Alloy wheel dents - hit with hammer?

The message from paulfoel contains these words:

Generally no and generally yes, in that order. Ain't steel wheels magic?

Generally. What about a light tap :-)

As long as it's light enough so you don't bend it ;-)

Chris

You're kidding!

I chap I know spent hours battering 3 shades of hell out of a VW Touran alloy with sledge hammers after he put a big, severe flat spot (about an inch from circular) on it when he hit a pot hole. While I can't recommend this, he claims it did work and still works 6 months later. I do remember that he put a LOT of physical effort in to *fix* it and having seen him do it I'd prefer to buy a replacement!

All depends, careful heat and careful whacking 'can' reshape them, if there is any sign of a crack then forget it.

The message from paulfoel contains these words:

To be honest it's one of those things where if you need to ask you probably don't have the experience to get it right. I don't mean that nastily - it's just that if you knew you'd know.

I think I'd tend towards "If you think you don't know then you definitely don't know, if you think you do I'm still dubious of letting you loose on my wheels."

In message , paulfoel writes

You could take a look at :

It's not something I'd reccomend, but I've seen an OE VW wheel straightened with a hammer, and trust me, it took a belting.

I've had some cheap aftermarket wheels straightened by A1 wheels in wolverhampton. Two got flatspotted by a pothole.

I often wonder if VW alloys aren't as strong as some others?

Judging by the belting it took to straighten, they're pretty strong.

Aluminium 'work hardens' so the first bend is easy, the next (bend back) is significantly more difficult, which is why you need a bit of heat

Lighter than alloys. Cheaper than alloys. Tougher than alloys. Better in every respect than alloys.

Ain't car buyers weird?

Ian

Hmm. Well my dent isnt that big...

No prob. I know what you're saying...

Well compared with Lancia Delta wheels they're built like a tank.

Dont look as nice I suppose. But, I agree, I'd take steel wheels every time...

Try Sierra xr4I on steel wheels, all the police forces that did got the alloy wheels quite rapidly.