A cracked alloy is the one wheel fault you often cannot see. A kerb scuff announces itself the moment it happens, but a hairline crack in the rim can hide behind the tyre and show itself only as a slow puncture — a tyre that keeps going down, needs topping up every few days, and never quite holds its pressure. That matters, because a crack is not cosmetic damage. It is structural, it tends to spread, and under the load and heat of motorway speed a weakened wheel can let go when you least want it to. If you suspect a cracked alloy, it is worth taking seriously and worth having checked properly.
This page explains what a cracked alloy means for your safety, when a crack can be repaired and when the wheel needs replacing, what a repair costs, and why a structural crack is not a DIY or JB Weld job. At Bodyteq we assess and repair cracked alloys at our Greenwich workshop in South-East London, and we will tell you honestly whether your wheel can be made safe or should be replaced. It is one part of our wider alloy wheel refurbishment service.
Is a cracked alloy wheel safe to drive on?
Not once you know it is cracked. A cracked alloy should be treated as an urgent fault, not something to leave until the next service. The usual warning signs are a tyre that slowly and repeatedly loses pressure, a vibration through the steering that was not there before, and — if you look closely, often on the inside of the rim — a visible hairline split. Aluminium alloy does not flex and forgive the way steel does; once it has cracked, the crack concentrates stress and tends to grow. A wheel that is merely leaking today can fail more suddenly under braking, cornering or motorway heat. If a wheel keeps losing pressure for no obvious reason, have it checked before you drive on it — a cracked alloy is one fault where it genuinely is not worth the risk.
Can a cracked alloy wheel be repaired?
Often, yes — but not always, and being honest about the difference is the whole point. Whether a crack can be safely repaired depends on where it is and how bad it is. A single, clean crack on the inner rim or the barrel of the wheel — away from the mounting face and the spokes — can usually be professionally repaired by TIG welding, where the aluminium is fused back together and the wheel is then re-checked and refinished. Done properly, that is a genuine, lasting repair.
Some cracks cannot be safely repaired, and no reputable workshop should pretend otherwise. A crack across the mounting face or hub, damage running through the spokes, several cracks or a crack that radiates in more than one direction, and wheels already heavily corroded are all cases where a weld cannot be relied on to hold. In those cases the safe answer is to replace the wheel. When we assess your alloy we will tell you plainly which category it falls into — because a weld on a wheel that should have been replaced is not a repair, it is a risk.
Cracked alloy wheel repair cost
A crack repair is priced on the severity and position of the crack, not on a fixed rate, because every crack is different and some wheels cannot be repaired at all. As a rough UK guide, a straightforward weld repair on a repairable crack sits in the ranges below — and a crack often comes with a buckle or scuffing that needs putting right at the same time. The only accurate figure is a free assessment, once we have seen exactly where the crack is.
| Cracked alloy work | Indicative UK price (from) |
|---|---|
| Hairline / single crack repair (TIG weld, repairable rim) | from £75–£120 per wheel |
| Crack weld plus refinish to match | from £100–£150 per wheel |
| Crack with a buckle (weld plus straightening) | from £120–£180 per wheel |
| Wheel cracked beyond safe repair | replacement advised — assessed free |
Indicative UK ranges only — some cracks cannot be safely repaired; your exact position comes from a free assessment once we have seen the wheel.
A few things move the figure. A short hairline on the inner rim is quicker to put right than a longer or deeper split. If the crack came from a pothole or a hard kerb strike, the wheel is often buckled as well, and straightening is a separate part of the job — see alloy wheel straightening. And once a crack is welded, that area needs refinishing to match the rest of the wheel. We quote on the wheel in front of us, and if it cannot be safely repaired we will say so rather than sell you a repair that will not hold.
Why JB Weld and DIY kits are not a safe fix
A quick search will turn up epoxy sticks, cold-weld pastes and JB Weld as a way to seal a cracked rim at home. For a structural crack in a wheel, they are not a safe fix. Products like these can bridge a gap and might even stop a leak for a while, but they do not fuse the aluminium back together and they have nothing like the strength the wheel needs to carry the car at speed. The crack is still there underneath, still under stress, and still spreading. The safe repair for a structural crack is professional TIG welding, where the metal itself is fused and the wheel is re-checked before it goes back on the road — and that is workshop work by definition, not something that can be done properly on a driveway. If a crack is worth your attention at all, it is worth doing once and doing safely.
How we repair a cracked alloy wheel
Our process is built around proving the wheel is genuinely safe before it goes back on your car. We start by taking the tyre off and inspecting the bare wheel, so we can find the crack, judge its position and length, and decide whether it can be safely repaired or should be replaced. If the crack is repairable, we prepare the area and TIG weld the aluminium, fusing the metal back together for real strength rather than filling over it. Where the wheel is buckled as well as cracked, we straighten it back to true at the same time. The welded area is then refinished and colour-matched so the repair blends into the rest of the wheel, and finally the wheel is re-checked and the tyre refitted and inflated — so you leave with a wheel that holds its pressure and is safe to drive. A repairable crack is usually a one- to two-day job, depending on whether straightening and a full refinish are needed, and we give you a realistic timescale with your assessment.
Why bring your cracked alloy to Bodyteq
A crack repair is a safety repair, and it needs both the right equipment and the honesty to turn work away when a wheel cannot be saved. We assess and repair cracked alloys in-house at our Greenwich workshop, TIG welding repairable cracks and refinishing them to match, and every repaired wheel is checked and backed by our satisfaction guarantee. Because a structural weld and a controlled refinish need a proper workshop, we are a fixed-premises specialist rather than a mobile service — it is the only way to do this kind of repair safely. As a family-run body repair specialist, we would far rather tell you a wheel needs replacing than send you back onto the road on a weld that should never have been attempted.
Cracked alloy wheel repair near you — Greenwich and South-East London
Drivers bring their cracked and damaged alloys to us from across South-East London and the wider capital — Greenwich, Blackheath, Charlton, Woolwich and beyond. You can bring the wheel in on its own or leave the car with us; either way the assessment and welding are carried out in the workshop, where the equipment is. If the crack came with a buckle we can straighten it in the same visit, and if the same pothole or kerb also marked a bumper or a panel we can put that right too as part of our car body repair service. You can check we cover where you are on our service areas page. For everyday kerb scuffs on a sound wheel, see our standard alloy wheel repair, and for a machined, mirror-faced finish, diamond cut alloy repair.
Cracked alloy wheel repair FAQs
If the crack is in a repairable position — a clean crack on the inner rim or barrel — then yes, a professional TIG weld repair is usually well worth it, and far cheaper than a replacement alloy, which can run to several hundred pounds each on many cars. But it is not worth repairing a wheel that cannot be made safe: a crack across the mounting face or spokes, multiple or radiating cracks, or a heavily corroded wheel should be replaced rather than welded. An honest assessment tells you which you are dealing with, and we will tell you straight.
As a UK guide, a straightforward TIG weld repair on a repairable crack usually starts from around £75–£120 a wheel, with more to pay if the wheel is also buckled and needs straightening or a full refinish to match. These are indicative ranges only, and some cracked wheels cannot be safely repaired at all and need replacing. The accurate figure comes from a free assessment once we have seen where the crack is and how bad it is.
It is not a safe fix for a structural crack. JB Weld and similar cold-weld epoxies can seal a gap and might slow a leak, but they do not fuse the aluminium and cannot give the wheel the strength it needs to carry the car at speed — the crack is still there and still spreading underneath. The safe repair is professional TIG welding, where the metal itself is fused and the wheel is re-checked before it goes back on the road.
When the crack is in a repairable position and it is TIG welded properly and re-checked, yes — a professional weld repair restores the wheel’s strength and is a genuine, lasting fix. What is not safe is welding a crack that runs through the mounting face or spokes, welding a wheel with several cracks, or a DIY epoxy ‘repair’ on any structural crack. The safe course is always to have the wheel assessed first, so a crack that cannot be trusted is replaced rather than patched.
