In 2001, I asked a local shop about getting the 15" steel wheels from my Chrysler straightened (if they needed it) and I think he said it was $60 a wheel.
Their a little way's away from you, but Stockton Wheel does them. Been a while and I can't remember how much, reasonable though. Cheaper than new wheels. http://www.stocktonwheel.com/
Anybody know of a place closer to Wisconsin/Illinois that straightens wheels? There has to be sombody out there who does this!
You might ask around at some used car lots. We have 2 wheel shops in this area. A lot of their business is repairing wheels for car dealers and used car lots. A lot of it is repairing factory aluminum wheels but they should have the equipment for straightening a steelie.
Old body shops sometimes have wheel straightening equipment. A friend of mine bought a body shop that had been in business since the 40's and a wheel machine was among the equipment that came with it. Since the previous owner was dead, it took my friend several months to even figure out what it was. He never did figure out how to use it...
One of the older frame shops here has one. I had some chrome steelies done a few years back, the chrome didnt even flake.
Old-school alignment shops should have wheel straightening stuff -- or places that work on truck wheels/chassis. You can also get them to run straighter by selectively torquing the lug nuts. A buddy of mine had some steelies that were giving him a wobble -- they set up a dial indicator on the wheel and turned it while still on the car, found it had almost 1/4-inch runout. By torquing some of the lug nuts more or less than others, they were able to get it to run true. Took some trial and error, but it worked. Only problem is, you have to do it every time you take the damn wheel off, and you might have to re-do the torquing on a regular basis. Steve.
The Jalopy Journal
