Wheelwright - a person that repairs and aligns defective wheels of automotive vehicles, such as automobiles, buses, and trucks. Historically, at least from Egyptian times, wheelwrights made wheels for a range of transport vehicles.
Examines wheel rims, drums, discs, and wire spokes for damage. Hammers out warps in wheel rim, or places wheel rim in hydraulic press and forces rim into shape with pry bar or hydraulic jacks. Repairs damaged wire spokes, using straightening press, and replaces broken or missing spokes. Examines alignment of wheels on test stand equipped with dial indicator gauge for measuring radial and lateral tolerance. Corrects alignment of wheels, using handtools.
Before modern automobiles were made mainly from steel parts wheelwrights made wheels, except for the steel or iron tyre, by constructing the hub, the spokes and the rim segments and assembling them all into a unit. Most wheels were made from wood but other materials have been used, such as bone and horn, for decorative or other purposes. The tyre was pre-fabricated by a blacksmith and it was the final item assembled to make the wheel a unit. Before iron tyres were common the wheel may have been spokeless, just a simple wooden disk.
