My GF called last night saying she had a puncture on her Golf R32. The rear left tyre was the one in question. Put on the space saver and got home. No obvious object in the tyre. The tyre itself has almost come off the wheel with a tear going about two thirds around the tyre, so a little unsure as to what caused it. Not sure how old the tyres are, but guess within last 18 months and all have around 5mm of tread on them.

I can easily get event tyres to come out again (see my other post) but all the wheel son the Golf are badly scuffed, mainly by the previous owner and Ive been in a good mind to refurb them.

So my dilemma is as follows. I currently have a space saver on the rear and will not drive it anywhere other somewhere I will get the tyre changed. I will replace both rear tyres and think maybe now is a good time to have the refurb done and want a good job, preferably fully stripped back. I cant drive it far because of the space saver currently fitted. So the way I see it is to either get the new tyres fitted then drive and leave car with a refurber, or get a mobile refurber out, or limp to a local refurber wih space saver and ask them to refurb and fit new tyres whilst there at it. Im in SW London, no refurbers particularly close, so a little stuck, plus Im not sure what the state, shape and integral condition of the alloy is like post puncture. You know what women are like when they say they didint drive "far" beyond when it started feeling funny....

Im a little reluctant to leave the car for a week with the company, but im sure any refurber will have work on a more exotic car than an R32. Extreme option is I buy some new alloys and then get the old ones refurbed to sell....

Thoughts and advice much appreciated.

Thanks

Dave

 

www.wheeldoctor.biz

 

Not sure if the following is any help but a few years back I had a set of alloys completely re-furbished by Rochford Tyres in Southend On Sea, Essex. I was somewhat reluctant at the time to leave my wheels/tyres with them but upon returning a week or to later to say that they were 'better than new' was an understatement. They were very similar to the S2000 wheel with a milled face. Apparently once the tyres were removed the following was, as I recall, as follows :-

Wheels acid dipped & all burr's/scuff's/etc removed, & surfaces milled,
Then a base coat was applied (can't spray directly onto alloy wheels)
Followed by the final colour (as selected)
Face of wheels are then honed (if that' the right expression)
A lacquer coat(s) is applied
Finally the wheels are quality inspected before tyres are replaced and balanced.

I recall paying about £45 per wheel but I guess the price has now increased.

Couldn't recommend them highly enough. To be honest I'm not sure how good mobile wheel re-furbishers are and they would be unable to carry out a full re-furb as described above.

Also; they no longer offer donor wheels/tyres whilst for your car as this apparently makes your insurance null & void.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the replies. Its not so much the wheels Im reluctant to leave, its the whole car! Id like to have the wheels fully stripped back, but the mobile service would be, by far, the most convenient. RichieRich, have you used wheeldoctor.biz and can you recommend them?

Thanks

 

Yes, I can recommend them . The wheels are collected and delivered back to you fully refurbed and powdercoated. They will remove them from the car leaving it on axle stands and refit to the car when done.
Very good service, will be about £65 a wheel for 18's i should think.

Rich.

 

Ok, and how long does this take? As Im a little reluctant to leave the car jacked up on the side of the street outside my house... Sadly no secure parking here

 

TBH, if you're gonna bother with it, get them properly powdercoated. It takes a few hours to bake & cool the wheel after prepping & spraying.

Any wet paint isn't as strong as the factory stuff & is a CWOT. PS is quite tough epoxy.

Just one thing though; a lot of these VAG big wheels become egg-shaped on our poor roads; best make sure it's still round before wasting time & effort.

 

Thanks Nick,

So given your comment, you think I might be best placed to have 2 new rears fitted, and presumably when they come to balance the wheels they will be able to give me a verdict on whether they are true.

These are genuine VW OZ R32 wheels for what its worth. The inside of the one with the puncture cleaned up nicely and look decent quality.

Agree it would be a waste of time, effort and cash if they arent straight, hence you can appeciate my concern

 

Don't bother, the GF will curb them up again.

 

The Volks on my old S came up perfect every time.
Get the new tyres on and the "ovalness" checked at the same time
Then find a wheel powder coater that will do the car in a day for you.
I know of two in the NW.