I noticed that I bent one of my new steel wheels this last weekend wheeling. It is right by the bead and the tire still holds air fine so far. Can I take a hammer and give it a couple of whacks to bend it back or would this be bad? I searched and wasnt able to find any info on repairing bent steel wheels.

 

By running the steel wheels it affords you the opportunity to fix some dents....so yes you can massage the metal...but if its holding air do you really want to mess with it?

 

If youre on the trail and youre aired down and its still holding air, you should get to somewhere level and slap on the spare. If it's no longer holding air, try to bash it back into shape so that the rim gets back around the bead of the tire. This will hopefully hold air long enough to get you to level ground to get the spare on.

Once home, assess the bend. If it's a mild moon bend, you can easily bash this back round with a 3 or 5lb short handled sledge. If it's a more severe bend with a sharp bend, you could try to bend it back to shape, but it may crack and therefore will need a little welding. You should really only use this as a spare only and then order a replacement which are about $60 each.

I bent one of my soft 8's to hell and back.. hit a log when I was aired down to about 10psi and blew the bead. I was able to bang it back into shape, but it will never be 'round' again.

 

It is only bent a little, maybe 1/4 inch at the highest point bent up and away from bead along the bead for about 2 inches. I dont think it is leaking at all but I will monitor it. Do you think I should put my spare on and keep the bent one for the spare?

 

I'd take if off, especially so if its one of the front wheels. It may also cause vibrations since your wheel is somewhat out of round.

Once off, take a hammer and bang that b*tch straight again!

 

switch it to the spare

 

This kind of sucks, these wheels are only 1 week old. Once I go to a bigger tire will that help? I am running 32 inch tires with a 17 inch rim. Will going to 34's make this less likely to happen?

I only aired down to 18 PSI, I must have hit something freakin hard. Thats the one thing that really sucks about snow wheeling, you cant see whats under the 2 foot of snow!!