I was getting new tires at Discount and they found one of my front 18 inch chrome wheels was slightly bent. On the balance machine it looked like about a 1/4 inch side to side movement. It didn't look out of round, but that was hard to tell. I have felt no vibration at any speed (up to 90 or so) with my old tires.

They let me go with the new tire mounted so they didn't consider it "unsafe" I guess. They offered a $125 service to make it true again.

So question are: Ignore it? Get it fixed? Replace the wheel?
Once bent is it automatically weakened enough to make it unsafe 1000s of miles down the road?

 

If you have the funds, replace it. Why risk a terrible problem during spirited driving sometime in the future?

Just my 2 cents.

 

Do you have the tire/wheel coverage from the dealer?

 

plain dumb > mount new tire on bent wheel

 

I would have it fixed since the damage is minimal.

 

I'd get it fixed.

 

Replace it. Don't screw around with wheels. Way too important.

 

Have it checked somewhere else. Sometimes the wheels are not mounted on the balancer correctly or something is on of the adapters and they will have runout.

Sometimes the outer surface will show some runout but the inner bead will be true.

Either way, if you dont feel anything and you havent slammed that wheel into anything, if it were me I wouldnt worry.

 

Always get this when dealing with a Vette. Too expensive. I wouldn't want it fixed, I'd want a brand new wheel.

 

I have bought all my tires for the last 30+ years at Discount Tires, and they have always given me the best service and best price. On rare occasions I requested them to take back tires I purchased from them that were not giving me the performance I needed and they always replaced them no questions asked for no cost. On occasions, they have even gone back to the OEM tire manufacturer for tires they felt wore out too quickly that they did not supply. When I go to them with the vette, they treat it like a king and make sure things are done right.

But I am not sure about them anymore given my last experience. I had my wheels powder coated and I took the rims to have Discount remove the tires and remount them a week later. The store manager, their most experienced person, did it for me and I watched over him. He did not struggle at all and he was super careful that he did not mess up the fresh powder coating. I watched every move. He knew his job, or so I thought. They charged about $250 to do the dismount and remount, which I considered was pretty high but I did not mine if it was done right.

But I don't know if the machine he used was defective or if the OEM tires were defective, but overnight after the tires were remounted, one went flat. I took it back and the bead had a slice in it about 3/4" thick and it would not hold air. Tire was not salvagable, so $370 for a new one. Then I saw that the other remaining tires had small rips in the sidewalls. No leaks but still not good.

I have been a super loyal customer for 30+ years and I am not sure I will remain so. [/RANT]

 

My local Discount Tire charges $16.00 to dismount and remount any tire. The $250 charge was excessive and does seem correct. Why not post a copy of the invoice.

You stated you personally selected the best person for the Discount Tire shop (the Manager) to do the work and you personally stood right next to him while doing the work, and you verified the work was done correctly.

Weird that you state they (DT/he) messed up. Weird that the tire had so-called slices in it. Sounds like an unexplained mystery.

On one of my recently purchased new tires, for the C7 (4 total), one tire developed a slow leak against the bead.

I took the tire back to DT and they found that when the tire was mounted the tech forgot to remove a very small UPC barcode sticker that is placed by the manufacturer against the outside bead wall. Discount Tire broke down the tire, removed the sticker, reinflated and returned the tire to me at no cost. There has not been any related follow up problems.
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