Alloy wheels

[AndrewR]

Today I had my very soft 18" Ti alloys re rolled and repaired. The firm I used,  Wheel Solutions in Church Street, Richmond.
This is an unsolicited plug for them, an excellent job, the results were not just in the looks put in the driving, vibration free at last.

[colcol]

I use Neway in Heidleburg, as they are close to where i live and are open Saturday morning, i have used them for 20 years for re-rolling 33 rims, the speedlines on the 156 are a bit stronger than the 33 speedlines, round Bulleen in Bulleen road on the way to the freeway, when it rains, potholes magically appear and when its wet in the dark the road is dark and you cannot see them, but you and your poor car feel them, Colin.

[poohbah]

How much did they charge Andrew?

[AndrewR]

I think there RRP are $70 a wheel, I paid less as I am in the trade!

[poohbah]

That's pretty good.

[AndrewR]

When I had the wheels re-rolled they could not get the N/Srear off  as the bolts had been cross threaded.
So a new rear hub later plus two bolts I took the car back yesterday, they found the rear wheel true, they balanced it re fitted all for no charge, that is service!
Today I took the car to Ian Edgar's Tyre Power and had the car for wheel aligned, WOW what a difference   ,after three thousand KM with a hand massage through the steering  wheel, vibration free at last what a nice car!

[colcol]

I had a problem with cross threaded wheel bolts as well, the person putting the bolts in should start them by hand and do them up with an air gun when the thread has started, but it is easy to cross thread them with an air gun, and they must relise that something is wrong, but put the gun on to maximum torque to do the wheel bolt up to get the car out of the shop, and then its someone else's problem.
I fixed my hub by repairing the thread with a helicoil thread repair kit, going back to the place is useless as they will deny it happened.
Wheel alignment is very important to any car, but on a front wheel drive, if the wheels are toeing in, then you will get tyre noise and understeer, as the loaded wheel is not pointing where it should be.
If you clobber a kerb or pothole, see if your steering wheel is still straight or 'on the piss', that will give you some sort of idea.
In the olden days before power steering, hit something and the steering would get heavy and you would notice, but with power steering, it seems to mask it, Colin.

[As the day goes]

I think there RRP are $70 a wheel, I paid less as I am in the trade!

That is way cheaper than what I was quoted to have the 18" ones merely repainted.  I should be in a trade.

And way way cheaper than another mob down near Moorrabin way.  Thinking I should just replace the wheels with aftermarket ones.

[AndrewR]

Richmond is not far from the City centre. They do lots of work for car yards including the high end market.