A rim repair machine is what turns a paint shop into a mag repair shop. With a hydraulic straightening press, a dial gauge and some training, you can true pothole bends that customers would otherwise throw away. Add a lathe and you can refinish lips and recut diamond cut faces. These are serious machines with real safety limits, so the supplier and the training matter as much as the frame. Send one request and we pass it to independent equipment suppliers, who quote you directly.
Hydraulic rim straightening machines
The wheel is clamped on a chuck that turns slowly while a dial gauge measures radial and lateral runout. Hydraulic rams with shaped tools push the bent lip back, a little at a time, often with controlled gentle heat on alloys. Steel wheels from bakkies and trailers can usually be pressed cold. Ask about the size range (most car machines cover roughly 13 to 24 inch), the number of rams and tools, whether it handles truck wheels, and whether it is manual or has a powered chuck. See bent rim repair for what the work involves.
Combination machines and CNC diamond cut lathes
A combination machine pairs a straightening press with a lathe tool, so you can skim a lip or clean up a bead seat on the same set-up. A CNC diamond cut lathe is a bigger investment: it probes the face of a two-tone wheel and takes a very fine cut, which is the only way to properly repair diamond cut wheels. Ask whether it probes automatically, what wheel sizes it takes, what software it uses, and what tooling and inserts cost to replace. Some lathes are vertical, others horizontal; ask which suits your floor.
Welders, tooling, power and space
Crack repair needs an AC TIG welder for aluminium, filler rod and a leak test tank. A full shop also needs a tyre changer, a balancer, a blasting cabinet or stripping tank and a spray booth or powder coating oven. Before you buy, check:
- Three phase power, which many lathes and some presses need
- Floor strength and the space around each machine
- Backup power for load-shedding, so a cut is not ruined mid-pass
- Compressed air for the chuck and tools
Training and knowing when to say no
Ask the supplier what training is included, and whether they will help with the first few jobs. Good training covers safety: wheels cracked in the spokes, bent in the face or already welded should be turned away, not pressed. A repairer who knows the limits builds a better name than one who straightens everything. Many new shops also stock replacement mags for the wheels they cannot repair.
What to put in your request
- Straightening press, combination or CNC lathe
- Wheel size range: car, 4x4 or truck
- Three phase power available or not
- Floor space and ceiling height
- Training and help with the first jobs
Rim Repair Machines for drivers, fleets and workshops
- Private car owners: the machine that lets a shop save a pothole-bent mag instead of replacing it
- Enthusiasts, 4x4 and performance drivers: a specialist refinishing and recutting wheels for modified and classic cars
- Company and rental fleets: a fleet workshop straightening steel rims on vans and bakkies in house
- Dealers, panel shops and insurers: a reconditioning shop repairing wheels for dealers before cars are sold
- Tyre shops and wheel workshops: a mag repair or tyre shop adding straightening and diamond cutting
- Truck, bus and taxi operators: a truck wheel shop straightening steel rims for trailers and buses
- Farms: a rural workshop pressing bent steel rims on bakkies and farm trailers
- Mines and construction sites: a mine workshop truing steel rims on LDVs bent on haul roads
Frequently asked questions
Do you sell rim straightening machines?
What do I need to start a mag repair business?
Is a second-hand rim repair machine a good idea?
Can one machine straighten truck wheels too?
Rim Repair Machines by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg