[RQ]

New GS with 250 miles, hit a pothole today and the front tire became deformed (looks like a ping-pong ball is coming out of the side). Tire did not blow but its obviously shot.

The rim looks fine but running a finger over it I can tell that the lip is very very slightly bent towards the outside.

No spare of course, so trying to weigh my options:

1) Wait until monday, call the dealer and order a new wheel - sounds like an expensive option with probably a long wait.

2) See if this rim can be repaired by one of the rim repair shops, should it come out less than perfect maybe I could use that as my spare and go back to step one.

Is the spare a full size or one of those collapsible ones?

Anyone dealt with a wheel repair shop before? Again the damage is very very small.

Hopefully there are identifiable jack points, guess I'll look at the manual and under the car tomorrow.

 

[demoe]

RQ

living near pothole city USA, San Francisco, I've had my share of bent rims. I see the Maserati stock wheels are made by BBS, which means they are not unlike any other rim, so. yes, a rim repair shop can likely fix your rim.

I have 2 scenarios, a mild bend, which they simply hammer out the bend.. and a major one, (you will know it is major as your car will wobble), they can reheat the rim in an attempt to get it as close to round.

the 2nd option is obviously not the best choice, but when in a bind, you will find that many aftermarket rims are imported once or twice a year and some rims have limited prodcution runs, meaning, getting a spare or replacement is hard and the wait time long.

best of luck

 

[maserati of minneapolis]

I might have to challenge your pothole city USA claim..

Minneapolis is brutal... The few months between our two seasons (winter and road construction) go between freezing and thawing almost daily.. We have a few potholes in my neighborhood that set airbags off for people unlucky enough to not see them. Small potholes are a foot wide and 4" deep. the big ones get 3-6 feet around and up to a foot deep.

Needless to say, we have a lot of different wheel repair shops out here, mostly divided into two camps - scuff repairs and bend repairs. I have had good luck with both. If they are repairing scuffs make sure the tire is changed first, as the repairs aren't fully cured to their full hardness for a few months, and tire machines will ruin the work.

- mark

 

[RQ]

Thanks.

Anyone with info on jacking the car? I went to use my standard lift but the jack point seemed to want a specific shape - my guess is that my regular lift would be ok anyway but might as well ask.

Also, since the car will be wheel-less for a few days, what is the best point to place a backup stand under the car? This is the passenger front.

Ended up not using it because the size of the lugs are different than the ones in my other cars, anyone know the size so I can go pick one up? Not listed in the manual of course.

 

[Formula1]

That Happened to me. You can have the rim recondintioned and tire needs replacing. Happened to my GSport 2 months ago. Live in NYC. Costs about 700 total to fix. If you need a new rim, will cost a lot more. The tires are hard to locate. This weekend, a car hit a can or bottle it bounced on to my car and sliced the sidewall of my tire. So after 1,700 miles, 1 reconditioned rim and 2 new tires. Worth every penny though. I love this car.