So I have a little dilemma now, it seems my '36 Plymouth steel wheels I'm using on my truck have a slight bend to them. I noticed a SLIGHT shimmy at higher speeds and a buddy of mine was driving behind me the other day and told me about the wheels wobbling a bit. When I got home I jacked it up and spun the wheel, sure enough it's off, one much worse than the other. I tried centering the wheel again with the lugs and I made sure it wasn't the drum or axle itself, those are true. With the wheels one side moves back and forth 1/4"or so and the other side 1/8" or so. Now can anyone straighten these wheels? I had to use the Plymouth 16" to match my front wheels ('40 Ford 16") due to using a 9" with the 5 x 4.5 bolt patten and I didn't want to use adapters. If these can't be straightened where can I look into getting new 16x4 steel wheels with the 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern? Thanks in advance fellas.
Find a good big truck spring/front end shop. If they can't do it, they could probablly direct you. There is a big truck spring shop here in Buffalo that does all kinds of rim repair including spokes.-MIKE
We have 2 wheel shops in the Balt/Wash area that straighten steel and aluminum wheels. Your area might have one too. Check the yellow pages. You can also check with used car lots and used car managers at the dealerships. They get wheels repaired all the time.
I'll try calling them since they're somewhat close, I'll check out the yellow pages too I guess, most places around here are only aesthetically fix wheels. Thanks guys!
Also look for OLD alignment shops. They sometimes hadd the tool. Really quite cool, I got a set of chrome wheels of a rollover in college, one was fubard, About ten minutes on the machine and the guy had it like new w/o cracking the chrome.
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