98 s70 T5 Tires causing rim damage

Post by **Clockboy** » 04 Sep 2015, 15:47

Just playing csi. The weights will be different because the wheels are not all the same. When were the tires mounted?
If the wheel and the tire are traveling at the same speed all should be well. Is there a circumstance where that weight is forced one way or the other? I'm not sure.
Is it possible the damage occurred when the wheels were mounted?

Post by **Clockboy** » 04 Sep 2015, 15:50

BTW - My dad had the same sort of thing and it ended up being the indoor parking garage where he parked near the shop. They would scrape the rims on a curb as the went to go park the car.

Post by **scot850** » 04 Sep 2015, 16:28

As the damage is on the outside of the rim, it is un-likely to be caused by the car as there is nothing that I can think of that would contact that area. Also offset would not be an issue as any damage would be on the outside. Looking at the damage, I am baffled by it as the rub marks are like something went across the wheel rim edge and not around it that I would consider normal for curbing damage.

Some one brushing a wheel close to a curb and catching the balance weight would possibly drag it around the edge un-noticed.

Hate to say it, but this looks like human error and not car issue, but I have been wrong...(so my wife says!).

Neil.

Post by **FLXC90** » 04 Sep 2015, 18:56

The little bit of spoke visible looks like original Perfo wheel. So as long as you run what is suggested in the manual or gas filler door, all should be well. In order to cause damage to the outer lip like that, you would be scraping, what kind of tire pressure, and what load capacity tires are you running. They may be Z-rated etc.. but if they were meant for a Miata, and you have a big ol' t-5 on them, they may be rolling over, but they would probably come off the bead in order to scrape rim.

I can't see damage that looks like rubbing on the car, also, if you were to scrape a curb, as mentioned, the weight would be gone, it's lead, and lead is soft. It looks to me like damage that went unnoticed, or damage that occurred prior to last wheel balance. Was that when the tires were installed?

The rubbing on the brakes your mechanic noted would be on the inside circumference of the wheel hoop, or the backside of the spokes. Check with the wheels off the car, also, look for clean streaks or grinding marks on the strut housing or wheelwell liner. Spacers may help that.

Rubbing on the fender lip would probably mark the tire rather than the rim. Spacers may cause that

I would suggest cleaning up the damage and then monitoring. After driving, look for new damage, then you can start figuring out what is causing it.

Post by **dosbricks** » 04 Sep 2015, 21:47

Scraping a rough curb causes damage like that because the wheel edge is pulling up as it rotates--therefore the diagonal marks. Curbing scrape marks never follow the rim circumference.

Grind it out with a Dremel tool, touch up paint, and think about where you have been parking (or was someone else driving your car?) since it looks like it was there before the last balance job.

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 05 Sep 2015, 05:07

That damage is either through curbing or alternatively whilst the tires have been fitted using the hydraulic fitting machine.
The tire fitters are likely to know more about this damage than they are letting on ???

captainkong · Post by **captainkong** » 05 Sep 2015, 15:08

Thanks for all the info guys. I had these tires put on about 2k miles ago, had them rotated a few days ago and am already noticing very minor damage occurring on the front rim. I know for a fact I have not hit any curbs(very paranoid about that) And no one else has been driving my car. Will be calling the shop who installed these tires and ask them about the damage which is occurring.

Tire psi is around 34ish in all tires which I believe is stock. I use a digital gauge to check pressure quite frequently.

Will touch up the rims as best as possible on my next day off and monitor them very closely. It just confuses because even with my old bald tires I didnt have this problem:/

Thanks again for your time fellas- happy driving!

Post by **RussB** » 05 Sep 2015, 15:22

It's curb rash. Looks like it occurred before you got the new tires because the wheel weight is on top of the rash. Damage from a tire installing machine would be circular as the rim would rotate

captainkong · Post by **captainkong** » 05 Sep 2015, 15:30

Okay, just so I can prove people wrong about me hitting the curb I am extremely tempted to mount a small camera on the sides of my car just to see for certain how this damage is occurring. hehe just kidding but wouldn't I feel/hear this occuring? Reason why I say I'm not hitting any curbs is because I have curbed an 850 turbo wagon so hard before that it popped both passenger side tires, ripped open the oil pan, cracked the windshield, and deployed the airbags. After that... I grew very, very cautious of going anywhere near curbs.

-Curbs are my enemy!

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 05 Sep 2015, 16:21

Do you recall specifically checking the rims with the new tires fitted immediately on uplifting your vehicle from the garage?
Is it possible someone did a rim switch on you at the garage?
Given your comment that you are curb paranoic, your rims may have appeared near immaculate to a similar styled set owned by another person,hence a swap maybe?

98 s70 T5 Tires causing rim damage

Re: 98 s70 T5 Tires causing rim damage