MY 2006 Sentra shakes above 60mph so I assumed that the tires are out of balance. Went to a local tire place to get it balanced. He noticed that 3 rims had a small bent. They don’t fix the rims so he wanted to send them somewhere to get fixed at $150 each.
Most of the rims look like this. Out of these only one had a flat in the past, about 3 years ago, but drove only a minutes to take to the side of the road on flat. Other than that I do not remember torturing these wheels. A note, all these bents are on the inner side of the wheel so thats really confusing to me.
Well, first of all they are dents. Spending 150.00 for each one is silly. Just look online at new wheels which can be found for less the 150.00 each. I would not want a repaired wheel.
Edit: Tire Rack even had nice looking wheels for 59.00 each (closeout price plus freight) and several in the 100.00 range.
I agree with the suggestions above. If you have a Sentra 1.8, the original equipment rims are 15" diameter and the tire size is 195/60-15. Tell the auto recycler this information and you they will check for replacements. If you have a 1.8-S or SE-R, we can provide the wheel size if you need help.
You can also buy a new rim, but the car is 11 years old, and used rims in good condition are an excellent replacement.
Since 3 of the rims were dented, and you are going to be buying 4 new rims anyway, ask the tire store folks if it’s advisable to switch to a smaller diameter rim combined with a tire with a taller sidewall. The overall diameter will be the same but it would have more of a cushioning affect and more resistant to the rims whacking against the road surface during a pothole event & bending. The problem is the extra give may not be compatible with the car’s suspension system design, but the tire store experts should know that.
And check with the dealer or with www.tirerack.com to see if the vehicle will accept a smaller rim. It’s important that it clears the brakes. If it will, that’s a good idea for you. It’ll adversely affect crosswind stability and lean on turns a bit, and slightly affect the quickness of handling, but it might help prevent future wheel damage…
But become aware of your tires… it might trade bent rims that you CAN readily detect with sidewall damage that you CANNOT readily detect… until a tire fails.
How are you doing so much damage to the wheels anyway? Off roading???
I didn’t find any. I searched a lot yesterday. DW is strongly against spending too much money on this car. Plus, our financial situation is a little sticky at this moment. So if I find something in that price range, will be easier to convince DW. Do you have any link handy, would certainly appreciate it.
They wanted me to spend $150 a pop for safety reasons, which made sense but the price tag wasn’t convincing so wanted to check with you guys before spending. I asked them just to balance and they did. It still shakes but not as bad. In the past, I would be scared to go above 50mph and then a good number of a$$hats would tailgate me. Now, I can go to 60mph but thats it, not a mile above or it starts shaking.
This is a little heavy dose for me and I am trying to process. My car is 2006 1.8S Special edition with 16" rims and the tire size is 195/55-16. A while ago, I came across this page on Sentra forum. This post suggests that I can use 205/50-16, or 205/55-16 on the OEM rims. I didn’t think of it much then but now after your comment, this seems to be making sense.
I am equally clueless. I drive like an old grandma. I try to avoid every pothole. Off roading is nowhere near my horizon. I admit I was pretty dumb in the past when it came to the car and maintaining it (This is my very first car) but now I am trying to do things by myself learning a lot of things. As far as I can recall, only once have I had a flat and I drove on a flat for a minute or two (literally) to get off the road to safety. Other than that, scuffing the curb has happened a few times but thats on the outer edge, not inner edge and these dents are on the inner side, all 3 of them.
For better cushioning you’d want to switch to something like 195/70-15, and use 15 inch rims rather than 16 inch. The “70” refers to the height of the sidewall. Like I mention above, this type of change requires the expertise of a tire & wheel expert to verify whether or not it is in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer’s wheel and tire requirements for safe operation.
Thank you. I can’t work with the tires myself so I will check out with a couple of mechanics before I decide to change any tire or wheel specifications.
You may not need four tires but just stay with the same size that came with the vehicle. Going from a 50 or 55 to a 60 or 70 is not going to make enough difference in the ride and potholes will still do their damage.
