I recently had 5 Falkens mounted.  The yellow dot is next to the valve stem.
I did not know about the yellow dot “rule”.
Luckily the installer knew!

Should cosmic 6x10 be fitted from the back or front , does anyone have at least 2 centres for these wheels I am after the metal type . 

My new wheels have arrived! 5 months is a long time to wait, but I must say doing business with Image Wheels was a pleasure. They kept me informed during the entire process with email messages like, "Your hoops have been rolled and the spokes cast," and "Your inserts are being fettled and will soon be powered coated." Beautiful wheels and excellent customer service. Thanks Image!

Before I put them up on eBay, I thought I'd offer my old wheels to forum members first. 2 are in excellent condition, 1 has slight curb rash, and 1 is rather bent. The wheel restoration shops I contacted said they can straighten and polish the 2 damaged wheels but didn't have a straightening machine that would accommodate 10" wheels. See MM Classifieds.

Right on. And at a converted rate of around $200USD/wheel (not including shipping), that beats the $2000 estimate to fix them,...that didn't work. Either way, you probably won't be (and shouldn't be) paying for them anyways. Why not get 4 new ones. Then keep the two good ones that you have now as spares. You never know if they'll be discontinued for good. But wouldn't hurt to run it by Image and see if they're still available, if you haven't already done so. Don't want to get your hopes up for nothing. 

Those are the ones! I went to the Image Wheel website last week and it said the 10" RM1 Sandwich style rims were discontinued, they only came in 12" and larger. Now I see them and according to the website they are available in 10". And now I can't find where I saw that they were discontinued. What the heck? Anyway, thanks for the link. My day just got better.

I'm always amazed at the trouble You Guys have in getting things done.  

My home town has about 400K people and I have a choice of a couple of shops to get wheels repaired (currently looking at getting some kinks ironed out of some VW rims).

When I lived in northern VA I found that the franchises weren't really interested in doing anything outside their standard charge sheets.  However, hidden away, I found there were Mom&Pop shops that actually knew how to fix things.  

$2000 to straighten a rim is extortionate..  With modular wheel I wouldn't have thought it too difficult to find a suitable inner rim.  Maybe in the UK ?? as I can believe there aren't many US shops interested in stocking 1" rims.

Cheers, Ian

Cheers, Ian

Well that sucks to hear. Especially with them being Image Wheels. Not cheap. Have you begged and pleaded with Image, and let them know your story, and see if they can either make new ones or know of any around their area that may be for sale?
And maybe put up a post on theminiforum in the UK, and see if anyone there can assist.
Just looked up on Image's site and found these, under 10" Sandwich Mount if you scroll down: https://www.imagewheels.co.uk/rm1-minilite-alloy-wheel/

Well, the bad new is the wheel restoration shop has informed me they cannot straighten my 10" wheels; too small for their straightening machine. They gave me a couple of referrals in the Los Angeles area—a 100 mile drive from home, but said even then they weren't hopeful I would be able to find anyone who could straighten them. I absolutely love my Image wheels and I'm heartbroken they're no longer available. So, I guess it's time to go wheel shopping. 

If anyone knows of any 10" Image wheels for sale (unlikely), or any other 3 piece 10" wheel (possible), please let me know. I'd even consider alloy center-lock wheels and hubs. 

we only hand mount 10" tires here and recommend they be hand mounted. I have seen far to many (including yokos) with the bead was stretched/deformed by machine mounting, creates a bulge in the tire, never the same after that (never seen a wheel damaged as a result...) 

That's what I was thinking also, Scargo. The motorsports shops would be dealing with small tires and wheels all the time. But then again, I wouldn't mind at least trying my 'hand' at hand mounting them just to see how that goes. 

For mounting and dismounting my 10" tires, I use a local Honda motorcycle dealership service department. The sell ATV's as well, so they have the right equipment to handle the 10's. They've done work for me on steel wheels and on Revolution and Cosmic alloys, for both Yokos and Falkens.

Yeah I heard it from a trusted Mini expert and checked it out. Also found that the red dot is the high point on the tire (never perfectly round). My tire store people dodn't know it either......

Yep, yellow dot (point of lightest weight of the tire) should be aligned with the valve stem (heaviest weight point of the wheel assembly).  I tried to tell my tire guy that info but he wouldn't listen.  I finally insisted that the yellow dot be installed opposite the valve stem and he did it-180 degrees out.  Insolent bastard.

I hate tire shops now
 I hand mount myself at home.. I've done at least 6 sets by now.
   Locally the shops are either TOO LAZY to accept the job or their machine wont grab / hold a 10 Wheel. - TBD...
   
I dont think they want to try to 'change' the machine to the way it can grab the Outside  of the rim edge. instead they think all rims have to be held by the inside of the barrel.   They laugh at the size and say oh, we cant do those... of course they wont let' me try'  ( that ive worked in dealership before and know the functionaliy of the tire machine. Needless to say  ive turned to my own efforts.

 I bought a tub of tire slime ( lube ) for the beads
  and 2 good tire irons.

 I use an old Disk brake hub  chucked up in my Vice.. bolt the wheel down =   Once lubed up a new tire will almsost halfway slide on with one bead. the second takes some effort but can walk the second bead back on.


I also De mount myself.. but thats a good bit of effort and wrestle on the floor to break the beads and also walkthe beads off... once you get the hang its not impossible .  If i had a new set of rims .. i would tread lightly as some nicks can happen.

 One day ill own my own tire machine = but thats only half.,  they need a balance.

I've always wondered about those dots...now I know! Thx!

Go to the end of the line—I didn't know ether. Makes me wonder if my tire guy knows. And it's true… [link]

Well, if that's true, and you're actually serious, then that makes you the second-last guy to learn that, because I had no clue. If you're just bs'n, well then this greenhorn just fell for it. I always had a yellow and a red dot on the Yoko A048's that I was getting. So what does the red dot indicate?

Anyone running MiniLight 10's with Yokos, confirm or deny issues with machine mounting? The wheels have a -7 offset. Also, what's the trick (if any) to hand mounting? 

Thanks in advance for the tips and tricks.

I might be the last guy to learn this but after having tires mounted on my Mini I found out that the yellow dot is supposed to line up with the valve stem. It is the lightest point on the tire and mounting it that way requires less weights to balance......

I've never had a problem with 10" Yokohama tires being mounted by machine, but the 10" Falkens are finicky-- I've had multiple 165/70-10 Falken tires develop buldges either immediately or within a few days of being mounted by typical tire shops. My BeanCar has been on nearly bald and dangerously cracked Falkens, just sitting mostly, because I've been too lazy to go up to Heritage Garage and ask them to mount new ones for me. They are the only ones I trust to mount them safely.

Some 10's a while back depending on the off set had to be mounted from the back side.

Rosebud. That sucks and is just stupidity on his or his employees part, i guess you will not be going back to him for tyre work.