Wheel and rim problems — District of Columbia Permit Test
Wheel and rim problems on the District of Columbia permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Bent or cracked rims can cause a tire to lose pressure or come off.
A damaged rim cannot seal against the tire, so it leaks or lets the tire slip off at speed.
Bent or cracked rims can cause a tire to lose pressure or come off
Rust around wheel nuts may mean the nuts are loose, so check their tightness.
A loose nut lets the wheel wobble until it breaks free, and rust streaks are an early sign.
Rust around wheel nuts may mean the nuts are loose
After a tire has been changed, stop a short while later and recheck the tightness of the nuts.
Nuts can settle and loosen soon after a change, and a wheel can come off if nobody checks.
After a tire has been changed, stop a short while later and recheck tightness of the nuts
Wheels or rims that have had welding repairs are not safe.
Welding weakens the metal of a wheel, which can crack under the load of a moving car.
Wheels or rims that have had welding repairs are not safe
On the test
What can a bent or cracked rim cause?
A tire to lose pressure. A damaged rim cannot seal against the tire, so it leaks or lets the tire slip off at speed. DC Driver Manual, p.59: “Bent or cracked rims can cause a tire to lose pressure or come off”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
All District of Columbia permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against DC Driver Manual, published by the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pdf (DC Driver Manual (English), Rev. 7/29/2021, District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, fetched 2026-10-05 from the Wayback Machine's original-bytes capture of dmv.dc.gov; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/publication/dc-dmv-automobile-driver-manual (read 2026-10-05; links only the 2023 Issuu flipbooks)
- https://issuu.com/dcdmv/docs/dc_dmv_driver_manual_english_revised_final (the current 2023 edition, read 2026-10-05 from its public page images to diff against the pinned edition; not pinnable)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/service/knowledge-tests (read 2026-10-05; states no count or mark for the knowledge test)
- https://dcregs.dc.gov/Common/DCMR/RuleList.aspx?ChapterNum=18-1 (18 DCMR chapter 1, sections 100-114, read 2026-10-05; section 104 sets what the examination covers and states no figure)
- https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-1401.01 (D.C. Code 50-1401.01, read 2026-10-05; requires a knowledge examination and states no figure)