The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Out of round rims

I have 16" rims on my 52, 1/2 t. One or more of the rims are not true. You can begin to feel it at about 40-45. The tire shop says they are out of round. Since 16" rims are hard to come by I was wondering if there is somewhere they can be trued. Seems to me that I read sometime back that someone advertised fixing out of round rims. Anyone have any advise?

Glenn,

How about checking the rim to be sure that is the problem?

Jack up the truck so a wheel is off the ground an inch or so is all you need (just do one at a time). Be sure one of the wheels still on the ground (or a couple) are "chocked" with a block of wood, a brick, or something in front and behind the tire on the ground so the truck doesn't roll off! Put the truck in neutral or and release the parking brake.

Get something that you can rest a screw driver or chisel on like a brick. I use a quart paint can and a chisel, that is what we will use in this discussion.

Place that can next to the wheel that is up off the ground and place the chisel on it so that the tip is right next to the outermost lip of the rim. I like it as close as possible and will turn the rim until there is a ballancing weight (if there are any on the rim, I do it with aluminum rims as well) so that I can put the chisel right up where the weight is and then spin the wheel so it is barely missing the weight.

DON'T touch the chisel, let it set there on the can. You rotate the wheel and can see exactly how much the rim is bent because the gap between the rim and the chisel will change if it is.

You can check if it is going side to side as well as up and down.

If you find it is out more than a 1/16" or so you should have concern.

If you do, you may want to narrow it down to the rim for sure because it may be a hub or axle that is actually bent. To do that, mark the wheel where the gap between the chisel and rim is the most. Also, mark one wheel stud and on the rim next to that marked stud. Now remove the wheel and re-install it with that marked stud on the opposide side of where it was before. Now, do the run-out test again using the chisel on the can. If the widest point between the chisel and the rim is at the same spot you marked before, the rim is bent and the axle or hub is straight. If it is the opposite side of the mark you put, the hub or axle is bent.

Let me put it this way, I think you will find that the rims are ok. These rims are VERY strong from what I have found and the large tires are very easy to be out of balance and causing the problem.

Brian

Brian,
Thx, I'll try your procedure. I never thought about the axle. The tire shop that put the new tires on told me about the rims not being true. I don't have any way of knowing how it ran before since I did a frame off and had not driven it before. The way it feels I'm prone to think it is the rear wheel(s). But, I'll check all 4. How do you go about straightening a bent rim?

Tty checking with a machine shop-the ones that faricate parts,not an engine shop- some of them do wheel repairs. Before you condemn the wheels, have them checked at another tire shop, the balancer at the first shop may have been out of calibration or had a bad arbor. I do know that some shops will tell you that your wheel is bent to cover for tires that take exessive weight due to out of round/heavy tires. I work in the tire business and have seen all the tricks that some places will do. If there seems to be exessive runout, have the tires taken off and check the wheels bare, that will take the tire out of the equasion.
One more thing, make sure that the lug nuts are torqued to the correct specs. That can cause a vibration if they are uneven, and can warp an axle hub or wheel center.

Honestly, you don't need to remove the tires to do the run out, and you don't need "machinest" tools. The simple test I described will do the job.

Brian

I appologize if I was unclear, I meant that if you found a wheel that was not true that a machine shop may be able to do the repair. The procedure that you give is similar to how we check wheels in our shop, only whe use the balancer to do it. As far as taking the tires off the rim, I've seen where a tire that has a severe heavy spot can flex a wheel, that might what the guy at the tire shop may have seen. The rim could be true and the vibration may be a tire problem.

Helped mine, albeit treating the symptom not a cure:

http://www.dynabeads.com/

I got you Bill, that is what my ramble was about. Check the rim because it may be fine and it is a bad tire that is causing the problem. I don't know diddily about tires but I remember years ago those large tires with heavy tread could really be a problem to balance because they could be off a mile. I remember seeing piles of wheel weights all clumped on one side of the rim to make up for it.

Brian

I had bent rims (after smacking a curb during an ice storm) straightened at a frame repair shop. In that case it would have been cheaper to buy two from a salvage yard. In your case, if it turns out the rims are bent, check on eBay for rims. I see 16" six bolt rims all the time that go for next to nothing.