Help with kerbing wheel!

[ProfGlenn]

Hi.  I drove head on to a kerb in an empty dark car park and flattened my tyre and took a chunk out of my alloy.  I had to get home for my kids so drove with the flat tyre which is wrecked and the AA put the space saver on.  Is getting a chunk of alloy replaced expensive?  That’s presuming it doesn’t need a new wheel.  Should I be worried about the suspension?

 

thanks

Glenn

[cptfrederickson]

You're best off getting it all checked over. And depending on how badly damaged the wheel is, you may find yourself needing a new one.

[ProfGlenn]

Are wheels expensive?

[furtula]

If you go 2nd hand, everyone tries to sell it as a set, so getting 1 wheel only can be a bit of an issue.

I dont know what kind of model you had, but a rough guess would be 100-ish gbp + the tire.

 

Picture of the wheel + dmg would be nice for reference.

[ProfGlenn]

Here it is.  I think the rest of the wheel seems ok, but I guess could be buckled?

[catnash]

Have a look at eBay, you'll find a wheel no problem,. You could have a proper wheel refurbisher give you a cost for a check.  Circa £75 for a proper refurb.

[craggle]

That is a pretty small dent. 

Take it to a tyre place, get the tyre removed and ask them to look at the rim. If it is okay they will fit a new tyre for you. You can clean the dent up and paint it in your own time if you are that worried about it.

I see cars on a daily basis driving around with far more damaged wheels than that.

Craig.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks very much.  Will see what Toyota say and take it from there.

 

thanks

glenn

[Heidfirst]

it doesn't look too bad to me - you possibly just broke the tyre bead/seal with the impact. 

[alan333]

10 hours ago, ProfGlenn said:

Thanks very much.  Will see what Toyota say and take it from there.

Toyota will say it needs a new wheel.  Take it to a decent tyre place.

[Monarchjock]

There are many wheel repair specialists about. Google for your area.

 

[furtula]

Probably just broke the bead as said above, try inflating it, see if it holds air

 

I'd take it to a shop to have it examined, but there's a good chance that the damage is only cosmetic.

[ProfGlenn]

So I have had a new tire put on and to keep things balanced they replaced the tire on the opposite side and then put that one on at the back to replace the worn rear tire which was due to be done next month anyway. However they used rather expensive Michlin Primacy 4 tires, and I noticed that these seem to bulge much more at the bottom than my previous Michlin tires. Is this a problem? To me this suggests that the contact area  with the road will be larger. What is this going to do to efficiency?

 

thanks

glenn

[furtula]

Bigger contact area gives you better stability at the expensive of MPG, both of which in your case will be negligible.

Just relax and drive.

[ProfGlenn]

Thanks very much furtula.  The profile is very different.  Just don’t want my fuel consumption to go up. 

[ProfGlenn]

Well the profile is 215/45 R17 87W on all 4 wheels but the new two front tyres just bulge out more than the rear Michelin tyres and I don’t understand why.  

[Heidfirst]

a lot of recent 45 (& lower) profile tyres now have a rim protector flange as part of the tyre, could that be it?

[ProfGlenn]

Not sure.  But looks like primacy 4 are the new standard tyres.....so I guess I am stuck with them.

[furtula]

When checking the pictures, looks like the tyres were made like that, they look a bit bulged on sidewalls.

If it was on 1 wheel, it might be a defect, but since it's on both the same, it was made like that.

[craggle]

Check the tyre pressures are correct for the car.

Some tyre places will just inflate them to a nominal figure when fitting new tyres. I have seen anything from 25psi to 40psi in freshly fitted tyres!

Craig.

 

[TonyHSD]

Yeap, tyre pressures always above when new tyres fitted, just drive for a day or two and then check the pressures with something accurate and best is to stick to recommendation 2.3 bar front and 2.2 bar rear. In the cold you can inflate just a tiny bit on top if you are running’s on winter tyres or tiny bit less if you are on summer or just keep it exact numbers as recommended. Very important to get wheel alignment if you haven’t done one yet, it’s for your safe driving, fuel efficiency and even tyre wear. 

Regards 

[Countrylad]

Agree that the rim damage looks fixable.

Love my Primacy 4s! I've had mine since May, and the car feels so much sharper round the corners. If that's the new standard, I'm all for it. MPG is about the same as with my previous tyres, which were a premium German make (can't remember the name). I think you'll like them. 

[eygo]

glenn dont worry about the wheel its an easy fix for a wheel specialist

once repaired you could put these onto your alloys to help protect the rims

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Four-17-Blue-Rimbands-by-Rimblades-Kerb-Guards-Alloy-Wheel-Rim-Protectors/1629624157?iid=321858270055&chn=ps