In message <950426000901_96549808@aol.com> writes:
> A friendly fellow power bulge afficianado responded to my problem with the
> following:
>
> >It seems most cars that have been driven hard (nobody drives LBC's
> >hard do they) end up with distorted rims. A friend in the tire business
> >says that there are machines that will straighten steel wheels, it is quite
> >inexpensive. He quoted me about $15 a wheel. Alloy wheels cannot be
> >straightened by these machines.
>
> WHERE? That seems unbeleveable! I hope it is true (Yeah yeah bad pun)
>
> Do they use a big ole Hydraulic press or something? Can it fix both run out
> and (what the heck is the term for egg shaped wheels) out of roundness?
>
> Do you have to repaint the wheels?
>
> Or do they do something much more dramatic like cutting out the center and
> re-welding it?
>
> Anyone . . . . .Anyone . .
>
> Scott Tilton
> In Richmond Virginia
> "Shaking all Over"
>
>
Scott, think of car wire wheels as being basically the same as bicycle wheels.
To true them, you mount them on a hub so the wheel can spin. You have something
on the truer that can show if the rim is concentric with the hub (does it bounce
up & down). You have another part of the truer that looks for side to side
woble. You get a spoke key and adjust the tension on individual spokes to bring
the wheel back into true. The goal is to end up with a true wheel and have as
close to the same tension on all spokes as possible. To move a wheel sideways
you need to loosen up on the spokes going to one side of the rim and tighten the
spokes going to the otherside of the rim all in the area where the rim needs to
be moved sideways. To move vertically you get to loosen spokes on one end and
tighten spokes at the other end. Just about anyone can tweek spokes to bring a
wheel in true if the wheel is not bearing weight. It takes experience and
experteese to being a wheel into true with all the spokes at the same tension.
If they are not, the wheel goes out almost as soon as you mount it on the car.
The other problem with car wheel spokes is crud, rust and paint. They all keep
a skoke from being adjustable. British wire wheel threw wheels in a drum of
goop to disolve all the above. They keep them in the goop for several days
before even attempting to adjust the wheels.
Beware of unexperienced people truing wire wheels. Uless the company/individual
has a long good reputation, you will want to talk to previous. customers
TeriAnn Wakeman .sig closed for remodeling
twakeman@apple.com
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