Bent RIMS... Please help

[rbw80]

Hey All,

I've had a reoccurring problem that I can just shake.

I own a 2008 Pontiac Wave SE Hatchback and it seems that every 30,000km I get a shake in the steering wheel, the car pulls to the left or the right and i feel a vibration in the seat and steering wheel.

I first took it to the dealer who replaced both front rims and labeled them as defective at 30,000. Then at 60,000km I had to replace all 4 RIMS and tires. The tires were out of round and 3 of the 4 rims were bent. I had them all replaced at a reputable tire shop and not the dealer. I also bought a set of snows and rims at the same time.

Now I have 98,000km on the car and the same problem has started again. I took it to another dealer who advised that 3 of my 4 rims, the fronts being the worst, are bent again. The explanation is that they are bent in the center of the rims and not the outside edges. When they put the tire on the balance machine they shimmy. This type of damage would indicate that I've hit curbs with some degree of force which I can honestly say is not the case. I have not tested the snows but I would assume at this point that they would have some degree of damage as well but nothing was noticed last season.

So now I have gone through 8+ rims for the same problem and have no clue as to why. All of the rims were steel and not aluminum. The mechanics that have seen the car and I have talked to can not explain this type of damage.

I can't keep spending money on rim every season and am really considering getting rid of this lemon.

Any help you be greatly appreciated.

[petrified.rabbit]

the car is a lemon because the rims only last 30k km?

let me ast you, what quality of tires are you running? are you consistently running oem steel wheels?

do you drive highway, back roads, city? running what tire pressures? any hub / bearing noise or work completed?

highly rust area?

i would recommend going to a forged alloy wheel, they would "never" go out or round.

[mikedudley17]

WTF, you rally racing your car?

[Nemasys]

Wow thats pretty funny, no offense... i've hit a curb with my stock rims and it hit hard enough that it destroyed the windshield washer tank, yet ive never bent the rim, i still have it to this day with a huge gash in it.

I don't know how it's possible to go thru 8 sets of rims in under 100k clicks... thats just crazy... what are you doing?

Have you ever gotten an alignment? Improper alignment (on all 4 wheels) can put excessive pressure on the hub and it probably can damage the rim over time, but even then, your tires would shred before any significant damage to the rim.

Something is definitely not right here, ive heard of bent rims on the edges from potholes but not in the center near the hub, rims are extremely strong there.

[wylee]

Something is definitely not right here, ive heard of bent rims on the edges from potholes but not in the center near the hub, rims are extremely strong there.

I'm surprised to her that come from a Canadian.

Come to NH or VT and drive around in January or February; our frost heaves inflict serious punishment on small cars. I've never had 4 steel wheels stay straight for more than a couple winters; rarely do all 4 stay straight for 1 winter. Never any rim/bead damage, but when they spin on the balancer there's always a wobble on at least 1 of them after a winter. OEM alloys have stood up exceptionally well in my experience.

Th OP must runs high tire pressures and drive on very rough surfaces

[Nemasys]

What makes you so surprised to hear that from a canadian? Doesn't mean that because everything freezes over 6 months a year it's bad on cars.

What is bad on cars over here is the calcium they put on roads to melt the ice, the intense cold we get sometimes is far less worse.

Roads in winter are well maintained around here, i'd say the worst season is spring when everything is melting, the hot days and cold nights freeze and thaw the roadways forming cracks and potholes.

Winter is nothing compared to spring!

[wylee]

What makes me say that? The farther north I go, the worse the frost heaves seem to get. I live about 60 miles south of the Quebec border and assumed the frost heaves would be at least as bad north of the border. Maybe the roads in Canada are just built better with proper drainage so you don't see the ridiculous frost heaves.

[exodus0784]

I'm pretty sure all of my rims are out of round, at least: '04 with stock steelies. I've had one replaced because it wouldn't hold air.

I'm usually bending the lips, though (rallycross). Mine are rusty as hell, but never got the symptoms you're describing.