[blueraven316]

Originally Posted by shapath

thanks for the response. you say alloys donot get bent on very hard impacts .then what sort of situation caused few bends to even 6 bends on your rims.

I have had 3 individual bends on my Zen's alloys, all three on the inside of the rim as my rims dont have a lip, so no outside damage. This happened both times in the rainy season, once it was in a puddle of water on a tar road, could not see it at night and the road was very soooth otherise, i hit it at 80 KMPH and the pothole was steep, both my front rims were bent, I came to know after the air on the tyres started depleting very fast as I have low profile tubeless tyres.


The other incident was on a Laura, a guy I knew went out of town the first day he fit 17" rims on his laura and drove like a maniac, and ended up with 6 bends on one rim on both interior and exterior, that was fixed and that car is running fine.

Another incident happened with my friend's Black Mugen kitted civic, when he almost climbed a divider at night, but his front right rim got bent, that too was fixed.

I know a guy called badshah on JC road who does this kind of repair work. for high end rims I have another chap who does this kind of jobs for me.

[kjdesigns_2000]

I have also heard that since alloy wheels are lighter they give better fuel economy too. Saw this in a advert too, but cannot prove it as it fitted alloys on mine the same day as i purchased the car. Is it true what i am saying ?

[rks]

The profile of the tyres and proper inflation matter a lot. I have the stock 155/70 R13 tyres on 5J alloy wheels in my Santro. Yesterday I lost the front right tyre as I hit a huge pothole on the Expressway (!) just as I was about to exit (with less than 1/2 km left, Mumbai side). I had a warning just slightly earlier as I hit a smaller pothole and I was mildly suprised, but just shrugged it off and kept speeding at 90-100 kmph, and paid the price.

The front right tyre developed a big bulge on the sidewall. My Bridgestone S322 tubeless tyres have done about 23000 kms so far. My tyres are overinflated to 35 psi. I am convinced that with lower profile tyres or with lower tyre pressure, my alloy would have been damaged. As it is the alloy wheel (Neo Star SM) escaped damage; this was indeed a severe test and I was half-expecting the wheel to have cracked. Neo passed with flying colours. Further the tyre pressure was holding fine, thank God.

I just drove on at slow speed with the damaged tyre and reached home safely. Now I am down to 4 good tyres, with the damaged tyre as spare (to be used only in an emergency). I will probably run another 5000-7000 kms before going for new tyres.

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by shapath

thanks for the response. you say alloys donot get bent on very hard impacts .then what sort of situation caused few bends to even 6 bends on your rims.

I use 14¨ Fiat alloys, could be Aluminium, jumped over speed humps and went over pot holes at 100+ KMPH as I could not stop. My rims are fine on a 1.2+ tonner, even without a bend. I am not suggesting you do that, drive only at reasonable speeds and safe.

[PAVAN KADAM]

HERO,

go ahead with alloys and bridgestone tubeless with nitrogen, my M-800 is running on them since 25000 kms, i've had no probs since.

[anupmathur]

Go right ahead with the alloys and tubeless tyres.
While you are at it, you might want to consider 'puncture-proofing' your tyres as well. There are at least 2 brands of puncture-preventatives that are available in India (Slime and Airseal TyreMilk). I'm posting the details below:

Slime can be bought at N1 Racing Equipment, Mumbai. They get it from Speedworks, Chennai.
Website: [COLOR=#0000ff]www.*************.com[/COLOR]
Email : [COLOR=#0000ff]info@*************.com[/COLOR]
Tel: 0091 9821221791
Fax : 0091 22 24441796
Mr.Anant Pithawalla

Airseal Tyre Milk is available at Rawat Automobiles,
41 & 42 Jamroodpur Auto Complex, G.K. Part 1, New Delhi 110048
Mobile: 91-98110 50088
Tel: 91-11-29231467
Mr. Rajesh Rawat

As for efficacy, these products DO WORK, if installed correctly. Their usefulness is limited with tubed tyres, but they work much better for tubeless. Temperature is not an issue; they have a very wide operating range, going down to well below zero.
Please note these are a different class of product - these are puncture preventatives, not simply 'puncture repair' aerosol cans. These products will very successfully seal tread area punctures upto almost 6 mm dia for tubeless tyres, provided the recommended quantity has been installed into the tyre. No further 'repair' is needed for a puncture sealed by them. Nothing can help you with tyre wall damage, or even those that are very close to the sidewall.
An important point to remember is that these sealants work while the tyre is in motion, and they cannot seal if the tyre is stationary. There are many makes available on the international market, but in India I have seen only these two. And prices here are also 'novelty prices'; eg. Slime costs about $40/- per US Gallon in the US, but in India you'll be paying about four times this price.
BTW, the cutest little air compressor is also available from N1 Racing; this is a branded SLIME product also and costs Rs. 1450=00 vs Rs.450=00 for the typical Karol Bagh types! Once you see this little baby, you'll find it tough to settle for anything less. Check it out at this website : [COLOR=#0000ff]http://www.speedworksindia.com/slime2.htm[/COLOR]
Comes complete with all kinds of connectors and a carrying case, and a handy 'pencil type' pressure gauge.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by sreenivass

I use 14¨ Fiat alloys, could be Aluminium, jumped over speed humps and went over pot holes at 100+ KMPH as I could not stop. My rims are fine on a 1.2+ tonner, even without a bend. I am not suggesting you do that, drive only at reasonable speeds and safe.

Its pure luck at times. Sometimes u could have multiple bends and sometimes nothing will happen.
Once i went and hit the divider at night and i was shell shocked to see the rim in perfect condition but my suspension arm was bent.

[BUSA]

Thats a Skoda LnK whose Rim was bent.

My Tyre dealer said that Optra and Skoda rims are prone to bending.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by BUSA

My Tyre dealer said that Optra and Skoda rims are prone to bending.

The reason is that little 'lip' or 'spigot' you see where the tyre meets the rim. Low profile tyres are much more susceptible to causing this kind of damage. (Such dents can be seen on many M800s, Zens, etc. but not that many Altos which come with higher profile tyres). Our roads have largish stones and many potholes. Depending on the dynamics, rims will sometimes get hit at the edge and bend. Alloys with a similar lip would crack, or at least 'chip'.
Low profile tyres are just not suitable for our conditions. And yet many of the higher performance cars are sold with low profiles fitted to enhance their performance. You have to choose - performance or freedom from 'dented' or cracked rims.

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by GTO

I have been using alloys since over a decade in most of my cars (combined 1,000,000+ kms) and have ended up with only two damaged pieces. One was my fault, and the other was the road.

Thats a pretty good record for a million kms.

A Million KM in a Decade. That is amazing. About a lakh km in a year which translates to 300 KM a day/365 days a year. Wow. how did you manage to put on some many KM?

[Dhar's]

How much is this setup prone for damage



Michelin XM1 155/70/R13 on Plati 13" x 5.5J
The alloys seems to be sticking out of the tyre wall. I think this is because the tyre is designed to be used on 5J rims. I had pointed out this to the dealer while fixing, but he said that the design itself is like this and its normal.
Ive already run about 10K cautious kms in this and caught unaware in some potholes especially at night. So far nothing happened.
I still feel that there is something not right about the set up.

[anupmathur]

Dhar, there are many designs available in alloy wheels today. Looking at the photo you have posted, it's hard to tell but I feel that there is nothing seriously amiss. Seems like you've chosen a design that is more prone to 'flange damage'.
You could do a simple test to confirm whether your fears are well founded - get a 5.5J size tyre fitted on one of your rims and see if that substantially reduces the extent to which the rim 'sticks out'.

[nirmalts]

I have new set of alloys on my car (Lenso) which is barely a week old. I have noticed that there are some chipping on the alloy lips already. Looks like stone hits. I have not driven through any bad roads. Also I drive at moderate speeds (60-70kmph). Is this normal for alloys? Or does it speak about the quality of alloys I have installed?

Nirmal

[iraghava]

Nirmal - How was the fitting of the tyre on the alloys done? An automatic machine or the desi hammer jugaad?

[shuvd]

My damaged Magnum wheel