21" curb rash repair

[Perix]

Backed into a stone fire pit in the dark, which drew first blood on the 21" rims... Fortunately the damage is fairly minor, and limited to the unpainted (shiny) portion of the rim.

Am I right that this is CNC machined? Is there a clear coat on top too, or is it bare metal surface? How would you go about repairing this? Dremel off the larger stuff, wet sand radially out to mimic the machining grain, and then: 1. leave as is 2. spot clear coat followed by light sanding? 3. spot coat of aluminum paint? Or something entirely different?

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[Donald Stanfield]

I'd buy a rim from someone here. Everyone is blowing out 21's cheap myself included.

 

[Greg Chick]

I am going to watch this thread, bring it on.

 

[Jakelake]

You can Dremel it out using a scotch bright pad or very fine sanding disc. It's probably clear coated but if you can get it cleaned up it may be easier to just wax it once in a while to keep it clean. You will never get it perfect unless you take the tire off and work on it. I did way worse than that the very first time I drove my truck and came up my driveway. A big rock on the border of the asphalt had an edge sticking out and caught the side of the wheel. 30 years of turning into my driveway and I have never done this before. I took a huge sledge hammer and broke the edge off the rock, that made me feel better. It's been 7 months now and I only see the rock rash once in a while. I'm hoping eventually I won't see it at all, or won't care when I do.

 

[SparkyR1t]

If you search aluminum wheel repair in your area you should find companies that will repair damaged wheels to like new condition for you.

 

[Perix]

Thanks, all. I have made a start with a mini grinding wheel and some sandpaper. It's already improved things. I have an idea how to make it stand out even less. Will post results when done.

@Jakelake, unbelievable... I feel your pain. That's just offensively bad luck. The brain is hard to turn off to things like that. But then I remind myself to consider others who have been in a wreck, or the friend of a friend who had his brand new R1T parked on the street somewhere and got T-boned. Makes me appreciate every mile on my curb-rashed rim.

 

[Perix]

Well, here's what it looks like after a moderate amount of effort, I would say. I popped the center cap and looped a piece of string that allowed me to move the Dremel/sanding block/my hand kind of radially to get a more uniform edge. It's not perfect, as the gashed were of varying depths, but it's way better than before. I am inclined to leave it as is, as it's hardly noticeable with some dust/dirt on it. I basically created a new face to the rim with 2 edges, but it blends in nicely and one of these edges faces the tire so is not obvious. At some point I may try to even it out more.

I started with a mini grinding wheel, moved to medium-coarse grit (200ish) sandpaper and took it down to 2500 wet. No clear coat on the shiny part of the rim, as far as I can tell.

 

[beyond]

Well, here's what it looks like after a moderate amount of effort, I would say. I popped the center cap and looped a piece of string that allowed me to move the Dremel/sanding block/my hand kind of radially to get a more uniform edge. It's not perfect, as the gashed were of varying depths, but it's way better than before. I am inclined to leave it as is, as it's hardly noticeable with some dust/dirt on it. I basically created a new face to the rim with 2 edges, but it blends in nicely and one of these edges faces the tire so is not obvious. At some point I may try to even it out more.

I started with a mini grinding wheel, moved to medium-coarse grit (200ish) sandpaper and took it down to 2500 wet. No clear coat on the shiny part of the rim, as far as I can tell.

Hey, in the same boat as you... did you end up in putting any sort of clear sealant on it afterwords?

 

[Perix]

@beyond, no, I did not. The sanded and polished part looked just like the surrounding rim material, and the service rep who came to do a tire rotation also told me that he didn't think the 21" rims had a clear coat on them. So it's been like this since. I don't notice it or think about it any more...

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