Ok, here's the situation, last year I had new rubber put on my stock 16s (95 TSi AWD) and when the guys put them on they discovered a lot of oxidation(oxidisation, uhm, corrosion, buildup???) between the wheel and the rim due to the fact that the previous owner had never rotated the tires/wheels.

That means the rims had not been removed from the wheels in at least 7-8 years, the guys used grinders to clean up the wheels and the rims but the rims still had pits in them. I notice at highway speeds the car tends to want to pull a bit to the right and I do get a tiny bit of a wobble at some speeds, I'm fairly sure both are related to the damaged rims, now my question is this: does this pose a safety threat or is it simply going to cause added wear and tear and make the car just a little harder to drive on the highway? If it is a safety issue I will replace the rims but I don't want to spend the money on that now if it will not be a danger.

Any help/thoughts/opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx

Gary

Hello.

I got two 1995 Talon 16" Wheel in my basement.
Drop me a line if you are interested.

ghislisa@kos.net

Ghislain.

Pulling slightly on our highways is normal, since our highways aren't actually flat.

A slight vibration usually just means that one or more of the wheels/tires is not balanced properly. I'd try getting them rebalanced before you replace them. You could either do that now, or just wait until next time you change the tires if it's not too bad.

Ghislain thanx for the offer but if I replace them it will be with aftermarket, thanx anyways though!

Jeff, what you say sounds right, I have had similar responses on other boards as well. I think for now I am going to take them off and get them rebalanced (easy since the car is on stands for winter storrage!) and I will rotate at the same time (it's time for that anyways!) I will also take a good look at the wheel surfaces and re-examine the mating surfaces of the rims to see for myself just how badly they are pitted (I only saw one of them when I had the new rubber put on and the mechanic told me they were all about the same) If I still have issues maybe I will look into getting an allignment done this summer. I also had a bad squeaking noise in the fall of 2002, the front passenger side would squeak and moan at every bump and every time I would turn the wheels. Mechanic said he thought the upper control arm was finished - looked like the ball joint was worn out I think he said, but the mechanic wasn't 100% sure and he said even it was worn out it was not a danger, just an irritation - so maybe that needs to be replaced.

Anyways I thank you guys for your responses, looks like I will be saving myself some coin for now! (PHEW!)

Gary

Now that I see these it looks like they weren't as bad as I thought, it also looks like the [insert insult here] mechanic only took the grinder to the one wheel while I was watching (the front one on the passenger side) instead of cleaning them all up like he should have (sigh)....

Driver Front Wheel
Driver Front Rim
Driver Rear Wheel
Driver Rear Rim
Passenger Front Wheel
Passenger Front Rim
Passenger Rear Wheel
Passenger Rear Rim

Gary, not to be an ass here but...

I was really confused as to how you got oxidation between your wheel and your rim. The rim being the lip (outer area where the lead balancing weights fit) of the wheel itself.

I was also wondering how one goes about removing the rim from the wheel because our wheels are cast.

But I see from your pictures that it is infact your wheel(the part that goes inside the tire) and your hub assembly/brake rotor that are being stubborn about coming apart.

Again, not to be an ass, just helping so that people can help you. If they are thinking of something else,they won't be able to help out.