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Today I went to my local tire shop because my passenger front tire was slowly losing air. I figured I would get the tire fixed since the place has free flat repair. The problem, however, turned out to be a small hole in my rim. They showed it to me and I could see the air bubbles when the wheel was submerged. So now I'm rolling around on my spare. Anyhow, I was wondering if something like this could be fixed, if so, where and how much. If not then I'll probably have to buy a whole new wheel or a new set of wheels.

Thanks in advance.

 
Rep Power: 424

buy a new rim. Any attempt to fix it is going to throw it way out of balance, even with balance weights. If its a steelie, you can try and get someone to weld it shut from the INSIDE of the rim (the side facing the tire). If its aluminum, just buy a new wheel.

 
Rep Power: 287

^^^ what he said..

u can get them welded but they will b able to balence it but i will ride rough!!

 
Rep Power: 452

if it is a steelie, just buy another one from discount tire, it is like $40. Would probably cost you the same as getting it welded.

 
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Thanks for your input guys. From the sounds of it, I guess I'll have to buy another wheel. There goes another $200.

 
Rep Power: 424

Well, your other option, if it looks like a defect in the casting (I'm assuming aluminum casting, no forged wheel is $200 and no steelie is either), then call the company who made it and try to claim it on warranty. If its new enough, they should stand behind it.

 
Rep Power: 334

you cant just put JB weld on top of the small hole? or a dab of rubber cement or something?

This is from the inside i mean.

 
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Funny that you mentioned that because that's what I ended up doing. I just sanded down the wheel a bit and then put some JB Weld on it. I was a little apprehensive of doing that at first because I read on another thread where somebody else did the same thing but it didn't hold up. It's been about a week now and *knock on wood* it seems as though it's holding up. I got the wheel rebalanced for free afterwards too.