Is it necessary to repair minor scratches on the wheel hub?
3 Answers
When the damage to the wheel hub accumulates to a certain extent, it is essential to promptly take it to a professional repair shop for maintenance. Tire Sidewall: The tire sidewall is the weakest and thinnest part of the tire. When encountering minor bumps on the road, the sidewall deforms to absorb some of the impact. Continuing to use a tire with scratches on the sidewall poses a risk of a blowout, which is very dangerous. It is recommended to replace the tire. Repair: Some repair shops use body filler (bondo) to fill in the damaged areas, sand it down, and then repaint. However, since the wheel hub operates at high speeds and experiences significant temperature fluctuations, the body filler on the hub is prone to expansion and detachment, leading to paint damage and rendering the wheel hub repair ineffective.
I'm very particular about my car, and I can't stand even the slightest scratch on the rims. Last time I got a small scratch while parallel parking, just a tiny mark, and I immediately drove to get it fixed. After the repair, it looked as good as new, costing me 200 yuan. Honestly, rims are like the shoes of a car—dirt can be washed off, but scratches left unrepaired make the car feel like it's missing its spirit. Especially with alloy rims, deep scratches can oxidize, and over time, they can turn into corrosion spots, which is even more troublesome. I suggest you take a photo and show it to a repair shop. Minor damage can be fixed with a quick and affordable polishing treatment, and it can be done during a lunch break. Your car is your pride, and spending a little money for peace of mind is worth it.
After driving for over five years and scraping my wheel rims more than a dozen times, my experience is: scratches that don’t expose the primer don’t need fixing at all. During my last maintenance, the mechanic helped me sand down some superficial scratches with sandpaper and didn’t charge me. Unless your rims are chrome-plated or polished, minor scratches on ordinary painted rims are barely noticeable from a distance. Repairing one rim costs around 100-200 yuan, so why waste money if you might scrape it again the next time you drive? However, if the damage reaches the sealing edge of the rim, it must be addressed, as it could affect the tire’s airtightness. Three of my rims have scratches, and after two years, there’s no sign of rust—applying some rim wax during car washes easily covers them up.