Removing dent in ally rim?

TreaderSteve

Senior Retro Guru
Having deep-cleaned an M231 front wheel there is a slight inward dent as viewed from the side, and a slight impact 'downwards' dent toward the hub which I'm probably less bothered by. Someone hit a rock, created a wee bit of a flat spot and turned the outer edge of the rim inwards. With my rubbish camera I could probably not get a good picture but it's not too bad - far from terminal - just annoying.
Anyone got any tips to ease such an impact out gently outwards? I could leave it - it might not irk under braking tooooo much. I have mole grips and I have a bench vice! Yet I don't want to go at it quite yet without experienced feedback.
Thanks
 
Use a piece of wood to spread the impact, then lever or hammer it out.

There used to be a special (park?) tool to ease out a flat spot, but as it didn't actually work, they stopped selling it.🤣

The trouble is that the dented area is usually now harder than the surrounding material so it's easy to end up with a ripple.

But you can then file the braking surface flat to avoid brake grab.
 
Leave the hammer in the toolbox.

When I've had the need to do this I've used an adjustable spanner and a couple of thin bits of metal (steel rulers are good for this).

Metal bits either side of the rim (in all honesty, outside on braking surface is the key one to avoid damaging the surface). Get the spanner tightened down and use it as a lever to very gently encourage the rim back into position. Gently does it, smooth and a little bit at a time until it's back where it needs to be. Depending on rim width you might be able to use a rotor truing tool rather than a spanner.

The trick is to position the end of the spanner at the point of the dent and tease it gently back.
 
Back
Top