Alloy Wheel - Surface Repair from Scraping Curb ?

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Had a minor run in with a curb at slow speed (5 MPH) - simply took the corner too sharp and put a 1 inch rough spot on the side of the rim where it meets the tire then below that a 1 inch blemish / scrape on one of the alloy wheel spokes . *It's hard to notice unless you are looking but irritates me to no end because otherwise the car was flawless ... Local wheel guy wants $180 to redo the whole wheel good as new which is a bit steep . I was thinking more of 800 to 1000 grit sand paper over a small pliable rubber hose to carefully sand the rough spot on the curved part of the top rim (again a 1" spot) then try something like Flitz metal polish , car paint polishing compound to see if I can remove the blemish / scrape on the alloy wheel spoke (1 " spot) . Your thoughts and suggestions ?
 
Wheels are painted from the factory. The only thing you will achieve by doing that is removing the scratch along with all the paint needed to feather out the edge.
 
Originally Posted By: Lasthope05
Wheels are painted from the factory. The only thing you will achieve by doing that is removing the scratch along with all the paint needed to feather out the edge.


Yup painted and/ or clear coated.
 
Can you post a picture of the damage? Sometimes chasing a defect like this will make it worse. Then you have to pay the $180. With cars the goal should be to keep it looking as nice as possible. Perfection shouldn't be the goal or you'll drive yourself nuts.
 
When I worked at a BMW dealer we had a guy that would touch up the damaged area and the repair was virtually imperceptible. I think he charged @$75 per wheel.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Perfection shouldn't be the goal or you'll drive yourself nuts.


If perfection is your goal you already are nuts. No driving required.

I generally use aluminium foil as a mild abrasive. Whether it'd be effective here I dunno, since I've never had alloy wheels.
 
IF (and it's a big "if") there is no structural damage to the wheel (no cracks, visible or otherwise) then a cosmetic cleanup and a rebalance doesn't need to be expensive, especially if you tackle it yourself and you are the required minimal "level of handy".

If either is not true, you should take it to a shop that specializes in alloy wheel repair. Be very careful choosing the shop, do your due diligence, as there are wrong ways to do this and paying a shop to do it the wrong way is money wasted.

Next time you buy tires, be sure to purchase a size that fits your wheel width, and consider a tire with a rubber "guard belt" on the sidewall to insure the tire is the first to rub a curb, not the wheel.
 
Good points in replies - good video as well however my wheel is two tone thus more complex to deal with ... *The minor curb rash I experienced is such that I'll polish to protect the wheel - however I'll wait a while to see if it still is an issue to do more with ... Unless I scrape a few more curbs with this wheel , I think I'll just live with it and call it a day ...
 
Originally Posted by ChrisD46
Had a minor run in with a curb at slow speed (5 MPH) - simply took the corner too sharp....


Same here. After 12 years of running damage free wheels, this year I have low speed curb rash on two of them.
sick.gif


I might buy a set of wheel rings after repairing the damage.

https://www.rimringz.com
 
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