Can You Repair Curb Rash On Wheels?

Curbing. We’ve all done it. It doesn’t matter how amazing or experienced a driver you are, there’s always one pesky curb that shouldn’t be there but is.

One of the most common ways to damage the finish of your vehicle's wheels is to brush up against a curb or some other hard and unwieldy surface, resulting in curb rash. This altercation scrapes the finish off the outer edge of the wheel, carves deep gouges and dents across the body of the wheel, and generally leaves it looking less than stellar.

Damage can also happen when mounting machines or torque wrenches are used improperly, leaving scrapes along the spokes or edges of your wheels.

Simply painting over damage like this simply isn’t a good idea, as it will leave a visual difference in finish between the original and touch-up applications of clear coat, not to mention the difference in height between the scrape and the rest of the wheel.

With time, this approach will also allow corrosion to start eating at the metal. As if this weren’t enough of a horror story, aluminum alloy that has been exposed to air starts to corrode almost immediately. Even this microscopic layer of corrosion is enough to prevent the most well-meaning attempt at a touch-up from sticking properly.

But all hope is not lost! The professionals at Salt City Wheels are old hands (with young hands) at restoring a rashly-curbed wheel to its former glory.

To properly refinish a wheel, it must be bead-blasted back down to the bare metal in its entirety. It is then usually run by one of our engineers on a special CNC (computer numeric control) lathe to smooth out any deeper damage to the metal itself. Deep scratches can be corrected by welding and then using the lathe again to create a smooth finish that is flush with the rest of the wheel.

Now comes the speedy bit! The wheel must be immediately primed after its exfoliation treatment to prevent the corrosion layer from taking root. This is then followed by priming, painting, and clear-coating the wheel, which must all take place in a substantially dust-free environment (unless you like the look of dust-speckled wheels!). Our mobile shop provides the ideal environment this entire specialist process.

If your wheels have become a bit of an art restoration project, give the experts at Salt City Wheels a call today at 801 425 3044. We’ll have your wheels refinished and restored to their former glory faster than you can say ‘computer numeric control lathe’!