic si for 80k+ and it never became an issue.

[WhiteMale]

I agree with others that if it balances and drives fine then leave it. I just wouldn't track that car, if that's a thing you do. Expensive wheel to replace it.
Never seen damage in that spot, I was expecting to see to see a bend in that lip of the rim in that area.

[Spaceme1117]

If the lips of the wheel are good and not out of round. The bend is just in the barrel (looks like it), I would leave it as it is.

[Chutzpah]

I’d have to inspect the inside looking for missing material and cracks… if it looked fine, I’d keep rolling on it.

[Bumbleboy92]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I’m going to ride on it for now but will be looking for a replacement wheel in the future. I see some good condition wheels on car-part for $250-300 but they’re far away so maybe one might pop up closer to me in the future. As long as the doesn’t get worse

[p47dman]

I have dealt with tires since my first job, 51 years ago. Yup. I'm old. For a dent like that to happen it would take quite a blow to force tread face into the rim. And even then the rubber would cushion the impact area. It looks to me as if it happened before installation on the car. I would not try to repair it, would probably crack the rim if you did. As other have said, if all is ok, I'd run it as is. Good luck.