During a small winter storm last week, I ventured out to grab some takeout food for my wife and myself. The streets became very slick on my way back home and my car went into a low speed (under 5 MPH) skid and struck a glancing blow against the curb on the left side of the street. The wheel cover on my driver’s side front tire shattered on the curb and the steel rim got banged up a little bit. The tire appears to be holding air normally, but there is now a very slight wobble in the steering wheel if I take my hands off of it while the car is moving. The wobble is only a few millimeters in travel, but I know that it was definitely not there before.
I did a quick visual inspection of the wheel and it looks like the rim is slightly pushed in at the point where it made contact with the curb. The rim is made of pressed steel, so I think that it can be reshaped to get rid of the wobble. Have any of you had to have a wheel rim straightened out before? If so, how much did it cost and was it effective at eliminating a wobble?
By the way, my car is a 1998 Honda Accord with pressed steel rims all around if that makes a difference.
1997 Honda Accord bent steel rim from winter pothole.
Repaired at Tires Plus for $19.
Might also be that your wheel alignment is a little out of whack from the impact as well.
Yep, that’s probably going to cost a bit more than getting your steel wheel banged back out.
I’ll third that. Needs an alignment.
I kind of figured that I’d probably end up getting an alignment done afterwards, but I thought that I should tackle this one thing at a time.
Hampshire: How long did it take them to do that? I’m wondering if this is something that I could get done duirng lunch hour.
If they know you’re coming, you should be able to.
I bent a ‘steelie’ on my '90 Civic once, and my Hubby beat it out with a hammer in about 30 minutes. Still holds air just fine.
I hit a curb in a hideous way with MY '98 Honda Accord and I and the insurance company combined ended up $1000 poorer. But I hit it going a LOT faster, and broke some stuff up under my car. So I’m going to say less than $1000.
I am intrqued by your wheel covers because my wheels look awful and I was wondering what my options are. But alas, this isn’t IMHO.
After hitting the pothole I got an immediate flat. I put the spare on less then a block away. Threw the flat in the trunk and went to TiresPlus.
I was prepared to have to buy another tire (a pair actually since they have to be replaced in pairs) and spend over $100.
The guy came back within 5 minutes and said the tire was fine but the rim was bent and offered to hammer it back, remount the tire, and put it back on my car within 30 minutes for $19. He said it wasn’t 100% guaranteed not to slowly lose air and I may need an alignment afterwards.
It never lost any air, didn’t need an alignment, and I drove it another 2 years before I sold the car.
Best $19 I ever spent.
Have you considered buying a wheel from a breakers yard?
They do say that:
Love is just like a wheel,
Once you bend it, you can’t mend it.
Although that may not be completely true 
Cranky: My car has the standard trim pressed steel rims. Honda equipped the car with plastic wheel covers that clip onto the edge of the rim. They seem to hold very snugly against the rim and the only time I’ve had one pop off was when I grazed the curb last week. I’ve seen several types available on eBay and through various car parts stores for a reasonable price. After I get the tire and alignment fixed I’ll probably either get a replacement stock cover or buy a new set of knock-off covers.
I’ll probably follow Hampshire’s lead and call around to a few places to see if they can whack the rim back into shape and remount and rebalance the tire if needed. I’ll also check into getting an alignment while I’m at it.
Myglaren’s idea isn’t too bad either. I might check around a few salvage yards to see what another rim would cost. I’d hold onto the old rim and have it reshaped, then I can have one of my old tires remounted on the rim when I replace all four tires next year. It’ll be kind of nice to have a full-sized spare in the trunk if needed.
Thanks for the tips, guys!
