Kerb damage
Probably one of the easiest and most common types of damage to alloy wheels occurs by kerbing. This results in scratches, scuffing, scrapes, and, if bad enough, small chunks or your wheel missing. Coming into close contact with high kerbs will leave scratches and gouges in your alloy wheels especially if impacted at speed.
Kerbing, or ‘Kerb Rash’ often occurs on one wheel or both on one side of your car and it greatly impacts the appearance of your car. Just thinking about it makes us cringe. It’s something we’ve all done but wish we hadn’t.
Buffering and refurbishing of a kerbed alloy wheel is possible and can be treated if the damage is not too great.
Why is kerb rash so bad?
If the alloy metals are exposed, you’re at the mercy of natural elements. This means you open the door to corrosion. And nobody wants that. The invasive nature of corrosion means that it can destroy your alloy wheels mercilessly and very quickly.
Fortunately, kerb rash is generally considered cosmetic. In most cases, a wheel refurbishing technician with the right knowledge, skills, and equipment, like ourselves, can restore your wheels to their original condition.
Corrosion
Wheel corrosion can be caused by several different things, from kerb damage to stone chips, iron contamination (from brake pads), and even the use of sulphuric acid-based wheel cleaners. And even some small manufacturing defects such as lacquer perforation, and poor paint coverage in the bolt holes can also be the source of corrosion. This is also known as pitting, which can diminish the look of your wheels and even cause tire leaks if not rectified.
Chip Damage
Chips, or gouges, are more often than any caused by impact damage i.e., caused by hitting a pothole or kerb too quickly. This, unlike mere kerbing can impact the structural integrity of your wheel possibly compromising the tyre bead unsettling the tyre. You may even see torn tyre need the spot that’s taken the impact.
This sort of damage can often be rectified by welding the alloy back together. However, in some cases this may not be possible as there could be further underlying damage. We can check this over for you and advise further if needs be!
Scratches & Scrapes
This is probably the easiest way to damage your wheels, accidentally scraping the kerbs edge or misjudging a parallel park. Once one or two scuffs appear, more magically tend to accumulate leading to a once shiny alloy looking scrappy and tired.
Often little scratches and scrapes don’t affect the driving of your car; however, it does make it look cosmetically unloved. However, the sort of care your wheels need totally depends on the severity of the damage. We can help assess, quote and then repair the damage should you so wish.
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