How do I go about straighten Pilots rims? They hold air. thanks in advance for any advice

5lb ball peen
cold chisel
lots of tapping

I've been thinking about the same thing. The best idea i have is to use a roller something like a ring roller. you would need a end effector machined to match the profile of the stock rim. could be easily turned on a lathe - hint hint hoser. I saw this at harbor freight. What do you think?

I've always used the ballpeen to make it round again (if needed) and then started in with a crescent wrench tightened as much as possible and starting from the edge of the bent or rolled over area slowly bending the lip back out or into shape as needed slowly working closer and closer to the most damaged area, tightening the wrench as you go.

A piece of solid round bar bent into a U shape of a diameter just small enough to fit into the unbent lip area works good for final shaping with a small ballpeen.

In my younger days I used to snap up bent GM ralleye wheels at the junk yards for nothing (or damn close to it) and bend them back into perfect shape, paint and sell em for 50-100 bux apiece, with eBay around there's no way to make a profit doing that anymore though.

Even taco'd wheels can be straightened with the right touch and a hydraulic spreader (courtesy of harbor freight).

I use about all the caveman tools I have to fix mine, for a rim that is really bent and has a flat pot on it I take a small bottle jack and put inside the rim and start jacking, push it out a little then release the tension on the jack move it a little then jack again, don't try to do it all in one push, start in the middle of the bend and work your way side to side, sometimes I only move the jack 1/2" at a time then alternate from left to right of center again working to the outside, you might have to jack it up then release 30 times or more, trick is not to go too far, I have never got one that was bent enough you had to use the jack to straighten all the way back perfect straight but straight enough to use again and to make it look 100% better, personally I don't care how crappy my rims look I care how they perform.

For smaller bends like around the lip I use a chisel I have ground the end down dull so it wont cut the metal when beating on the groove trying to get it back into shape, actually I have a few chisels with slightly different radius ground into them so I can take one and bend it a little then finish with another chisel, railroad spikes work well and are soft and do less damage to the rim than even the dulled chisels.

Keep trying different hammers their is no one combination that works you just need to keep trying.

MOST the repairs I do is with the tire still mounted, if you have your bead bent in and it needs bent back out obviously you will need to remove the tire to beat it back out, most them dents can be left and it don't affect the seal of the bead its mostly a cosmetic thing.

Once your done most likely your going to meed to file and sand the rim where you beat on it to restore its finish make sure you clean and smooth the bead area really well so your tires wont leak on the bead when you reinstall them.

I don't get too fancy on the paint I use sand the Honda paint until its blended good then use white rustoluem over the factory paint, I don't even prime bare metal simply because the paint will need touched up again long before any adhesion or rust issues appear.

IMO rims are like bumpers they are temporary if they get bent straighten them best you can go on with life don't waste your time trying to keep them show room new, enjoy them, keep another set for the show room look on the shelf so if you ever sell you have nice rims to go with it.

If you ever bend a rim enough you need to use the jack to straighten you might as well change the wheel bearings on that corner of the car the bearings even though they feel good will fail shortly after (few hundred miles) usually when your far from camp lol

I attempted to heat mine with my oxy/acetylene torch to soften them for straightening, which worked, but in the process upon pounding them straight on my basement floor, I flattened the back side that was still perfect. About half way thru this reality set in and I thought, WHAT THE $#@% am I doing, just buy new ones, so I did.

A block of wood would of helped


they don't look too bad, sell them to me, err a rear, I need fronts

anyone one ever straighten a front wheel bent like this? Any ideas. I hope it's not junk. Bought it for $15.00.

I built some rim tooling for the front and rear wheels for my first fl350
here are some pic's
the tooling bolt in my bench vise

was going to build a hydraulic version in my spare time

thanks for looking

speedchaser

Here we go the professional way to repair them lmao, I have two Pilot front rims that could benefit from your tooling I cant save them with a hammer. Let me know when you want me to send them.. they are almost identical to the 350 OEM front rims.

MassOdy still have this rim?



Remember that trip MassOdy?
viewtopic.php?t=1655

I have these wheels left from my old Pilot. I straightened them out a little before I put them in the shed. If anyone is interested make me an offer. They are not perfect at all, but should make very good spares with a little work. I only have the one center cap. I maybe interested in a trade for some factory Kawi Teryx wheels or a partial trade for stock RZR or Teryx seats.

I have a factory rear and a after market rear somewhere as well. The factory rear looks about like the one at the top of this post. I don't have pics at the moment.

Send them to TEXAS!!!

I would like to see a 3 piece rim gaurd, Speed something you could make? Weld it into the curved lip on the inside and outsides? Would it be fiesable???

I was thinking buy a roller like this and roll up some 3/8" steel rod and weld in the rolled groove on both the front and back sides of the rim.



Come to think about it a local sheet metal shop I work at from time to time has a few slip rollers I bet the groves in them would accept 3/8

Yea tin bender! I remember using those rollers in Apprenticeship school! LOL I would be in trouble with all the PO stuff I would make if I was in the trade still lol hell 1/4 or 5/16 would help...