Topic: styled steel wheels out of round

[hs1966]

My recently purchased 1966 coupe came with 15" styled steel wheels.  It has what I would call a drivetrain vibration at 45 MPH and up.  I had all 4 wheels balanced at a tire store and they said 2 of my wheels are out of round, slightly bent.  They are less than 1/4" out of round.  They managed to balance them ok.  They showed me on the machine the unequal rotation of the 2 wheels, a very slight waver.  My question is, can these wheels be fixed or should I bite the bullet and buy 2 new wheels?  Thank you.

[carlite65]

we need more info please. what year car. exactly what style of wheel. 65-66 ss wheels were only originally available in 14 inch. magnums & others did have 15's. tell us more please.

[dave6768]

1/4" to me seems like a lot.

Last time I bought a set of tires and took them to a speed shop they:
1. spun each wheel to check for run out and balance.  The two best wheels were put up front.
2. Next mounted the tires on the wheels and spun them to find the balance.  They then rotated the tires on the wheels several time to get the best balance without any weights.
3. Then the balanced them off the car.
4. Then the spun balanced them on the car.  Smooth as glass.

I'm not sure what the tolerance is for bent/out of round wheels.  I'm positive no wheel is 100% right.
My suggestion is to put the two best wheels up front and see if that's tolerable.  If not, get two new wheels.

[lightwtjet]

Yes, if they are one quarter inch out of round, that is very bad.  The maximum tolerable radially is generally .030 to .040 inch. In this range one can improve the smoothness by indexing on the wheel studs and vehicle position.
  When I got my American  aluminum wheels I measured run out before I mounted the tires and found it to be less than .022 inch.

[J_Speegle]

Welcome to the site and your first posting

My recently purchased 1966 coupe came with 15" styled steel wheels.  It has what I would call a drivetrain vibration at 45 MPH and up.  I had all 4 wheels balanced at a tire store and they said 2 of my wheels are out of round, slightly bent.  They are less than 1/4" out of round.  They managed to balance them ok.  They showed me on the machine the unequal rotation of the 2 wheels, a very slight waver.  My question is, can these wheels be fixed or should I bite the bullet and buy 2 new wheels?  Thank you.

Since these are apparently aftermarket wheels a lot depends on the design and materials used to make the wheel.
 
If they were stamped steel centers and rim design then yes you could likely get them repaired by replacing the outer rim but you'll have to find a shop that will accept the liability and the finished product will look different (have different details) than they did originally.

If still available I would just purchase replacements and be done with it.

BTW since this is dealing with an aftermarket part or item will be moving this discussion to the Lounge area as is our practice here given our focus