Aluminum Halibrand repair

[blue sky]

I am seeking advise from anyone with knowledge on wheel repairs. I have one older Trigo Halibrand wheel that has a impact dent on the back side edge of the rim. It is about 2 inches long and is pushed in a 1/16". The inner beading area of the rim is affected so the tire will not sit flush along the rim. Can the rim be heated and the bend be taken out? I got the rim and would like to repair it since it is one the older wheels cast with the original Trigo molds which is different from what is being cast today. Thanks for all your help. Regards AJ

[mickmate]

Hey AJ sounds like a pretty easy fix for the right guy and equipment. Did you ask Trigo if they have any contacts for that?

[blue sky]

Hey Nick,

I am going to give the guy who owns Trigo now a call tomorrow. I know Lynn well but do not know the new owner. I haven't any experience with wheels and as a result don't know if something as heavy as these rims is able to be trued again. The front face looks good. This is one of those things that I missed in going over it. Thanks for the input.

AJ

[FatBoy]

Many modern wheels have "Diamond" turned faces where the front of the wheel is faced off in a lathe type device to give a polished appearance and many of the wheel refurbishment places can re-face them if damaged or corroded. Therefore, they could probably also clean up the bulge on the inner rim for you. There is plenty of meat on it so I would have thought it should clean up fine.

Paul

[blue sky]

Paul

I thought about having the rim put on a wheel lathe and turning it. First, normally when you have an impact in any metal surface, distortion is transfered to other areas besides the immediate. I want to turn the wheel with an indicator to see all the areas of run out. If you start removing material in one area, it seems to me that you are changing the natural balance of the wheel. I was thinking that if it is possible of heating the material, one could get it back close to shape so that what ever material is removed on the lathe, it would be minimal. I have to find out if a wheel of the thickness that these are can be reshaped without fracturing when heat is applied. There was a person here in the wheel business who was exceptional at his work but he retired and sold the business so I need to find someone else to assist me. Thanks for your comments.

AJ

[joyridin']

I have used these guys to straighten some racing wheels I had a few years back. the lip was literally crushed and they repaired the wheel, coated it, and balanced it. It was great and I had no problems.

TRANSWHEEL Corporation - The Nations #1 Source For Replacement Wheels

[brettco]

Lay it on flat smooth concrete and hit it softly with a BIG hammer on the bead area.

[blue sky]

Thanks guys for the advice. Need to go see what I can do now. Regards, AJ

[mickmate]

Hey Brett I was going to suggest similar, a board either side of the dent and a good whack between them with the lead hammer. Something a BFH can fix.

[TEAM THREE WHEE]

If you have not repaired the wheel, we can straiten the bends out. We have a wheel straiting machine that will press it back to where it needs to be, we can do bolt on and knock-off wheels. Some wheel repair companies beat the wheel close and then machine the bead seat round again. This will cause the bead seats to be under size, since the diameter is just .3mm, and then the wheel will have vibration issues since the tire will nolonger fit correctly. Since we manufacture wheel we have the correct bead seat gages to check this. Wheel repair companies do repair, but are not manufacturers so do not know the details of wheel manufacturing. We know the wheel you have since we make the wheels for Trigo. the cost to repair is 95.00 plus ups

[rodneym]

Team Three Wheels,

Did you make the old ones or do you make the new ones? Both?

[TEAM THREE WHEE]

We make the current wheels for the last 5 years