Hello to the forum. First drive of the wagon this year finally, and a recurring problem that was finally traced yesterday after I 'had it' with no answers. It was a pronounced vibration from the rear of the car at higher speeds. Lifted up the back of the car, put it into drive and noted the right rear wheel wobbles a good 3/16th of an inch. Right to the local tire shop for further investigation. Ran the tire/rim on the balancer, it checked out alright balance-wise, but the 3/16th wobble was there, and to verify the axle on the right was alright, the left tire/wheel was quickly swapped over, it ran perfectly true. I can't understand how tire shops would miss the wobbly rim over the years, the problem of vibration was always on the right rear over 70 MPH, even after balancing. Drive shaft, and other rotating parts had been carefully checked by two shops over the years, checked out perfect too. Yesterday, after seeing the wobbly rim, we swapped the tire over to an ordinary 15-inch rim, and went for a drive. Smooth as silk, so the rim is the problem. So here lays the question. The rims are 15X8 all chrome with black trim Super Stock 1 with bolt on center cap style hubs, made by from what I understood from the fellow who sold me the car years ago, manufactured by Wheel Vintiques. Can rims be safely straightened out? If the answer is yes, then it will be time to start finding somebody up here in Canada locally that can do a decent and safe job. If not, does anybody on the forum have for sale, ( I guess it would have to be a pair, who would want to be stuck with one rim!) a 15X8 SS! or even a pair of 15X7's that I could use on the front and do some rearranging as a last option. Maybe I will have to bite the bullet and purchase one new SS1 in Canada, but with the prices/taxes charged up here for any car part, I'd like to use this as a last resort. Thanks in advance to any and all who can help. Included is a picture of the left front wheel so an exact picture of what I have on the car can be seen. Regards, Howie.

 

just take the rim to a wheel repair place. They will straighten it & make sure it runs true again. This repair will cost about $100. Cheaper than buying a new wheel.

 

X2 A lot of body shops have this done and they even touch up paint on alloy wheels

Just check into how it will affect the chrome

 

The best way to avoid these repro problems is to remanufacture GM originals.

I just had a set of 14" SS1 wheels made into 15" wheels. They use the GM center and new wheel hoops.

Rally America in California does them - great folks to deal with.

Most repro parts are chineseum made JUNK.

 

Thanks to all for the help so far. I have learned that yes, repairs can be done if proper procedures are used and yes, while quite pricy, a lot of the repro wheels are of questionable quality. Once I find a local repair shop I am going to look at the wheel very carefully to see if I can trace back to who made it and where. Money is a little tight right now so I have to choose options within a balance of financial but obviously leaning towards the safety aspect. Sigh.

 

Specialty Wheels and Vintiques Wheels are made in the US of A according to their respective websites....

 

Howie, are you positive it is a wheel? For years I thought it was a rim on my cutlass......axle checked out....turned out to be a flat spot on the tire! Oops, my bad, just re-read that you swapped the tire and it was fine.....carry on!

 

Don't worry Erik, I wrote a book in my original post (as usual!) and that could easily have been overlooked. Yes, we certainly did double verify the tire was good, better be, they are name brand units with probably only 2500 miles on them. Regards, Howie.

 

Thank you Dave, I guess the truth and source of the rim(s) will be found once the wobbly unit is separated from the tire and some sort of numbering can be found. Howie.

 

Just a quick followup to the wobbly wheel thing: Took the car to a reputable tire place (they really liked the car and Oldsmobiles in general, nice to see this make have such a nice following) and they scrutinized the rim on the balancing machine. It appears the fault is in the 'core', or the area where the hub is, they can't repair the rim it looks like. Oh well, they rebalanced the tire, it is markedly better now at the speed the vibration would start, and as a result is not nearly as annoying. Looks like the change jar will need a lot of change now to purchase a replacement rim some time in the future. Again, thanks to those who gave their suggestions. Howie.

 

Don't give up on your wheels the local tire monkey shop will not be able to help you. take it to a shop that specializes in wheels the one that straightened mine did everything from wire spoke to mag wheels and was a retired machinist. my wheels were also bad at the center and run true now. when the center is off the wheel will wobble side to side and up and down

 

Do you contact the manufacturer to see if they repair thir own wheels? Is it possible that at one time that rim got curbed (or other impact) and caused the damage ?

 

I will not give up after reading a bit more on this stuff, your reply included, I can't believe that if a person made this part, that some person out there can't fix it, heck, the rim is anything but a twisted torn mess. Something will turn up in way of a reliable repair shop. Howie.

 

This will be another step looked into, but this option will now mean it will be at the end of this driving season. I will have to look at total shipping costs incurred, with brokerage taken into account. I am in Canada, where the maple leaf symbol on anything means 'Danger' high and gouging prices on anything car hobby related, we will tax you out of existence!' Sigh! Double sigh! Howie.