GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I bought a 2005 Pontiac Vibe last year, which came with some after market 17" rims on summer tires. One of the rims has a large amount of corrosion, this car was originally from Alberta, so I'm not sure how much road salt it was exposed to. Only one of the rims is in good condition, the rest have varying amounts of corrosion, here are some pictures of the worst one.

My question to you guys is, besides looking hideous, is it okay to continue using these? They have been balanced in the past, and I am going to get them balanced again when I take off the winter tires, because they appear to have corroded even more while in storage. I am a student and cannot afford new rims, so I hope I can just keep these ones for the next little while!

Thanks for the advice!

They look OK to me! I'd clean them up. Sand off all the corrosion and inspect them closely for any cracks. Use/Wear proper protection from the dust generated by sanding the rims, You only come with one set of lungs! Consider spray painting the rims to protect them from further damage.
good luck,
chiadog

I'm with Chiadog. It just looks like surface corrosion to me. Sand them and paint them or polish and clearcoat and they'll be good as new.

Lots of salt indeed!

Rayven01 wrote:Sand them and paint them or polish and clearcoat and they'll be good as new.

Yup!

I thought salt wasnt used in AB? or at least I was under that impression from other canadian sites.

Awesome, thanks for the quick replies guys, it's much appreciated.

Not sure on what rules Alberta has for salt, but judging from the rust on the front edge of roof where it meets the windshield, and the corrosion on the rims, they must use some! Maybe just on the highways outside of the city? Here in Saskatoon it is only 5% of the mix they use on the roads... in the city.

Whatever Calgary uses, it eats cars and comes in cube form. There are trucks that spew this all over the road until about -20, when they switch to sand.

On my drive to work (in Cochrane) the salt use ends at the city limit on hwy 1A. Cochrane uses the liquid garbage... an entirely different form of corrosion.

I believe they use a mixture of gravel and salt. Which would explain the rust. Rocks and stones cause chips in the paint..