A Guide to Wheel Rims for the Average Car Owner

Most car owners don’t know the difference between their timing belt, and a sanding belt.

Did you look up the pictures? Good. Obviously, they’re very different. Sanding belts aren’t found inside your engine, first of all, but unless you’re a car enthusiast or a mechanic, there is little reason to understand the intricacies of your car. It’s more likely that you’ll take a look at your wheel rims and get a nagging feeling that they probably shouldn’t look so used and abused. Since you did have to look up the difference between sanding, and timing belts, here is some helpful information so that you can know when you might need rim repair services, such as rim mounting and balancing, rim painting, and rim refinishing.

Rim Painting

If you see that your rims are more than just one color, then rim painting is the service that you need. Although rim painting has more to do with aesthetics than it does with function, damaged rims may need some new paint to protect the underlying metal. Muscle cars are known for their silver color, and for many car owners, black wheels carry a certain allure. Whether you want a silver or gold metallic flake, or white rims, it requires a special kind of paint job.

Rim Refinishing

Remember when you tried to parallel park, and you cut it really close? So close, in fact, that you couldn’t wedge a playing card between your wheel and the curb? You probably inflicted a little bit of curb rash on your wheel. If you look down at your wheel rims and you see an extensive pattern of scraping, then you may need to have your rims completely refinished. This necessitates sanding, cleaning, bonding to repair the damage, and repainting. Again, rim refinishing is more for aesthetics than anything else, but if appearances make a difference for your car, then rim refinishing might be worth it.

Rim Mounting and Balancing

Cracked, unbalanced, or crooked rims can be dangerous. They can create uneven wear on your tire treads, increase the risk of a blowout, and take a toll on how fuel efficient your car is. Rim mounting and balancing will include rim straightening, typically achieved with the help of large and expensive machinery. Your rims will be marked to show where they need to be pushed in, or pulled out, heated up via a blowtorch, and then carefully molded back into their original factory shape. If there are cracks in your wheel rim, they will be repaired and reinforced.

You might not think of your rims as often as you think about getting an oil change, but you probably know more now about rim repair than you do about the mysteries of an oil service. Most auto body repair shops can tackle your rim problems, but there are also professionals who specialize in fixing the many afflictions affecting wheel rims. If you are worried about the safety of your wheels, or tired of broadcasting to the world that you can’t parallel park, then rim repair will be just the solution you are looking for. More: www.professionalrimrepair.com