You are driving down the road and take a turn too sharp, hit the curb, and hear an awful sound. You quickly pull into a parking lot and check for damage, you see a cracked rim. Now you aren’t sure what to do? You will want to take it in to get it looked at. They will be able to tell you if it can be repaired or not.
Ways You Can Crack Your Rim There are so many ways to crack the rim on your car. Sometimes you will know exactly when it happens, others you will not. A bend or crack can happen in your everyday driving. Some cracks can look minor, but are a safety hazard to the driver and their passengers. Here are some of the more common causes:
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Car accident Hitting the curb Hitting potholes in the road Roads that are uneven
When it comes down to it, the most dangerous thing you can do is drive on a damaged rim. The tire surrounding the damaged area can have a complete blowout, causing more damage and the vehicle to become undrivable. If you are driving at a high-speed and this happens, you could lose control of your vehicle and cause an accident or worse.
What A Cracked Rim Can Do To Your Vehicle When driving on a cracked rim, you can cause other damage to other parts of the vehicle as well. Your vehicle can start to have alignment issues, issues with the steering, and even cause damage to the suspension. All of these issues should be addressed quickly. You might not see the crack right away, there are unmistakable signs there is damage to done. The noises or sounds you hear coming from your wheel area might sound different from normal. You might even begin to feel an unusual vibration in your steering wheel. These are all reasons you will want to take your vehicle in and have it looked at immediately.
Is It Repairable? If you have a short, hairline crack, an experienced technician can make the repair without an issue. However, the longer and broader the crack grows, it’s less likely the repair will last. When you go in, one of the first things the technician will do is clean and then mark the crack. This will help make repairs go faster when they already know where the crack is. The most common way to repair your wheel is with a TIG weld. After the first weld is complete, a dye test is performed to check for any possible leaks. If your rim is bent as well, which 80% of cracked rims are, it should be straightened before the repair begins. A technician can do that as