Egg wheels...

[Beauford]

So a couple of my wheels look out of round. How do I know it is not the hub, tire.... Many of you know the rusted, pitted project I have been working on. The wheels I had were horrid looking but I decided to blast and paint. I bought on eBay four really great condition wheels that are currently getting powder coated. You cant feel anything driving but when I drive the chassis I notice right front has that up and down motion and one of the rears look suspicious.

[Captndan]

Are they on the front or back or both?

[Beauford]

For sure the right front has a up and down. Hoping the newer wheels (better condition) will solve the problem and its not a drum..

[JB-OB]

Spin the wheel and then with a tire mounted .... old Firestone 21" tires made in Brazil were 'famous' for being egg shaped new.

[Beauford]

There new tires...

[Mitch]

sometimes without the proper lubrication the tire bead may not be sitting correctly on the rim. you can usually see this by following the edge of the tire around where it meets the steel wheel (ck on both sides).

jack up the car and spin the wheel, if the rim is jumping you will surely see that
try placing a fixed object next to the rim lip, a cardboard box works good for this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNBzPrHO4QQ

[DustDevil]

Egg shape is one thing. I am having my wheels blasted and powder coated. He is advising me to repair all spokes and/or cracks or holes after blasting. I have a spoke or two that will need fixin'. He also said to have the wheels "trued" before he powder coats them. Is there an easy way to true the wheels? I'm not certain I can find anyone with the equip or know-how.

[DaWizard]

Egg shape is one thing. I am having my wheels blasted and powder coated. He is advising me to repair all spokes and/or cracks or holes after blasting. I have a spoke or two that will need fixin'. He also said to have the wheels "trued" before he powder coats them. Is there an easy way to true the wheels? I'm not certain I can find anyone with the equip or know-how.

If you can find an aftermarket motorcycle tire dealer, they might be able to do the truing, providing you have a spindle to mount the wheel on. If you don't have one close, I would say you can do it on the car on the front axle with a block of wood and a hammer. I would not use the hammer directly on the wheel, but using the wooden block and hammer will bend the wheel.

[DustDevil]

That sounds effective. There are a few motorcycle places around the ABQ area, and lots of old-fashioned mechanics downtown. At worst, I can take "Percy" Sledge and smack em straight (with a block, as recommended).

[DustDevil]

I suspect, too, that after knocking the wheels straight (if necessary), there may be a need to do some repair welding on the spokes, eh?

[tbirdtbird]

Mitch, Brent has been willing to think outside the box, in that he takes a very bold move to repair gas tanks, and is successful at it. Wonder how he handles bent rims?

I had a couple rims with bent spokes. I straightened the spokes, but then the rims had awful runout when I was done. I think the problem was that the spokes stretched when they were first bent; so now they were too long, and produced the runout. That was the end of my spoke work.

[Beauford]

Ding, Ding, Ding!!! We have a Winner folks! Brother Mitch was correct! after looking at my "Egg" the bead is uneven on the suspected tire. Learn something every day and I like it! Thanks!!!!

[tbirdtbird]

deflate it, re-massage the bead, and re-inflate

[Beauford]

Tbird..that sounds like what my wife is going to be doing to me at the MGM casino this weekend. LOL

[Tom Wesenberg]

I helped a guy get his bead seated, and it wouldn't seat until I sprayed WD-40 on the bead. Then it popped into place perfectly.

On modern tubeless tires I use Vaseline on the beads.