Mr56P

First off...I'm very mechanically inclined, and have owned and worked on cars for over 45 years and done everything from motor builds to body work. That said, I'm confused on something a local mechanic told me about my 77's original rally wheels being out of round...
I took the car in to have them check for a significant shaking between 50 - 65mph. Told me that the rally wheels are known for not being true... the rims are in perfect shape, not been nicked, or repainted... I've never heard to these rims being known for being wobbly...
The car had sat in a garage for over a year before I got it a month ago. I can understand the steelbelted radials having a flat spot that might cause the shaking... but would never have thought the rims where an issue. (He doesn't sell rims, so I'm, sure he wasn't trying to sell me some...)
I'm wanting to keep the rally wheels on the car, they just look right on it to me...
Anyone else had issues with the rally wheels?

Mike Ward

Factory tolerances on stamped wheels are 'poor' compared to a machined wheel. This is not unique to Corvettes or GM cars. Yours may be out of round, but so is everybody else's.

MelWff

How did he determine the wheels had an issue?

Mr56P

He told me that most factory stamped wheels are poor in that regard... said all of mine where out, but one was really bad. He had them on a spin balancing machine which is where he was able to determine them being 'bad'. I found a shop in Baltimore, MD online, and their website says they can fix them.

Mike Ward

I bet the machine he used mounted the wheel via the hub and not the five mounting lugs. Stamped wheels were not manufactured with much attention to the hub being the centre.

MelWff

As Mike mentions above, did he mount the wheels on the balancer by the studs or the hub?

Mr56P

He didn't say... but, since most places I know of use the spin on hub mount type, I'd guess that was the way he checked them.

Gale Banks 80'

For what ever its worth my 1980 was one of the few that came with Ralley Wheels. I am the original owner. I used the Ralleys for a couple of years but got tired of Vibration at Highway Speeds. After buying new Tires, Eagle GT's, the tire shop gave me free balancing for the life of the tire. I could take the car in once a week and have the wheels re balanced. And yes, each and every time the weights were moved or changed. I drove the tire shop crazy. Keep in mind I was 21 years old and one of the State Patrols better customer's. I ended up switching to Ebsilon 3 piece Wheels and the balancing problem was gone.

mrvette

I had a similar mystery problem on a set of '79 Firebird wheels on my 70 Lemans/GTO, it is my observation some years ago that the Vette aluminum rims like a late shark take the same special lug nutz as I ran into.....take a look where the lugs stick through, does the wheel have a flat faced machine cut in the surface maybe as much as 1/8" deep?? IF so, you need a short lug nut that has a 'washer' cast into it, that 'washer part of the lug nut centers itself in that machined surface.....

the wheels are lug centric, just instead of the typical conical lug nutz like we all used to, they are flat, I was using nutz with a shank thinking they centered in the wheel holes....but the small flat surface was too small to grab the larger diameter of that machined surface......

I know I have run into a shark with stock looking aluminum wheels on it, and having that same screwy lug nut....

drspencer

I recently went through this same problem.

Your Rallye wheels need to be 'lug centric' balanced, with a Haweka adapter (using the 5 lug holes as the true center of the wheel), not 'hub centric' (using the single center hole of the rim as the true center of the wheel).

cv67

Never thought of the nut that mrvette described
Never had an issue with GM rallyes but have bought 2 different sets of aftermarkets, not one of them was in spec wouldnt take them back either. Tore my tires apart in very short time

Broke down and bought some Welds, guess they got sold to someone else. Had to return 2 of those also. They balance Ok and dont vibrate but had more runout than Id like to see. Guys at the tire shop looked at the Made In USA tag on the box and laughed. Expensive junk what could I say.

The lousiest stock production wheels out there are perfectly straight and the aftermarket cant do it come on. Called their cust service and was told they settle on a certain level of bad and thats good enough.