Blacksmoke

So this weekend my cousin pointed out I had a big 'ol crack in my tire where the tread is.

I took it to the tire shop where the guy that owns it is good friends with my uncle who owns a Ford dealership. (I tell you this so you will know they have a friendship AND a business relationship).

Well turns out the tire I need replaced is on back order for over a month.
I call all around town and am told the same thing so I have the shop put on a tire as close as they can get to that one. Problem solved right?
WRONG.

I get a call expecting my car to be ready. Instead they ask me to come down to talk with them about something.
I go down there and they tell me they had some trouble getting the tire on and found out my wheel was bent. They put it on the rotator and sure enough you could see the wheel and tire wobble on the rotator/balancer.

They asked me if I had hit anything and I said no. There were NO outside marks on the wheel or old tire that gave any indication of running into anything whatsoever. No scratches, scruffs, buffs, nothing.
I am told I need to replace the wheel.

I have them put the wheel back on so I can go home and I do NOT notice the car or steering wheel wobbling or going off one direction or ANYTHING.
It is driving good. When i get up to about 80 then I feel a slight jitter but it seems like a normal LIGHT one at that speed. (nothing I ever gave thought to before or would even now)

So I take it back and ask them to put it back on the balancer thinking maybe their tool was messed up or something and also ask them to show me WHERE the wheel was bent. They put it back on and sure enough it does the same thing, wobbles. They cannot find the bend at first but finally do with some feeling around. (was not visible).

One guy tells me if I cannot feel the car doing anything wrong that i should not replace it. Another guy tells me after seeing it on the balancer "Your wheel is gone man".
So needless to say I am confounded. I ask the owner what he would do and he tells me that it is not something that he would consider dangerous but that one reason I might not feel it now is that the wheel has a brand new tire on it. I tell him I in fact did not feel it before (on the old tire) and he says again.
It does not seem like something I think would be dangerous.

He did say that since the wheel was bent... and on the balancer you could SEE the wheel wobble ... that the tire would wear unevenly and that I could run into other problems down the road.

What complicates things is this. These wheels are ROUSH wheels.
When I bought them I was in a situation where I could afford ridiculously expensive wheels. Now I am not.
For the price of this ONE wheel, I could just about replace all FOUR of my wheels with regular prices wheels.

So if I do replace this wheel, I am in fact going to replace all four wheels with another cheaper brand of the same size or close so that I can keep my tires and instead of buying another ROUSH wheel and possilbly EVER having to deal with the expense of replacing one again.

I do not WANT to have to do this but I also do not want to sacrifice safety, or the performance of my car. So I am seeking the advice of the people on this forum that know about wheels and tires.

What should I do?
Thanks!

chopper_man

Why not get the rim repaired? There are plenty of repair facilities that take care of stuff like that. It's VERY reasonably priced for bends and can usually be done in less than a day. Google "Rim repair <your city>"
-Brian

Xeno

a rim repair might work, but i might consider going the new wheel route. overall, it is better to sacrifice a little money rather than your safety.

one thing you could do (unless you've done this already) is try contacting roush; they may replace it under warranty, and if they don't agree to this, contact your insurance people to check if there was a manufactured default in the wheel. roush would probably have to replace it for you if that's the case. (i had a truck with a manufacturer default in the paint, and even though i bought it used, the dealer had to repaint it)

Blacksmoke

No place in town does it.
I have called a number of places that say you can't even repair this type of wheel that way.

Roush's warranty on wheels is only for 2 years and I've had them longer than that

Xeno

checking with roush or your insurance people still might be worth a shot (my truck was out of warranty too). the worst they could do is say no

you could try selling the remaining 3 (and probably even the bent one) on ebay or something to help pay for the new wheels; i'm sure someone would buy them even not being a full set

Nuke

or cross your fingers that someone ELSE is selling one on ebay...

Art161

I would have the other three wheels checked to see if they are okay.

I would call Roush to see if they have a customer satisfaction program to help you out with a replacement wheel. The worst that could happen is they say, "No."

svastano

+1 on that! You never know until you ask!