Inspect the wheels when winter ends
Northern Nevada winters bring treated roads, and whatever is spread on them to fight ice ends up on the wheels. Salt and brine are corrosive, and they work quietly in the places nobody looks.
The bead seat is the one that matters most. That is the ring of the wheel where the tire seals against it. Corrosion there roughens the surface, and a rough bead seat leaks slowly. The tire gets topped up, loses air again, gets topped up again, and the tire is blamed for a problem that belongs to the wheel.
Corrosion also hides under paint and grime. A wheel that looks acceptable from a distance can be pitted at the bead and around the stud holes.
That makes spring the right time for a look across the fleet, once the treated roads are done for the year and before a summer of running on wheels that have spent a winter being eaten.
What to look for
- A position that keeps losing air even after the tire has been checked.
- Flaking paint, rust staining or pitting around the rim and the stud holes.
- A vibration that comes back after a balance.
- A tire that is difficult to seat when it is mounted.
What refurbishing restores
Cleaning back to sound metal, restoring the bead seat, and refinishing so the wheel is protected for another season. The national wheel refurbishing page covers the process. The inspection comes first, and it decides whether the wheel can be refurbished at all.
A crack ends the wheel and it is replaced.
Equipment rims are part of the same work, and a site on mining fleet services can ask to have them included.
Other stores nearby
Fernley also refurbishes wheels, and so does North Las Vegas in the south.
About this store
The Reno store runs eighteen services and is managed by Fred Sinfellow.
See the national wheel refurbishing page for all 42 locations.