Straightening bent rims

[gatesj at twcny.rr.com (John K. Gates)]

> > why is everyone set on going to a wheel repair place?
> > all you really need is a dead blow hammer and some method of spinning
> > the wheel to check for trueness. i use a portion of a rear axle beam
> > with rearrotor installed. the rotor gives me some leverage if a wheel
> > is VERY bent and i need to slip a jack between the rotor edge and
> > wheel lip.
> > Al

> As much fun as I used to have trying to true my road bike wheels, I
> think I will leave that to someone with more expertise....

I too have tried to true road bike wheels and see the point, but there are
a whole lot less variables here; you don't have 32 or however many spokes
each exerting its own force, just a solid piece of alloy.  With enough
force you should be able to get it pretty close with what he's talking
about.

I know I've straightened steel wheels pretty close with a BFH for my snow
tires and have gotten them just fine even though they're more "springy"
than alloy..

John K. Gates
--
'97 Jetta GLX - daily driver
'85 Scirocco Flash Silver, waiting for my new house/shop for a complete
teardown/buildup sometime soon...