Will this work??
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 42
Will this work??
Just wondering if this would work. While working on my car I put my tire a couple of feet from my car. One of the guys in the shop knocked over my tire but I didn't pay any attention to it. Later on when I went to reinstall it I noticed the rim was scratched and had a pretty big ding in it. I was thinking should I just have the dealership swap the full size spare wheel for my damaged one? Hopefully this could be done or do you think it can be repaired?
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,143
From: a meadow south of Atlanta
If the wheel damage is something that could affect the safe operation of the vehicle, replace it with a new one. If your car has a full-size spare on matching alloy wheel, use it while you are obtaining your new wheel.
If, however, the ding is a cosmetic thing, and nothing that would affect the safe operation of the car, I would approach this thusly:
If you have the VDC (vehicle dynamic control) package which includes a full-size spare tire on matching alloy wheel, you have several options.
You can have the tire on the damaged wheel switched with the tire on the spare wheel, which keeps the same tire on the ground, and hides the damaged wheel in your trunk with the unused spare tire on it. Both will then need rebalancing.
You can simply switch the damaged wheel for the undamaged spare wheel without taking the tires off either wheel. Neither should need rebalancing, but I would probably have the balance on the tire/wheel just taken from the trunk checked anyway.
You can buy a new wheel, and then still have five perfect wheels. This would probably not be my preferred route. If going this way, try to get the new wheel on EBay and save yourself hundreds of dollars.
You can check around and see if there is a way to repair or cosmetically improve the damaged wheel. If it can't be made perfect, it can still serve well as a spare.
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If you don't have the VDC package, you will have a space-saver spare, which is for very limited use at restricted speeds, and you will either have to drive with the cosmetically damaged wheel, or have it repaired (if possible), or replace it with a new one (which will be much cheaper on EBay than from the dealer).
If, however, the ding is a cosmetic thing, and nothing that would affect the safe operation of the car, I would approach this thusly:
If you have the VDC (vehicle dynamic control) package which includes a full-size spare tire on matching alloy wheel, you have several options.
You can have the tire on the damaged wheel switched with the tire on the spare wheel, which keeps the same tire on the ground, and hides the damaged wheel in your trunk with the unused spare tire on it. Both will then need rebalancing.
You can simply switch the damaged wheel for the undamaged spare wheel without taking the tires off either wheel. Neither should need rebalancing, but I would probably have the balance on the tire/wheel just taken from the trunk checked anyway.
You can buy a new wheel, and then still have five perfect wheels. This would probably not be my preferred route. If going this way, try to get the new wheel on EBay and save yourself hundreds of dollars.
You can check around and see if there is a way to repair or cosmetically improve the damaged wheel. If it can't be made perfect, it can still serve well as a spare.
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you don't have the VDC package, you will have a space-saver spare, which is for very limited use at restricted speeds, and you will either have to drive with the cosmetically damaged wheel, or have it repaired (if possible), or replace it with a new one (which will be much cheaper on EBay than from the dealer).
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Maxima30
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Sep 7, 2015 06:13 PM