Fixing a wobble in steel wheels

Posted By: Meangreen68

Fixing a wobble in steel wheels - 03/10/13 03:49 PM

I have three 15" x 6-1/2" steel wheels that have a wobble to them.

They are in really good condition and was hoping to use them on my '68 Charger.

I mounted a spindle to my workbench and spun them to make a video.

I uploaded the video to Youtube:

http://youtu.be/f8aMoG01saM

In the video, the Sharpie pen is pointing to the rear bead of the wheel.

Thanks!

Attached picture 7620366-Wheel10.jpg

Posted By: ahy

Re: Fixing a wobble in steel wheels - 03/10/13 04:22 PM

Short of cutting out the centers and re-making the wheels with new hoops I don't know a good way. Re-pop wheels would probably be cheaper.

That said, as wobbles go, that isn't terrible. I've seen worse. If you put the worst in the back, It might drive reasonably OK. Road force balance may compensate a little also.

Posted By: stumpy

Re: Fixing a wobble in steel wheels - 03/10/13 05:03 PM

If that's the most run out then just run them. You will never notice that.

Posted By: Michael Ecks

Re: Fixing a wobble in steel wheels - 03/10/13 06:48 PM

Quote:

If that's the most run out then just run them. You will never notice that.

If the one in the video is the worst of them, you will probably never notice. As long as you don't put on low profile / stiff sidewall tires and or run higher pressure in them you should be fine.

I did have some wheels straightened in an old school shop years ago. They were much worse than yours. No cutting and welding, just a clamp in the center, two guys, and a huge freaking prybar with adapters to the wheel lip shape. I doubt they came out much better than what you are starting with and I ran them for years.

Posted By: Meangreen68

Re: Fixing a wobble in steel wheels - 03/11/13 09:39 PM

Thanks for the input.

I found a wheel repair shop in Raleigh after calling around to a few garages.

They said they had a machine that resembles a roll bender but it's for wheels.

I have 11 wheels, 7 are close to perfect and four look like the one in the video.

I do plan to buy 15" Silvertown Redline tires for a traditional look.

I'll post a picture of the machine when I visit their shop later this week

Posted By: GO_Fish

Re: Fixing a wobble in steel wheels - 03/12/13 01:34 AM

I recently had a tire shop tell me they couldn't balance one of the new tires on my truck because the rim had about 1/8" runout/wobble on the balancing machine?