*Tire Repair*
So you've hit a pothole, rock or some other obstacle and dinged the edge of the tire rim to the point it leaks air, now what? A small sledge or a ball peen hammer may solve the issue. How?
If you haven't cracked the rim you maybe able to carefully hammer the dinged section back into shape. Using a small sledge hammer, a 2 pounder works fine or a ball peen hammer since it's for hammering metal, hammer the ding out as close to it's original form as you can. Depending on the rim this may take light blows or some heavy blows, I start with light blows and work up to harder blows till I find a hard enough blow to knock the rim back into shape and seal the air leak. I have successfully used this technique on a steel car rim and on 2 aluminum semi-truck rims (the mechanics at work say I'm rough on equipment), when you work in the middle of no where you become your own mechanic. I had a tire shop check the rims for cracks in case there was more damage than I thought but this technique put me back on the road in a pinch.
John1lt
www.alpharubicon.com
All materials at this site not otherwise credited are Copyright © 1996 - 2019 Trip Williams. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for personal use only. Use of any material contained herein is subject to stated terms or written permission.