OK, here's my problem. I recently acquired 5 KH 16" wires, ( that's not the problem! ), and as you can see on the one pic, which is typical for all five, the edges of the rim are not quite smooth and round. THIS is my problem. How do you, in the sanc***y of your garage and without spending money, straighten these out? Any wheel guru's out there with some priceless advice?
I have a friend that heats them with a torch and hammers them straight but I prefer the old slow and time consuming way of using a piece of solid round stock that has been shaped to fit the lip. With that and a hammer all it takes time. HRP
While I don't claim to be an expert in the area, I have straightened wheels worse than yours appears to be without heat. Knowing where and at what angle to to hit it, how hard top hit, and what improvised tools to use, are experimentation that becomes experience. Before you start, figure out what needs to happen and how you plan intend to make it happen. If you have a large lathe it may be tempting to use it to hold the wheel while straightening. Unless you don't care about the lathe I wouldn't do that. You can spin it on the hub or in a lathe to see how straight it is getting.
HRP...I've been doing them pretty much the same way you do. I ground down an old punch shaped to fit the rim and have been working it slow with a hammer. But damn...it's not exactly a speedy way to get it done. And my back doth protest too much. Looks like I'm just going to have to beat them into submission. Thanks, man...'preciate it.
Al, I bolted mine to the front spindle and spun it to see the low or high points with a marker and went from there. Thanks.
The Easiest, Most Exact way is a Crescent Wrench! Thats right, no heating, no beating. The Crescent wrench can be used along the lip or opened up to get dents farther back.
manyolcars...I've been working with that too, that's an old trick, thanks. I was kinda hoping that someone had come up with something I hadn't heard of before that worked better or easier than good ol' hard work...Thanks everyone
They make a special pair of pliers and bars to fix rims like that. Tire guy near me uses them all the time.
In oval racing, rim staightening was a normal ritual. As 'manyolcars' said a cresent wrench works well but if you want to get fancy these are available:
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