Edwardz

I am curious if anyone else has bent a rear rim on their Z06. I drive mine a lot, about 24,000 miles in a year and I have bent three rims. I haven't hit anything other than the occasional expansion joint or something that doesn't feel bad. You can tell it's bent when it starts to shake at about 95 miles an hour and gets worse as speed increases. At 70 miles an hour it feels fine. It's hard to see the bend except when it's spinning on a balance machine. A good portion of these miles are on Michelin super sport run flats and that's the tire that seems to be bending the rim. I have not gotten a bent rim yet with the Pirelli Sotto Zero winter tires even though you would think the roads would be worse in the winter. I'm wondering if the stiffer sidewall of the runflat may transfer more force to the rim and bend it. I am thinking of getting Conti non run flats next summer. Thankfully the OEM rims are not terribly expensive.

Dewayne'sZ06

I went to a Chevrolet Track event and bent 2 rims....i got in touch with a chevy Rep and was told over and over how those rims had been extensively tested and they will not bend...So after about a 30 min conversation he let it slip out that the only way Chevy had found a rim could be bent was if the car got sideways and the lateral load force going to the inside of the rims where there is no support that it would bend. So i had him sit in my car and look at a few laps I made using the PDR and showed him a few times i had slid it sideways. He looked at me funny and i said..when are you getting those rims sent in..Had them put on 2 weeks later

Joy c7

If your running in Track mode be careful, you can bend rims on a not so smooth road.

SgtRod

My z had a bent rim when i picked it up the day I bought it. I have no doubt it was an employee. This car has so many little pain in the a$$ issues. Nickle and dime you to death. Tires are so hard that the must be balanced in a way that most places will not, regardless of what they say. When it goesn in the back, I doubt they rotate the tire on the rim when road force balancing. Just another corvette gremlin that will ruin the car for many.

Anyone know if the cup wheels are actually stronger?

Edwardz

I agree that the stiffer suspension in track mode would make it more likely to bend a rim. However mine have gotten bent in touring mode. I wonder if more air pressure would be protective of the rim or make the tire stiffer so it would be more likely to bend the rim. The extra air pressure may take some force away from the side wall and be protective of bending the inside corner of the rim. I am thinking of getting non-runflat summer performance tires although the options are limited. They have a softer side wall and I think are less likely to bend the rim.

Rd16rr

...i had serious vibration issues (after mounting new Cup-2 RunFlats, Stock Tires) - they "eventually" traced it to a bent rim(s) - the dealer absolutely recommended replacing 1, and said the other wasn't so bad - i replaced 1 (passengers front), and there is still a mild vibe getting thru, which means the other will get replaced on next set of tires (due soon, as i approach 27k on the car now) (2015 A8 Z06) -- the dealer also mentioned that one of the rear rims seemed to have lost a weight, as it was 6ozs short on balance -- i'm not sure how to get the balace issue nailed down, as its done on a machine.....

i had the first set of tires done at a Tire only shop that is very focused - i just cannot say how they were balanced and to what degree of accuracy

Edwardz

It is very possible they bent the rim when they were remounting the runflat Michelin tires. I think one of my rims was bent when they were mounting tires but I really can't say for sure. Luckily I think more people are getting experience mounting these tires and not using excessive force to seat the bead like they were in the beginning. It's very helpful to have an extra set of tires and rims so you can swap out one tire at a time to isolate the problem to a single wheel. Getting tires and wheels balanced has always been a bit of an issue for someone who may drive a little faster than highway speeds. The super wide tires on the Corvette make the task even more difficult. Somebody told me of a place in Massachusetts that you can send rims and have them straightened out even fixed with breaks in them,but I don't know if that's true or not. Does anyone have experience having bent rims repaired?

Poor-sha

I just picked up 6 of my OEM rims from having tires mounted. 3 of the rims were found to be bent. That's on top of 2 rims I previously bent and 1 rim I cracked at the inside lip.

SharkgrayVetteZ06

Just picked up a 17'Z06 (Z07) and it has cups 2s. What should I watch out for?? I don't want bent rims!!!!

Joy c7

OK, get rid of the cups2s unless you track, Keep in tour or sport and watch out for pot holes you should be OK.

SBC_and_a_stick

I bent:
2 OEM wheels
2 60th anniversary wheels
0 CCW

Must be that the forged CCW is worth the money. Now, it is also true I never ran cup 2 tires on them, while I did on the OEM semi-forgings.

Taimur

Wow I'm surprised to see so many people bending stock rims. Are the rims made out of soda cans? This is kind of ridiculous.

SBC_and_a_stick

3,600lb car meets 25 section run flat meets thin flow formed wheel. The wheel should be either forged from factory, or cast with more material on it.

SharkgrayVetteZ06

I plan on keeping the cup 2s will they are done, and then plan on getting the new Michelin 4s tires that are coming out next year.

Edwardz

[QUOTE=SBC_and_a_stick;1593334857]3,600lb car meets 25 section run flat meets thin flow formed wheel. The wheel should be either forged from factory, or cast with more material on it.[/
I have only bent one rim on my 911S in 50,000 miles, so maybe the forged BBS rim is a little stronger or it could be that the tires are not run flats and the profile is a little higher. Also the Porsche rim is $2900 compared to $500 for OEM Z06 rim so it hurts less.

AORoads

I think SBC and others who've bent wheels indicates it may be the wheels first, and tires, track mode, expansion joints/potholes, etc. next. For that reason, I'd consider Finspeed, LG, etc. for forged wheels or stronger cast wheels. Going thru 3, 4, or 6 wheels is just a bit nutso to me. And yes, wheels CAN also be bent or broken by some tire installers---I almost had one happen at the allegedly most competent (and expensive) shop in my area.

spearfish25

How did they 'almost' bend or break your wheel? Seems like a binary yes or no situation.

Edwardz

I'm pretty sure one of my wheels was bent when they installed a tire. You can't really prove whether the rim was bent before or whether it got bent while they were working on it, or bent after you left the shop. These are small bends that really only show up about 95 miles an hour or more. Looking at the wheel you can't really tell it's bent until they take it off put it on the balance machine and watch it spin. Even then you may need a dial gauge to find the bend. I don't think the shops are being careless but the runflat low-profile tires take a lot of force to set the bead and I think in the beginning they were having trouble doing that more than they are now. I would think if the shop broke the wheel and it was leaking air that might be more obvious,but I've not had that done.
I am wondering if anyone has had any bent wheels fixed? There's lots of things about doing this that concern me but just wonder if anyone had it done and what they thought of the result.

Edwardz

I'm pretty sure one of my wheels was bent when they installed a tire. You can't really prove whether the rim was bent before or whether it got bent while they were working on it, or bent after you left the shop. These are small bends that really only show up about 95 miles an hour or more. Looking at the wheel you can't really tell it's bent until they take it off put it on the balance machine and watch it spin. Even then you may need a dial gauge to find the bend. I don't think the shops are being careless but the runflat low-profile tires take a lot of force to set the bead and I think in the beginning they were having trouble doing that more than they are now. I would think if the shop broke the wheel and it was leaking air that might be more obvious,but I've not had that done.
I am wondering if anyone has had any bent wheels fixed? There's lots of things about doing this that concern me but just wonder if anyone had it done and what they thought of the result.

spearfish25

I've never been keen on the idea of fixing anything bent, be it wheels, frames, etc. Metals experience work hardening. When you bend them and then try to straighten them back out, you usually just bend them in an adjacent location. This is easily demonstrated with a paper clip.