Curb rash question?

[joshgonztx]

I just installed new tires and I just noticed one wheel had curb rash, I sure it wasn’t there before. And I noticed it the next morning. It had some black gunk covering it up and I wiped it away.
my question is can a machine at a tire shop cause it?
it’s kinda high up where it is and here the curbs are only a few inches tall.

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[thesocalexplorer]

Wow that's definitely pretty high up on the wheel. I've had wheels scratched by tire installation before, but it was less of a "coarse" type scratch like above, and more of a smooth line/series of a few lines. Usually down by the lip also.

 

[joshgonztx]

Yeah it looks very high up. Now to try to buff it out.

 

[Gizmo]

I just installed new tires and I just noticed one wheel had curb rash, I sure it wasn’t there before. And I noticed it the next morning. It had some black gunk covering it up and I wiped it away.
my question is can a machine at a tire shop cause it?
it’s kinda high up where it is and here the curbs are only a few inches tall.

i had something similar happen to a few cars from the car wash, and had to have the rims repaired.

 

[JT58Bronc]

Wow, sorry that happened. Unfortunately I think it happens more than you think- it has happened to me more than a few times- my wheels scratched, paint scraped off, etc. More on low profile tires and wheels as I am told they are more difficult to mount. Not everyone who operates tire equipment is careful. It depends on how experienced they are and the training they received. It's sometimes hard to find a really good tire shop. About 6 months ago I had tires mounted on my brand new C6 Corvette wheels. I always take the tires and wheels off myself and have them mounted/balanced to lessen the risk of any more issues or over tightening, etc. Anyway, I did not notice until I got home the scrapes right at the edge of the wheel.​

​

It can be repaired and you can do it yourself if you are patient and detailed......I repaired my C6 wheels and many others. You first have to file/sand, blend to get the major grooves out. Then sand more with finer and finer grades up until like an 800 or 1000 with wet sand paper. Make sure the sanding is well blended in with the surrounding painted area. Mask, then spray a light coat of primer, let dry, then coat with matching paint if possible. If not, find something as close as possible. After painting and the paint is thoroughly dry, wet sand again, then spray clear coat. Then buff with an electric drill with the foam pads and clear coat mild polish. The key is to blend it all in. Is it time consuming- yes. You have to have patience. The key is the sanding and blending an buffing after- not the paint application. You can actually brush the paint on, just required more sanding.​

 

[joshgonztx]

Wow, sorry that happened. Unfortunately I think it happens more than you think- it has happened to me more than a few times- my wheels scratched, paint scraped off, etc. More on low profile tires and wheels as I am told they are more difficult to mount. Not everyone who operates tire equipment is careful. It depends on how experienced they are and the training they received. It's sometimes hard to find a really good tire shop. About 6 months ago I had tires mounted on my brand new C6 Corvette wheels. I always take the tires and wheels off myself and have them mounted/balanced to lessen the risk of any more issues or over tightening, etc. Anyway, I did not notice until I got home the scrapes right at the edge of the wheel.​

​

It can be repaired and you can do it yourself if you are patient and detailed......I repaired my C6 wheels and many others. You first have to file/sand, blend to get the major grooves out. Then sand more with finer and finer grades up until like an 800 or 1000 with wet sand paper. Make sure the sanding is well blended in with the surrounding painted area. Mask, then spray a light coat of primer, let dry, then coat with matching paint if possible. If not, find something as close as possible. After painting and the paint is thoroughly dry, wet sand again, then spray clear coat. Then buff with an electric drill with the foam pads and clear coat mild polish. The key is to blend it all in. Is it time consuming- yes. You have to have patience. The key is the sanding and blending an buffing after- not the paint application. You can actually brush the paint on, just required more sanding.​

Thanks for being detailed, going to try it next week.

 

[ChrisB351]

I work in auto service. Never seen a tire machine scratch a wheel like that. 99% sure thats rubbed a curb or something. Youll need some serious tools to smooth a polish that out. Last dealer I worked for did those repairs. Had $40k lathe specifically for it. We charged $150-200 per wheel to repair them. Id call around and see if you can find a shop that does that kind of repair.

 

[Moto26]

I work in auto service. Never seen a tire machine scratch a wheel like that. 99% sure thats rubbed a curb or something. Youll need some serious tools to smooth a polish that out. Last dealer I worked for did those repairs. Had $40k lathe specifically for it. We charged $150-200 per wheel to repair them. Id call around and see if you can find a shop that does that kind of repair.

Agree, no way the tire machine did that. This is not to say, however, the people working on the vehicle didn't do the damage some other way. Definitely looks like curb damage. If you're sure you didn't curb the thing somewhere, it's probable they did it while moving the Bronco around...

I used to co-own a motorcycle shop, and we had a customer come in raging, the day after we put a new rear tire on for him. He swore up and down we damaged his rim. Well, the wheel had a big ol' deflection in the rim, and we had to demonstrate how our tire machine worked for him, to show it was physically impossible for our machine to do that.

He finally calmed down, and after thinking back over the previous 24 hours he realized that he did, in fact, run over a rather large pothole on the way home!

 

[Stitchxp626]

Was your wife driving it ? LOL I jest of course. But seriously, was your wife driving it ? ;-)

 

[Compta38]

Was your wife driving it ? LOL I jest of course. But seriously, was your wife driving it ? ;-)

this is probably the right question to be asking.

 

[Shanine]

Hi!

 

[TXBronco1313]

Did your wife/girlfriend take it for a spin recently?

 

[Shanine]

Dealing with curb rash on your wheels can be such a headache, right? you check out Lil' Bubba's curb machine! It's a game-changer! Not only does it help you create beautiful custom curbs, but it also saves you from the hassle of dealing with those pesky curb scratches. You cannot worry how much is a lil bubba curb machine coz it will be worth it!

 

[GRB1959]

I work in auto service. Never seen a tire machine scratch a wheel like that. 99% sure thats rubbed a curb or something. Youll need some serious tools to smooth a polish that out. Last dealer I worked for did those repairs. Had $40k lathe specifically for it. We charged $150-200 per wheel to repair them. Id call around and see if you can find a shop that does that kind of repair.

In August of 2022 my wife's 2021 Ford Edge ST sustained curb rash. I found a local wheel refinishing shop in Denver, CO, and they charged $150 to remove the scratches and refinish the wheel. It looks brand new after they completed their work.

Here is the local shop that I used.

https://www.awrswheelrepair.com/location/Aurora/80016/

They do charge a bit more if they have to remove the tire from the wheel. In this case I took only the damaged wheel into their shop so I got the $150 per wheel rate.

 

[24BDSAS2DR2.7]

Did the service tech drive it while you were waiting?

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