We raced in some karts. Also, Mini's rims have ovalized :( Need some advise

"ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability" (italianjobr53)
02/23/2019 at 21:00 • Filed to: None

Raced karts in an endurance race in Detroit. They lent us their karts, 4 man team, 30 minutes per driver. It was fun! I’m quite tired now. We managed to finish 5th out of 10 teams. Yay :)

So the rims; on the way to Detroit I felt a severe vibration in the steering. Stopped at a Firestone shop to get them balanced again. The guy shows me that the wheels are moving up and down while spinning on the balancing rig about 1/2 to 3/4th of an inch. He said he has balanced the wheels as best he could and it does not vibrate for now. But now I’m paranoid that the wheels have lost some of their strength... These are the white alloys that the car has had for the last 200k miles btw:

Has anyone else experienced rims ovalizing like this?

I have found replacement rims for the Mini right now:

$450 for OEM rims is pretty good as well.

DISCUSSION (18)

facw > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:15

Just going out of round like that seems weird. My wheels apparently were dented at some point (and multiple shops failed to inform me, despite the fact someone had circled the areas on the inside, so it was easy to see with the car on a lift ). That resulted in noticeable wobble when spun by hand.

I ended up getting them straightened, but honestly for what it ended up costing, I should have just bought refurbished wheels to replace the two dented ones. For your circumstance, as long as you can’t feel it, I’d just leave it. If it becomes a problem again, I’d just buy the new ones.

daender > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:16

That’s not a bad price at all otherwise I’d say go aftermarket wheel shopping on TireRack or DiscountTire!

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > facw
02/23/2019 at 21:18

I keep feeling them whenever tires are mounted/unmounted. I had to get the rims balanced thrice when I had a puncture and 4 times right now when I switched to new summers. So not only is it bugging me that the rims are bad, but it will cost me more in the long run to keep them balanced.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > daender
02/23/2019 at 21:20

Aftermarket rims are more expensive and heavier than those! Quite weird...

facw > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:25

Hmm, yeah maybe just getting rid of them is the way to go.

facw > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:26

Maybe they use that extra weight to not warp?

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:34

BMW wheels are pretty soft and some designs will go out of round easily. He could've had them set up on the balancer improperly too though. Worth a second opinion from someone with a road force balancer who can measure rim runout.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > facw
02/23/2019 at 21:43

No way to be sure tho. I'll stick with the OEM rims I think...

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
02/23/2019 at 21:47

Good idea. I didn’t know they had a balancer that could measure rim out.

But should that affect my decision to buy new rims? Whatcya think?

Urambo Tauro > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:53

I don’t know why I never knew that endurance racing was a thing in the karting world, but hey why not, right? So does that mean that there are 12- or maybe even 24- hour events too? Sounds brutal.

The Snowman > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 21:54

I bought factory 17" mini wheels for winter tires for $100 off ksl.com(think Mormon Craigslist) and a set of Ford take offs for my grand marquis summer tires really cheap too. Lots of people by used minis and immediately put after market rims on

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Urambo Tauro
02/23/2019 at 21:56

Haha not at k2k! But you should go to their karting events. Lots of fast people and the karts are well balanced. Fyi:

Kinja'd!!!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 22:03

I'd say that's up to you. If they're not out of round, I'd put my money elsewhere. But that's just me

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
02/23/2019 at 22:10

Yes. If a rim is in spec , there is no reason to replace it. Firestone is notorious for scamming and overcharging, so under NO circumstances take their word at face value on ANYTHING.

ESPECIALLY when they say “look at it! Look at it wobble!” but somehow, they “ manage to balance it.” You CAN’T balance a wheel that has that kind of radial runout!

But hey, Firestone is HAPPY to sell you new wheels at $450 EACH and they’ll throw in the mount and balance “for free” except for the “alloy surcharge” bullshit.

STINKS. OF. SCAM.

66P1800inpieces > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
02/23/2019 at 22:12

Have you tried taking the wheels off, laying them flat and checking for roundness? It might be possible tie some chopsticks or something pointy with string and then check the diameter at a couple of points.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > 66P1800inpieces
02/23/2019 at 22:16

Reply to the wrong person?

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
02/23/2019 at 22:23

Its not just Firestone actually, I've seen the wobble at a Walmart and an indie shop as well.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > 66P1800inpieces
02/23/2019 at 22:26

No, I haven't gone home since I've discovered this issue.