Wheel damaged during mounting?

**blinkme323** · 01-23-2010, 09:19 PM

Hey guys, a few weeks ago I curbed one of my rims and ended up buying a replacement. My existing tires are almost brand new, so I just hacd them mount the new wheel onto the existing tire. Everything looked good initially, but recently I saw that there were several scrapes/scratches along the inner lip of the wheel (the part that is facing the tire, if you will). These appear intermittently for about 8 inches and then stop. I know they weren`t there before, becuase I bought the wheel brand new.

My question is - is this a normal occurrence when mounting wheels or did they just mess up? Thanks for the help.

**Accumulator** · 01-24-2010, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by blinkme323

..My question is - is this a normal occurrence when mounting wheels or did they just mess up?

Both, actually. Shops quite often cause some degree of cosmetic damage to wheels. No, it shouldn`t happen, but it often does.

Some shops will dismount/mount tires and do the balancing with zero damage (obviously those are the shops you want to patronize, good luck finding one though). Some shops will spring for a refinish job if they damage a wheel. But some shops will damage a wheel, say "hey, [stuff] happens..didn`t you read the fine print?" and then you`re stuck either living with it or having the wheel refinished (and risking it happening all over again when you get the tire remounted).

I`d try to get the shop to give you whatever you consider proper satisfaction. The only shop I`m currently trusting is over 90 minutes away from my house and I drive past a *LOT* of tirestores and dealerships to get there.

**TSIBrian** · 01-24-2010, 10:47 AM

Do you mean the inner barrel, the back of the wheel? If so that means they clamped it from the inside, which should never be done.

Like Accumulator said stuff like that is pretty common at tire shops, having worked at one for many years I`ve seen it all. Enough actually to consider buying my own tire machine in the future.

**jDizzle** · 01-24-2010, 11:04 AM

most shops cover their a$& with a little fine print, or a sign on the counter that states that they are not liable for any damage to alloy wheels. and if they mess it up, its pretty mcuh your problem apparently.

**resdm50** · 01-24-2010, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by TSIBrian

Do you mean the inner barrel, the back of the wheel? If so that means they clamped it from the inside, which should never be done.

Like Accumulator said stuff like that is pretty common at tire shops, having worked at one for many years I`ve seen it all. Enough actually to consider buying my own tire machine in the future.

I`ve had similar things happen myself, I can defnitely attest to what accumulator is saying.

**blinkme323** · 01-24-2010, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by TSIBrian

Do you mean the inner barrel, the back of the wheel? If so that means they clamped it from the inside, which should never be done.

Like Accumulator said stuff like that is pretty common at tire shops, having worked at one for many years I`ve seen it all. Enough actually to consider buying my own tire machine in the future.

Thanks for the advice so far guys. Yeah, it`s kind of hard to describe where the marks are, but they are on the inner edge of the wheel - so you can`t see them looking straight on.

**blinkme323** · 01-27-2010, 03:49 PM

Here is a pic guys, this is the best I could do:

**Accumulator** · 01-28-2010, 11:06 AM

blinkme323- That`s from the (not at all unusual) use of something that was probably metal when seating the bead. IMO you`re lucky they didn`t do more damage than that!. I`d touch it up with a small brush and some silver/clear paint and live with it.

Heh heh, I sure wish that was the most severe damage I`ve ever experienced! I don`t want to say "eh...that`s nothing" but it`s sure not as bad as I was expecting it to be.

**Boston Man** · 01-28-2010, 11:31 AM

That damage is from when they were taking the old tire off. The bead has to be pryed (sp) over the "duckbill" of the machine and that damage is where the pivot point is. The tire iron presses against the duckbill and the duckbill pressed against your rim, damaging it.

**dennn** · 01-28-2010, 05:39 PM

Perhaps talk to the shop first and see what they could do for you.

This has happened to me with Discount Tire. I am a Canadian resident, but I am a US citizen and I purchase most of my car stuff from America. When I got back to Canada I discovered some rashes on my wheel. I called Discount Tire Head Office and explained to them the situation. The manager at the Discount Tire that damaged my wheel called me back 2 days later and arranged to have a LOCAL shop in Canada repair my wheel courtesy of Discount Tire.

I usually get my tires installed at places that repair wheels. Shops that do wheel repairs would usually NOT instill damages to the wheels. Why? Because it`d be ridiculous for them to repaint some wheels, and then damage them immediately during the installation process. I`ve never had any problem with my tires installed at places that repair wheels.

My friends that drive 430 and GT3 all have their wheels re-powder coated and inspected for trueness every time they install new tires. That`s baller. But that`s the price to for driving 180mph on a regular basis.