Bent rim - again

[Pominoz]

My Boxster has 18inch turbo twists that look great, even better with the wife in the picture



Anyway, one of the front wheels was quite badly buckled when I bought the car, but not picked up by the PPI unfortunately. Luckily it was straightened by a local wheel repairer with no problems since. I'm not sure if the roads in Australia are particularly crap, but now one of the rear wheels has a small buckle. Not as bad as the first, so this is the second trip I've made to the repairer. I can't even really remember where this would have happened. It can't have been an obvious pot hole because I'm pretty wary of the road surface in general and I think I would have noticed.

I was wondering if this is something that is quite common, or perhaps more common in 18 inch wheels. Has anyone else had much trouble with their Porche alloys?

[Jamesp]

I've never heard of wheels spontaneously bending in the years I've been on the forum.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by Jamesp

I've never heard of wheels spontaneously bending in the years I've been on the forum.

Obviously I did hit something, although I would have expected the fronts to be the ones to get the damage. Maybe I was travelling at high speed in reverse at some point and forgot about that as well.

[Steve Tinker]

Are your wheels genuine Porsche or cheap(er) "made in Italy" twists? There is a big difference in quality between the two....

[steved0x]

I've heard the Italian ones are pretty good, one way to check if a wheel is OEM is to see if offset information is on the face of the wheel near the valve,stem, that usually indicates OEM

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by steved0x

I've heard the Italian ones are pretty good, one way to check if a wheel is OEM is to see if offset information is on the face of the wheel near the valve,stem, that usually indicates OEM

I assumed they were genuine, but there is no marking next to the valve stem. They certainly look good quality finish wise. I might contact the dealer the car came from to find out if they came with the car. So far not many people are reporting bent rims so I'm either unlucky or they really are second rate wheels. I'll post again when I find out.

[PaulE]

I've had some wheel wobble issues with my 18 inch Light Carrera wheels that are OEM and came with the car new, with what passes for roads here in the Northeast US. Nothing that couldn't be straightened, but a pain to deal with. I find checking the air pressure frequently and making sure they tires are up to the correct air pressure helps. But I also picked up a set of OEM 17 inch wheels and am mostly using those. I find the extra half inch of sidewall gives me a little extra protection from the crappy roads and potholes.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by PaulE

I've had some wheel wobble issues with my 18 inch Light Carrera wheels that are OEM and came with the car new, with what passes for roads here in the Northeast US. Nothing that couldn't be straightened, but a pain to deal with. I find checking the air pressure frequently and making sure they tires are up to the correct air pressure helps. But I also picked up a set of OEM 17 inch wheels and am mostly using those. I find the extra half inch of sidewall gives me a little extra protection from the crappy roads and potholes.

Ok, that's interesting. I keep the pressures correct, pretty important on a Porsche if you want to drive it like a Porsche When you look at the width of the rear wheels, there isn't much support for the inside of the rim, and with 35 section tires the pot holes have a real advantage Maybe its just something you have to live with.

[PaulE]

Originally Posted by Pominoz

Ok, that's interesting. I keep the pressures correct, pretty important on a Porsche if you want to drive it like a Porsche When you look at the width of the rear wheels, there isn't much support for the inside of the rim, and with 35 section tires the pot holes have a real advantage Maybe its just something you have to live with.

Definitely, the rear 18 inch wheels are 9 inches wide I believe and the offset is virtually all to the inside of the rim!

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by PaulE

Definitely, the rear 18 inch wheels are 9 inches wide I believe and the offset is virtually all to the inside of the rim!

I contacted the Porsche dealer it came from, and they are the original OEM wheels, which is good news. Obviously OEM wheels don't always have letters near the valve.

The bad news is that I'm going to have to be even more careful about the road from now on.

[Perfectlap]

I have bent maybe six wheels in the 10 years, all OEM German wheels. Pressure cast alloys like the higher end BBS and OZ wheels are better than typical cast alloy wheel but will still bend if you hit it at just the wrong angle. I once bent a BBS RK wheel going maybe 3 mph onto car wash wheel track (I deserved that for going to a cheap car wash). Physics is an unpredictable thing when it comes to wheels.

The rule is low price, low weight, durability. You only get two of the three unless you go with a forged wheel but those are not cheap. Some wheels have a forged outer flange only to reduce cost.

[Timco]

I ended up with a vibration at 35 and 70. Bent rim. Rear right.

Absolutely no idea what I could have hit or drove over. Oh well. It didn't just bend itself.

$120.

[Wret]

My mechanic assessed my vibration complaint recently and told me that three of four wheels are bent to some degree. I saw a youtube video on straightening wheels (bent MUCH worse than mine) that seems to be within my range of skills and tools. Not without cost though because they still need to have tires remounted and balanced. Maybe someday when I have time on my hands I'll try it on the one bent one I actually replaced.

[Porsche9]

I've never bent a rim which I guess makes me lucky. Fortunately the roads for the most part are well maintained where I live. I have the 18" Turbo twist wheels.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by Porsche9

I've never bent a rim which I guess makes me lucky. Fortunately the roads for the most part are well maintained where I live. I have the 18" Turbo twist wheels.

Do yours have the numbering next to the valves?

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by Pominoz

Do yours have the numbering next to the valves?

I don't recall seeing numbering next to the valve but I'll take a look when I get home tonight to be sure and let you know. I know they are the factory wheels that came with the car from new.

[JayG]

I put new tires on mine and found out one of the rear wheels had a crack on the inside bead.
Took it to a wheel repair place and as I was rolling it in, they guy said "your wheel is bent"
He put it on a balancer and spun it slowly and sure enough in addition to the small crack, there was a small bend as well

Picked them up the next day and for $100, they fixed both the crack and the bend.

I must have hot a pot hole somewhere to cause the damage

[texomawaves]

I would highly suspect your better half actually smacked a curb and didn't tell you. It happens!

[Porsche9]

Originally Posted by Porsche9

I don't recall seeing numbering next to the valve but I'll take a look when I get home tonight to be sure and let you know. I know they are the factory wheels that came with the car from new.

Just check and no numbers next to the valve.

[Pominoz]

Originally Posted by Porsche9

Just check and no numbers next to the valve.

Thanks, I was wondering if my wheels might be the cheapo Chinese OEM version