1oldbanjo Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) I have a 2009 Sherco 3.2 that has a front wheel wobble. I have never had a hard fall on it and I am not a very aggressive rider - mostly slow trails, hill climbing and small log crossings. I have attempted to loosen and tighten spokes to straighten it without success. I loosened all the spokes a bit, then tightened the ones on the side opposite the wobble trying to pull the wobble back to center and then I snugged up the remaining spokes. The alignment is a little bit better - but it still has a noticeable wobble. I have laced up wheels before and can get them straight when I start from scratch using a straight rim - but it appears that the soft aluminum rims can get bent form side to side without too much effort. I feel that it is not just a straight rim that had the spokes tightened improperly and pulled the rim out of shape - I believe the rim has a sideways bend in a small section of the rim and the rim remains perfectly round. Is this a common issue? Has anyone had success getting any bends out of rims using a press or hammer? I feel I could support the rim on each side of the bend and apply pressure to help straigten out the kink. Edited January 17, 2011 by 1oldbanjo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 I'll give you my take on this. I do not think the Morad rims start out overly straight to begin with, specially in the weld area(I think Chewy recently brought this up). The rims can distort on rocks and such, which usually produces a noticable spread section, and I have successfully used a bit of heat(not much, just 2-300 deg)and a large plastic deadblow hammer to move things back to an acceptable range. They will crack if you try to move them too much. All in all, I kinda do not beat my head against the wall on these things. If I get one within +- 2mm, is good to go, so 4mm runout. You never feel it when riding. That would be my guess! The Talon rims are supposed to be better and stronger,and expensive. And I have not bent one bad enough to go there as yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1oldbanjo Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 (edited) All in all, I kinda do not beat my head against the wall on these things. If I get one within +- 2mm, is good to go, so 4mm runout. You never feel it when riding. The wobble is not felt when riding - but when I am on a smooth area in 4th or 5th it bothers me to see the tread wobbling back and forth. I have not measure the run out - but the point on the front of the fender goes from the middle of the center row of knobs to the left edge of the knob as the wheel rotates. I will probably make a quick press and see if I can "coax" the rim into being a little straighter before spring gets here. Right now it is just above freezing and rainy - and the ground has about 5 mm of thawed soil on top of the frozen ground beneath. It is really not good riding around here right now. Edited January 18, 2011 by 1oldbanjo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumpylion Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Remember, the tire may have a huge influence on this too. Especially if it's been sitting under-inflated or stored funny in the warehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted January 20, 2011 Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 Does seem like you would have to break this down to rim vs tire. I hope the tire is fully seated on the rim, guaged by the little rubber line cast into the tire just outside the rim? I have had some of these that never wanted to fully seat on the bead and kept rolling in, almost as tight as a rear bead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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