Have I got news for you – the moon has fewer craters than my country has potholes! This problem seems to be common in many countries. Sometimes it’s due to weathering effects, and other times quite likely due to poor workmanship during the road construction process.
Potholes are so common here that road users are seen swerving to avoid them more than they are doing the same to avoid a stray dog or road kill. And yes, there were indeed motorists who had died, motorcyclists mostly, from going into one and losing control of their bikes. Talk about road hazards…
I did go into a deep one some time last week, and like many others before and after me, a bent rim can be expected. In my case, my 17″ original Alfa Romeo front right rim was so badly dent that the tyre went almost flat as air escaped out through the crevice from the deformation.
Fortunately, home was not far away and I drove home as quickly as I could (not too fast though) with whatever air that was left in the tyre. The tyre was completely flat by the time I reached home.
If you were to encounter this, it is best to stop at a convenient spot by the road side and change to the spare tyre to prevent any damage to the tyre and rim. Without a timely change, you could potentially do irreparable damage to the tyre, as well as damage to the rim from direct contact with the road surface.
More often than not, it’s not a complete loss. In a case like this, the rim could be heat treated and reformed back to its original shape, which could be fixed at most tyre shops. Well, the thing is most tyre shops do not actually have the machine to do the job, and they would send it to the machine shop on your behalf.
When this happened to me, I did some research around town, and the price and duration quoted to me varied between “RM150, half-a-day’s wait”, to “cost only after seeing condition first, 2 days’ wait”. The answers weren’t satisfactory, until I found a place which could do it for under RM100 within an hour.
Removing the Afflicted Rim and Tyre
If you’re unfortunate to find yourself in this situation, this is what you should probably do:
Sending the Rim for Repair
Send the tyre and rim out for repair in your second car or in a friend’s car. You could of course send it in the same car on the spare tyre, but since I had another car to send it in, I thought why not.
The only benefit in sending it in the same car is you can get the workshop to reinstall the tyre for you and do the alignment right after. I decided to send it using another car as the workshop I am recommending below isn’t near where I live. At least not for a car running on a spare tyre. So where’s this workshop?
If you happen to live in the Klang Valley area, you could send it to the following workshop. The price is reasonable at RM60-70 or higher depending on the size of your rims, and the job is done within one hour as promised. You could wait at the shop while the rim is sent to an adjacent shop to be repaired.
YR AUTO CENTRE SDN BHD
583 Jalan 20
Taman Perindustrian Ehsan Jaya
52100 Kepong
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-62743899
Fax: 03-62755099
Email: yr_auto@yahoo.com
For specific questions, you could also speak to John Yap (012-2311585) or Fong (019-2156023).
Directions to the Workshop
For directions to the workshop, refer to the following maps:
Conclusion and Final Work
YR AUTO CENTRE SDN BHD got the job done for me at a very reasonable price. From my one and only experience with them, I have found them to be very professional, and they take the time to explain to you some of the works involved. And if you’re an English-only speaking person like myself, you’d appreciate their explanations in English – quite rare for a Chinese-run workshop.
I was told that the Sultan of Pahang’s Bentley was sent there for a wheel repair once. Check them out on their Facebook page and Like them for updates on rim and tyre-related offers!
Other Possible Damages and Modifications
