Spartan

Damaged my front right wheel when I nicked a curb a little.
To tell you the truth it is not really noticable.
I will try and get pics.....but I then noticed my tire on that wheel losing pressure. Can a curb hit of such a small kind damage the rim bad enough to make the seal bad between the tire and wheel?
Any comments welcome.
Thanks
MIKE

SoCalSC4

Mike,
If your outers are polished like mine, you can usually buff out minor curb rash with a dremel tool and a polishing wheel attachment w/ polishing compound. I have done this successfully on the HREs on my MR2.

If the wheel is not really twanged badly, it's unlikely the tire will leak air unless it was hit enough to move the tire a bit on the bead of the rim. A good tire shop can pinpoint the location of the leak by dunking the wheel and tire in a tank of water: the telltale airbubbles will let you trace the leak, no matter how small.

If the wheel needs repair, HRE is in California.

Richie

Now that is what I call customer service!!!!

Spartan

Thanks Bob...
I appreciate your response.
What type of dremel wheel should I try?
What kind of compound do you recommend?
I am going to the tire shop on Saturday to see where the leak is.
I will keep you posted.

Thanks
MIKE

SoCalSC4

It's you, Mike! Sorry to hear about that... my brother took his GS300 to the Lexus dealer yesterday and they biffed one of his HREs- not a great feeling!

I have a Craftsman Dremel tool, got it for XMAS two years ago- they are quite useful, actually. There are other brands, for a small job like this, I can't see spending tons of $$ for one. Just be sure it comes with a polishing attachment. I use regular 'ol Blue Magic paste to polish my wheels.

BTW Mike, aren't your outers clearcoated? I'm trying to remember...

Spartan

Bob...my wheels are NOT clearcoated.....I wanted the higher shine....I may be regretting it now....I think I could have used that extra layer of protection.

Well....I went to Discount tire....
The guy puts my wheel in this dunk tank and no bubbles....he dismounts the tire and looks for flaws....no flaws....
All this time he is handling my wheel/tire a little rougher than I would. I think he even scratched it in one area but he swears he didnt. So he reseals the tire/wheel and I go home.....this morning the tire has lost 10 lbs. WTF!!!!
I dont know what do anymore except demand a new tire.
I hate going in becuase the tires are so hard to mount to those wheels that damage to the wheels in inevitable.
Any suggestions?
I think that I am going to demand a new tire?
Do you think that my new tire (if I get one) will act differently with the three used ones?

Bob...I also tried that dremel polish idea and nothing happened....I just ate the pad up.

I am kind of frustrated.
I would appreciate any help from anyone.
Thanks
MIKE

SoCalSC4

Mike: sorry to hear about your troubles with the tire "apes."

It is possible that the tire guy broke the tire bead when mounting or dismounting the tire. You won't be able to tell if this if the problem unless the tire is dismounted again- the damage would be hidden by the rim bead.

If the tire bead is torn/damaged, they will have no choice but to replace the tire for you. If he dunks the assembly for you, and bubbles are visible near the tire, the tire is likely damaged. If bubbles are visible near the wheel assembly bolts, the silicone seal inside the rim is damaged.

When you say he resealed it, did he re-silicone the area where the rim halves meet? Or did he just re-mount the tire? And, did he dunk the wheel/tire assembly after re-mounting the tire? He might have made things worse...

On the curbed portion of the rim, you could carefully sand the rough portion with a small sanding disc to smooth it out- then use the polishing wheel to bring the shine back up.

At this point, if you'd like, send the wheel & tire to my attention at HRE- I'll resolve the leak issue and repair the damaged outer rim at no charge as a customer courtesy. Turnaround time is two days once I receive the wheel (the silicone needs 24 hours to cure properly).

It's important to me to keep our customers happy and their cars looking their best (especially CL regulars). Mike, if you ship the wheel, I will pay the 'return' freight. Sound like a deal?

Regards,

Bob

Wheel Experts

It doesn't get any better than that, guys. CUSTOMER SERVICE = buy HRE!!!!!!!

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Although I don't currently own HRE wheels, I just have to say I'm very impressed with the service being provided. Kudos.

Spartan

Bob...
Give me a few days to get things situated and prepared.
WHat kind of box do you recommend that I send the wheel in?
I thought I would never need the originals and trashed them.
I knew I should have kept them.
As far as silicone....I am not sure....He used a clear/white gel around the wheel/rim interface....I am not sure if this was a lubricant or silicone....
These repairs that you are so graciously doing.....are they just polishing and sanding or are they a new outer rim???? Just curious.
I will give you a call when I am ready to send the tire/wheel to you.
I really appreciate your service Bob....
There you go guys....HRE = $$$....but you get what you paid for.
Thanks.
MIKE

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

wow, what customer service! if only everyone could be so nice...

SoCalSC4

Guys: thanks for the kind words... the entire HRE staff takes a great deal of pride in our product.

Mike: The stuff you saw him use was probably soap, which is used only to lubricate the rim a bit so the tire bead will slide over it more freely.

As far as the rim goes, I'll need to see it to evaluate it properly: 90% of the time, with minor curb rash, we can just feather and repolish the outer rim (that's the nice thing about doing your polishing in-house).

Why don't I send you a new box with the packing inserts? Should I send it to the house? Your office?

Spartan

Bob....
I was planning on sending you the entire wheel/tire assembly....
Did you assume that I was only going to send the wheel?
Please let me know.
A box would be great if you could sent it to my house.
I think you have the address.
Let me know if you dont.
I can give you a call.
In fact...I will try and call you this afternoon...

20" 546 R.....NICE!

Later.
MIKE

SoCalSC4

Sure, I can dig up your address. You can fit the entire wheel/tire assembly in our boxes, the sides of the box might bow ever so slightly, but it works great.

I'm pretty swamped today, but I'll write up a work order and get the box shipped to you.