This is unfortunately common with steel rims, but there is an easy way to fix it. If you have a big pair of pliers or a vise grip, you can bend the kink back into a straight shape. Deflate the tire, and find some pliers that can fit easily around the rim:
On the other side of the rim I always use a flat piece of metal as a brace to prevent it from getting deformed (in this case, only one side was damaged, so I didn't want the other side to get crushed in).
As long as you carefully bend it back in small, easy steps you should be able to get the braking surface straight again. Here is my end result:
As a final note, it may be tempting to just use a hammer. I've tried it myself, and although you can bend the rim back, the hammer will ruin the braking surface. Big pliers will always give you much better results, and they don't take any more time either.
So I know this already happened, but I have another method I would recommend trying. If you have some kind of clamp, you can take two small think pieces of wood and clamp it in between the rim that has been bent. Put it into the clamp and tighten down. I have found this method works very well and with little worry about damage as well. :)
ReplyDeleteThat actually sounds like an even better method. If you can keep the clamp in place, it would probably be a lot easier to control how much the rim bends. I'll have to try this next time.
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