Hi guys, i guess over wear and tear rims will slowly get slightly out of round.

i was told by someone who was reasonably qualified that an out of round rim rotating fast may hurt the lifespan of your suspension while of course providing non optimal grip.

question is: how do i tell that my rim is too far out of round? by rotating it on a tyre balancing machine and watching it spin, my naked eye cant tell the difference that the rim is too out of round (at the most a very slight change)... unless its already a terribly warped rim.

 

If you have a rim that is seriously out of round, you will likely feel it in the seat of your pants when you're riding down the road.

If you can't feel it and you can't see it, then you probably don't have a problem and you are needlessly worrying.

But if you suspect one is out of round, you need to find a shop that has a Hunter tire balancing machine and have them do a road force variation test. You put the tire on the balancing machine, and it will basically put a roller up against the tire as it spins and it measures the variation in force to the road that is presented by the tire.

They can also unmount the tire and put a caliper like device up against the rim as it spins and measure the runout.

 

so would it be safe to say that a slightly out of round rim that the naked eye cant really tell the difference would be fine?

(thanks for tip on hunter machine but there isnt one locally)

i'm planning to get a pretty decent set of suspension and i'm concerned that long term usage with out of round rims might wreck my suspension

 

I'd say yes, if you can't see it or feel it, and have no other reason to suspect an issue, then you are worrying needlessly.

 

I'd be concerned about how your rim got out of round, if indeed it is. Alloy rims are made to very high tolerances compared to a steel rims and are strong. Whatever impact caused wheel damage could also affect suspension pieces.

You could also check the roundness by dismounting the wheel and measuring the diameter at the outer and inner lips at various points.

 

great tip. thanks dude!

 

If there is a shop in your area with a Hunter GSP9700 balancer it would be able to tell you if ther is a problem. If you don't feel anything you are fine. Unless the wheels are really bent badly it is not going to do anything to your suspension. If they are bent badly you would not have to wonder you would know.

 

GSP9700 locater:

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm