Having a hoop set up near your house surely means a ton of fun for you and your friends. Unfortunately, it could break down at some point, especially if you have it installed outdoors. After hours and hours of games and shooting, you may notice the basketball rim bent down or become tilted upwards or sideways. How do you fix a tilted basketball rim? It’s actually pretty easy. Read on and find out.
What Happens When Your Rim is Bent?
What Happens When Your Rim is Bent?A bent rim could happen if you or one of your friends dunk a basketball forcefully over and over again. Or if not, the force of the basketball hitting the front of the rim repeatedly takes its toll and may bend the rim over time. Either way, it’s not fun. You can still play on it, but looking at that oval-shaped monstrosity could affect your shooting or perception of the rim.
Could a bent rim actually ruin your game in the long run? I wouldn’t say so, but if you play on a bent rim long enough, there are shots that you should and shouldn’t try. For instance, if the rim is bent backward on one way, it’s easier to make a shot from that direction. Conversely, a shot from the opposite side of the bent rim will be more challenging.
From personal experience, if the rim is really bent, I would not suggest shooting a layup off the backboard. Otherwise, the ball would just “fall off” the rim because there is no front metal to cradle the bounce. On top of that, shooting on a bent rim could affect the arc of your shot. You may shoot a flat jumper over time, trying to compensate for the annoying bend.
How Do You Fix a Tilted Basketball Rim?
How Do You Fix a Tilted Basketball Rim?The easiest way to solve the problem is to get yourself a new basketball rim. However, a basketball rim replacement is not always the most practical way. If you can get more miles out of a broken basketball rim, you should always go for it.
Here are your best options in fixing a tilted basketball rim:
1. Use a Car Jack
Car jacks can lift cars, so why not use them to “carry” a much lighter load like a bent basketball rim? Any car jack will do, but the pneumatic types provide the most effortless lift. Either way, if you know how to use a car jack, you should be able to handle this one.
The idea of using a car jack to fix a misshaped basketball rim is pretty simple. You just need to fit the car jack in the rim and then crank it up until it starts to get back to its original shape. Now, ensure that you position the jack in a way that the bottom is one side and the top on the other. This way, you can turn the jack all the way up, so it pushes the rim back into shape. You may need a couple of 2 by 4s to help you if the jack couldn’t lean on the backside of the rim.
As soon as you get the jack in position, crank it until the force of the jack turns the oval back into a circle. This may not be a one-time process, so repeat as desired. And like I said, it may not turn into a perfect circle, but it should be ways better than an oval-shaped monstrosity you call a rim.
2. Use a Blow Torch
Flame is used to shape metal, so you see where this is going, right? If you want to do the blow torch method, just make sure that you have enough space to work with and that there are no combustible materials around. Don’t let the children anywhere near you and the flame you’re producing, and wear safety gear for your hands, eyes, and body. Remember, always be safe, or you won’t be going anywhere near a basketball rim anytime soon!
Now, the next step is to find out which parts of the rim got broken or misshaped. This is a relatively easy task. The next step is to apply the flame to the broken parts and keep it there for at least three minutes. When metal begins to heat up, it will become pliable, and you should be able to pry it into shape.
Just to be clear, prying into shape doesn’t mean you use your hands. You need to hold the broken part against the concrete or any safe surface and use a hammer to pound it back. Depending on the number of misshaped parts, you may need to do it several times. Lay the entire rim on a surface and see if it lays flat. If it does, then you got it good!
3. Use a Rubber Mallet
A rubber mallet is only an option for really tiny bends or tilts or if you don’t have a blow torch or a car jack. If you want to do it the easy way, you will need to remove the rim entirely off the backboard.
The first thing that you have to do is check the bent or tilted part. Again, this is a pretty easy task, and most probably, you can tell just by looking at it. Lie the rim flat on the concrete, and that bent part will stick up in the air. Using weights to prevent the rim from moving, pound on the broken part until it lies flat.
How Long Does it Take to Fix a Tilted Rim?
How Long Does it Take to Fix a Tilted Rim?It really depends on the amount of damage it has sustained. If you have a jack, it’s an easy problem to solve, something that should be over with in three minutes or less. The blow torch method should take the most time since the heating time alone takes three to five minutes. If you’re using a rubber mallet, taking the rim off the backboard will take several minutes, but the entire process is pretty straightforward. In any case, if a tilted or bent basketball rim is still worth saving, it wouldn’t take much time to fix it. Besides, who wants to spend $500 on a basketball rim replacement?
Wrapping Things Up: How Do You Fix a Tilted Basketball Rim
Basketball rims are pretty robust objects, but they take a lot of abuse. The pounding of the ball from your repeated shooting or the force of a dunk can take its toll, bending and tilting it in the process.
Of course, you have the option to just let it be. After all, you can still shoot buckets in it. But then again, it does not look good, and it may even affect your depth perception, especially if you play on circle rims. On top of that, it could lead to a flatter shot arc, and there may be instances when shooting at a specific angle is impossible. Where’s the fun in that? The solutions would be to spend money on basketball rim replacement or fix the broken basketball rim yourself.
If you choose the latter, it’s really a pretty easy fix, given that the rim is still strong enough to take a good pounding. How do you fix a tilted basketball rim? The best method for this is to use a car jack. Car jacks are obviously strong tools that can lift cars, so they could quickly straighten out a piece of metal like a basketball rim. If you don’t have a car jack, a blow torch is a nice option, provided you have all the safety equipment ready. Lastly, if the damage is not too bad, you can take the rim entirely off the backboard and pound the broken part with a rubber mallet.
Did you find this post helpful? Then you may also like our basketball and basketball hoop reviews here.
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