Ford Fiesta ST Mrk 7 - Buckled Alloy Wheels

[DeanoFiesto]

Hi,

Just had a MOT done and been alerted to 2 buckled alloys, rather annoyed but it happens!

Does anyone know where the best place to get them are? They are the Silver ST 17inch alloys and not the Rock Metallic colour.

Thanks!

[isetta]

if it passed the MOT I would leave them as they are. Replace them and then buckle the new ones and you will kick yourself. Are they buckled on the back of the wheel?  That is usually what happens, they are very weak there with no support.  get a plastic mixing bowl and see how flexible the top rim is compared to the base. The back of the wheel is like the top rim of a bowl, no support to brace it from bending.

On my old Fiesta the MOT tester pointed out three of mine were buckled at back of the wheel, I watched him spin them and I could see it. Not bad enough to fail though. It's those pot holes. The lower the profile of the tyres, the less cushion and more chance of bent rim.

[Luke4efc]

If they are damaged at the back (which I imagine they are as isetta says then they can sometimes be repaired. It's a little bit of a specialised job though so not sure who will do it near you. Then again you can get a used alloy on eBay for £75 in perfect nic so not sure its worth it.

[DeanoFiesto]

18 hours ago, isetta said:

if it passed the MOT I would leave them as they are. Replace them and then buckle the new ones and you will kick yourself. Are they buckled on the back of the wheel?  That is usually what happens, they are very weak there with no support.  get a plastic mixing bowl and see how flexible the top rim is compared to the base. The back of the wheel is like the top rim of a bowl, no support to brace it from bending.

On my old Fiesta the MOT tester pointed out three of mine were buckled at back of the wheel, I watched him spin them and I could see it. Not bad enough to fail though. It's those pot holes. The lower the profile of the tyres, the less cushion and more chance of bent rim.

Yeah it passed the MOT but of course shows as an advisory, which annoys me as other wise all is spot on. Yeah that was my thinking, with winter in full swing and spring being the worst for pothole, it would kill me inside haha!

Yeah the main damage is on the back of the two alloys, did take to a tyre place today and they showed me, there's a dent visible in one, but even they said it's not a fail at MOT level.

16 hours ago, Luke4efc said:

If they are damaged at the back (which I imagine they are as isetta says then they can sometimes be repaired. It's a little bit of a specialised job though so not sure who will do it near you. Then again you can get a used alloy on ebay for £75 in perfect nic so not sure its worth it.

Yep damage at the back, have thought about trying places that claim to 'reshape' them if they aren't too bad, but does concern me if that is okay to do?!

[Norvern]

Ford wheels are made of relatively soft alloy so can be straightened with a bit of heat from a blow torch. Any decent wheel refurb specialist should be able to straighten them for around £50 a corner. Same happened to mine on an old Zetec S, tyre was removed, rim heated and reprofiled. Tyre was back on, balanced and wheel refitted in about 20mins.

[DeanoFiesto]

16 hours ago, Norvern said:

Ford wheels are made of relatively soft alloy so can be straightened with a bit of heat from a blow torch. Any decent wheel refurb specialist should be able to straighten them for around £50 a corner. Same happened to mine on an old Zetec S, tyre was removed, rim heated and reprofiled. Tyre was back on, balanced and wheel refitted in about 20mins.

This sounds encouraging! I will have a check around my local area and see if they can give them a go before deciding what to do next. Thanks!

[Ian Lanc]

On 1/9/2019 at 9:31 PM, isetta said:

The back of the wheel is like the top rim of a bowl, no support to brace it from bending.

 

It's not because of the inside of the wheel having no strength, it's because ford use inferior alloy to make their cheap chinese wheels, it's very soft and is easily deformed, Ford know that their wheels are utter trash and if the car is purchased new and the car ends up with a buckled rim, they'll change it free of charge! Something Ford doesn't shout about as they are at a loss but usually the car owner is at a loss, when our Fiesta was new we had three new wheels fitted for free, doubt they'd do it now seeing as the car is 8 years old.

Ronal make stock alloy wheels for Seat - VW - Audi. Ronal know a thing or two about what types of alloys to use for their wheels and of course they don't buckle but can crack under high impact.

[Ian Lanc]

7 hours ago, DeanoFiesto said:

This sounds encouraging! I will have a check around my local area and see if they can give them a go before deciding what to do next. Thanks!

No end of tyre fitters have in house wheel straightening/welding, could save you some money unless you come across a bargin new one on eBay for £60.

My friend had his wheel straightened and repainted for £65, the re-painted wheel didn't match the others, so he got himself a new one for £100 and the repaired one kept as a spare.