webmasterino

About a month ago, my wife was hit (t-bone style) in the drivers' side rear quarter panel just behind the wheel. It was a slow speed impact and didn't do much damage to the car but it did push her rear end to the right. Could this be enough to bend a wheel on the passenger rear side? I ask because her car is shimmying (sp?) between 50-60mph. The shop is saying her wheel is bent (we are getting an alignment done to see if that will fix the issue). My wife swears to me she hasn't hit a curb (and I believe her, she is an excellent driver - yeah I said it!). The tires are low profiles and she does cross train tracks regularly so I'm thinking maybe that could bend the rim? I'm thinking I may contain the other person's insurance agent to submit a follow up claim but if the accident didn't cause it, then I'm not going to file a false claim.

I don't know the severity of bend, but they want $700 to replace it. That is just nuts! we can get aftermarket rims for her for about that much!!! But I digress.

Your thoughts?

Just a bit more details, she was moving at about 20-30 mph and the other driver was pulling away from a stop sign so probably less than 10mph. His car was a Lincoln Continental which is a heavy car and then my wifes hhr is probably around 3300 lbs with all the weight in the front. No curbs or pot holes were around the scene so it wasn't like she was pushed into a curb or a big pot hole.

mxt_77

<-- Not a fan of HHRs.

I'd just sell the car and call it a day.

CosmosMpower

LOL, that's harsh but I do hear Enterprise is in dire need of them for their fleet

To address your question: A shimmy at speed is usually not alignment related, but more dependent on the balance of the wheel/tire. If it's shaking I would guess that the wheel is bent. Did you visually inspect the inside and outside lips and try and re-balance the tires?

If the wheel is bent don't spend $750 to replace it, get either Wheel Technology or Wheel Repair by Adam to fix it for around $125-$150. They will put it back to round and just mount and re-balance the tire and you should be good to go.

It is a good idea to still get an alignment to make sure the frame and suspension pieces aren't damaged though, let us know what they say.

Best of luck.

webmasterino

@Cosmos,

Are they local? I've been lazy and haven't googled it yet. The HHR is a leased vehicle for work so we either have it get it fixed or replace it. It is at the shop right now to have the tires rotated and balanced so we'll see.

Did I mention she got hit by an 85 year old guy????

CosmosMpower

Yep both local.

www.wheeltechnologies.com
Ste A21
1225 E Crosby Rd, Carrollton, TX 75006
(972) 242-3485

www.wheelrepairbyadam.com
10952 Harry Hines Blvd
Dallas, TX 75220
(214) 357-5762

rioyellows2k

We use them also. You can drop of the wheel and it's $95 per wheel.

webmasterino

Scott, which location?

I looked at their web site and it looks like they repair things like curb rash and things like that. We don't have the car back yet but I dont' recall seeing any rash on the wheel. I'm wondering if the shop means bent as in warped. We went ahead and got the wheels and rims rotated and aligned so we'll see.

CosmosMpower

Both can fix almost anything (bends, cracks to the lip etc) not only limited to just curb rash.

rioyellows2k

DFW wheel tech is one of the vendors. We use 2. Just call me so I can arrange pick up and drop off, and they charge $95.00 per wheel. You just drop the wheel off here at the dealership.

They fix rash, paint, and bends.