ok... car in sig... stock wheels, polished aluminum 17"

bring my car in to get the wheels balanced because of an annoying flutter thats at its worst around 55mph and almost non existant at some other speeds (like 40)

so the shop calls and says they need me to look at something.

long story short

they show me one wheel on the balancer machine spinning, and there is a pretty obvious wobble... wheel or tire? i dunno... they say wheel

then they tell me all 4 wheels are the same way and that im wasting my money to balance them and give me the option to just say forget it

i say **** it and have them balance em anyway

flutter is still there... only not *quite* as bad


how the hell did this happen last time i saw my wheels on a balancer like 9 months ago they were all perfect and true and only like 3k miles have been put on it since then with no undo forces to the wheels no curb smacking or nothing.. not a scratch on em

what happened??

is it possible that being parked for 5 months while i was in training bent my wheels??


ANY input apprecieted

Jared

 

Pothole, curb, or they switched out your wheels for some bent ones.

Good thing is, there are places that will fix bent wheels.

 

like where and how much?

 

Like were are you taking them, get another opinion. Wheels don't just bend, unless there is stress on them, or an impact, no if you car sat a while, the rubber in your tires can get hard, and mis shape, driving it alot will help that out, otherwise, new tires.

 

I have no idea where you are located. Try the yellow pages. Thats where I found a place.

 

This place is good. They have estimated costs for various repairs.

http://www.wheelcollision.com/wccsvcs.html

 

I would recommend a second opinion. One wheel being bent is common, sometimes just hitting something small can cause this, but to have 4 bent wheels is not impossible, but extremely uncommon. You mentioned the car sat for 5 months, this will cause flat spots in the tires and can be mis-diagnosed as bent wheels. These flat spots can be corrected by daily driving, but most the time you will have a vibration unless the tires are replaced. Just my opinion......... get a second opinion before you start looking into wheel repairs.

 

thanks for all the input everyone

its coming due for a tire change anyway


i might just change the wheels anyway
but it would be good if i can check the wheels and make sure they are straight for resale

 

when you store the car (over the winter or whatever) Its always a good idea to put it up on some sort of jackstands or blocks (supporting the frame in the front and back since these are unibody cars)

FWIW Im voting flat spots on the tires too.