I am refinishing an alloy and this one has a good amount of curb rash all the way around the lip. If I sanded it smooth I'd need to remove about 1/16th inch. Is that too much? What is the most I can sand down.

Oh, so you want the Hydras lookin good, eh? Well a sixteenth does not seem too much to me and I have done quite a few. I am not sure you could sand away enough of an edge to affect safety. More an esthetics thing.

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the info. 2 of the wheels I got are a little rough and I am debating replacing one of them which has a very slight bend (looks like they ran over a curb). Have you ever had a rim straightened? The good 2 don't need refinishing but the curbed 2 do.

One of my winter tires is mounted on an alloy rim (a 15" Omega) that has a pretty substantial flat spot, and a couple bends in the lips. I thought I might have a problem with the bead of the tire sealing, or with getting the wheel balanced properly... but everything worked out fine & it runs great.

Unless the rim looks really bad, or the tire guy says it's no-go, it's probably worth the $15 or so to have the tire mounted & balanced & see if it works.

- Brian

Can your tire guys evaluate them? Even if they have to mount a tire to check it. At the price I pay for alloys, straightening never made sense on the 15" wheels but the 16" Hydras would be an exception since they are rare and fine. I would have straightened one but my one and only wet found was OK in that regard. I did use the angle grinder to dress up the edge and paint (Volvo code 130) on a couple and they look great.