Casting and so is expensive, but in fact to replace it is necessary to find an outwardly similar pattern. Otherwise, you will have to "update the wardrobe" as a whole. Fortunately, the world is not without good people - enterprising craftsmen undertake for a moderate fee to revive the injured wheel. Will it be “better than new”? Is it possible, without fear of consequences, to put it on a car?
CERTIFICATE OF MATURITY
Strictly speaking, the wheel is a component of category I, directly affecting traffic safety. Before bringing the new model to light, it is subjected to a series of serious tests - they are certified. Start by determining the mechanical properties of the material. Laboratory analysis is performed on samples cut from the most stressed areas. The next stage is the control of geometric dimensions. This is followed by a bend test with rotation - an imitation of the loading of the wheel when moving in a bend. To this end, the rim is attached to a rotating faceplate, and the hub is loaded with a bending moment.
After they evaluate the fatigue resistance under dynamic radial load, the wheel assembly with the tire is rolled on a running drum until cracks appear. To check the stiffness of the bead flanges, the rod is pressed against the rim at critical points (valve hole, zones opposite and between the spokes). The rim can bend, but should not crack.
Next, determine the wheel resistance to impact at an angle of 30 °, dropping the load from a certain height.
Complete the test cycle for tightness in a liquid bath and corrosion resistance in a chamber with salt fog. Only after this, a product that has successfully overcome all the hardships, goes on sale. And what does he look like after repair?
ON UNKNOWN ROADS
Almost every tire fitting machine now has machines for straightening bent rims. The principle of operation is extremely simple - the damaged wheel is put on the horizontal axis and the dent is straightened through the mandrel with the hydraulic cylinder. The result depends entirely on the efforts and qualifications of the master. Sometimes it turns out "one to one" - you can not distinguish from the original. The trouble is that sometimes the resemblance is purely external. Aluminum alloy, although plastic, is sensitive to stress concentrators - microcracks. It is almost impossible to see them “into the light” - an X-ray analysis is required. Of course, there is no such device in a tire fitting, and you are unlikely to be allowed into fluorography at a neighboring clinic. It remains to hope for a chance. The probability of destruction of the restored wheel is 50% - or fall apart, or not. But they still drink champagne - not you, but for you.
However, if a gap in the material is found in the wheel, they will not risk contacting such a workshop in the first workshop. In specialized institutions, the range of services is much wider - they will be straightened out here, they will be welded with argon, and the lost fragment will be restored. But here you won’t get any guarantees either - verbal assurances are not taken into account. After all, dressing is fraught with microcracks, welding - with a violation of the metal structure in the weld zone, a fragment may turn out to be from another alloy, and repair paint is unlikely to repeat the advantages of industrial powder coating. The solution, of course, is to re-certify the revived wheel, albeit with non-destructive testing methods. Only this, you understand, is utopia. Much easier (and cheaper!) To buy a new wheel.
However, judging by the abundance of wheelwork workshops, the consumer judges otherwise. What eloquence must be possessed in order to convince a person to take a chance! Armed with a broken wheel, we went to several addresses to hear the arguments.
IN HONESTY
Fearing to fall into the clutches of the "leftists", the acquaintance began with a check of documents. Licenses were presented willingly - apparently, to maintain the workshop, remaining deep in the shade, is now unprofitable. True, the services of interest to us were not specifically specified in the document. In the best case - “repair of automobile wheels”, in the worst - just “tire fitting”. But the certificate - a certificate guaranteeing the quality of work, could not be found anywhere. Well, certification is voluntary, but there is no trial.
We were most willing to make contact where they are engaged in the restoration of geometry: why be modest when in the full sense the iron argument is in store - a proprietary machine for straightening wheels. They are smart there, they know what they are doing. True, a study of the nameplates showed that the "firms" come from Turkey and Lebanon (and not from Canada at all, as some owners claim). It seems that small enterprises make machines, ready for the sake of profit to satisfy any demand.
The return to the square wheel of a classic form cost us a tenth of the cost of a new one - about 600 rubles. The check was accompanied by an oral, but peremptory guarantee - "fit without limits!".
Masters for welding cracks and restoring lost fragments, as a rule, communicate with customers through two windows: one for receiving wheels, the other for money. It is understandable - in addition to the unrepresentable argon burner, they have nothing to demonstrate. There is no workshop solidarity at all - competing colleagues are called killers and hackers.
“They will slap it, put the shells on it, and on the lathe.” After the first trip, everything will fall apart, the car will be downhill. And we have everything manually, humanly! Strength - perfect: surfed half a wheel, no one came back!
Fortunately, the growth in the number of potential victims is constrained by the price of the service. One centimeter of a seam - 100 rubles., Geometry editing - up to 800, painting - 600. In most cases, a new wheel will cost less.
