C3 General General C3 Corvette Discussion not covered in Tech
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

C3 Wheel weights

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Oct 4, 2007 | 02:53 PM
  #1  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default C3 Wheel weights

Just wondering, how much do our stock wheels weigh? (Just the rim without a tire mounted.) Also, does someone have the link to the C5 post with all the C5 wheel weights?

Thanks.
Reply
Old Oct 5, 2007 | 11:56 AM
  #2  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

Anyone...?
Reply
Old Oct 5, 2007 | 09:34 PM
  #3  
DZRick's Avatar
DZRick
Le Mans Master
10 Year Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,447
Likes: 3
From: Syracuse NY
Default

I can get a bare 15x8 steel ralley weighed if that will help.

Let me know if this is what your looking for.

Rick
Reply
Old Oct 8, 2007 | 08:45 AM
  #4  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

That would be awesome.
Reply
Old Oct 8, 2007 | 01:00 PM
  #5  
Jay-Dog's Avatar
Jay-Dog
Pro
 
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 668
Likes: 3
From: Platteville WI
Default

I don't have your answer, but I know plenty of people who swear by lighter unsprung weight to give their cars better cornering. I'll bet my vette ralleys weight twice what my Miata rims weigh.
Reply
Old Oct 8, 2007 | 05:11 PM
  #6  
BenUK's Avatar
BenUK
Burning Brakes
15 Year Member
 
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,145
Likes: 5
From: South of London, Engerland
Default

I know it's not what you wanted, but for anybody else who's searching for this data in the future I just measured one of my factory alloys and it weighs 19.2 pounds (8.7 kilos).
Reply
Old Oct 8, 2007 | 10:32 PM
  #7  
wfo76's Avatar
wfo76
Drifting
 
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,259
Likes: 2
From: MS
Default

I remember an old brochure (76?) that said that the aluminum wheels saved 32 pounds so guess that means the rallys are 27 lbs
Reply
Old Oct 9, 2007 | 09:56 AM
  #8  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

Wow, 27 lbs. Doesn't surprise me, but man that's heavy. Does anyone have a bare ralley sitting around that they could throw on a scale to corfirm this?

And OEM C5 Z06 wheels are like 19lbs, or something like that, right?

Yet another reason to switch to Z06 wheels.............. saves 32lbs of rotating weight!
Reply
Corvette Stories

The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts

story-0

Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

 Joe Kucinski
story-1

Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

 Verdad Gallardo
story-2

Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

 Brett Foote
story-3

Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-4

10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

 Joe Kucinski
story-5

5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

 Michael S. Palmer
story-6

2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor

 Joe Kucinski
story-7

10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!

 Joe Kucinski
story-8

5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!

 Joe Kucinski
story-9

2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!

 Joe Kucinski
Old Oct 9, 2007 | 10:03 AM
  #9  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

Actually, found all the C5 weights....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...hlight=weights

4 front magnesium rims would save 40lbs of rotating weight on the car... except that I would assume the weight of the tires would be different, and you'd have to add a bit of weight for the spacers that you need. Does someone have a mounted ralley wheel that's not on their car that they could weigh? (My wheels are on my car, and besides that, I don't have a scale...)
Reply
Old Oct 9, 2007 | 10:04 AM
  #10  
panic's Avatar
panic
Team Owner
20 Year Member
Conversation Starter
All Eyes On Me
Photogenic
 
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 20,703
Likes: 25
From: Sorrento Italy
Default

If the task is to save rotating weight, You'd have to consider also the weight of the tire, bias ply dot rubber (like the 'street/track sportcar hoosiers) is at least half the weight of a standard radial perf tire...
Reply
Old Oct 9, 2007 | 10:14 AM
  #11  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

Yeah, that's what I was just saying. But, I need street tires, I'm not actually on a track at all yet... and when I am it's just going to be autocrossing and such.
Reply
Old Oct 9, 2007 | 05:37 PM
  #12  
DZRick's Avatar
DZRick
Le Mans Master
10 Year Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,447
Likes: 3
From: Syracuse NY
Default

I was at TrueValue today, where I was going to use their scale and didn't bring a wheel with me:o
Reply
Old Oct 9, 2007 | 09:40 PM
  #13  
petronix's Avatar
petronix
Instructor
15 Year Member
 
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 228
Likes: 3
From: Tampa FL
Default

I would bet that c5 wheels with the spacers necessary to make them fit are a bit heavier than stock steel wheels. I have the wheels and spacers in my garage. I can weigh them. I don't have a naked steel wheel to weigh though.
Reply
Old Oct 10, 2007 | 01:55 PM
  #14  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

If the steel wheels are actually 27lbs, I would imagine we'd still be on the good side using those spacers. They can't weigh 8lbs per spacer when they're made of aluminum. But yeah, weigh one of those suckers and let us know how much they do weigh.

So, another interesting note. You always hear people talking about how rotating weight is like 4x (or 8x) regular weight. So I decided to do the calculations - accounting for both the rotational and translational terms of kinetic energy. From my calculations it seems that rotating weight is about 2x regular weight, strictly in terms of the amount of energy needed to accelerate or decelerate. (It was ~2.3x when using the same diameter rim, and ~1.8x when increasing the rim diameter from 15" to 17"). I'd be interested to see if someone has some other calculations to see where this 4-8x number came from. Anyone? (Of course, my calculations are just for acceleration, not for cornering. They do not account for that fact that lowering the wheel weight lowers the unsprung weight, which should also have an impact on cornering.)
Reply
Old Oct 10, 2007 | 02:49 PM
  #15  
Hadez's Avatar
Hadez
Drifting
20 Year Member
Conversation Starter
All Eyes On Me
 
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,625
Likes: 4
From: Miami FL
Default

yel76low....I like where you are going with your calculations. My approach to things if I am switching them out is lightweight & efficient also.

My ralleys weighed in at 22.5lbs when I weighed them separately.. There is no way they are at 28lbs. The steel drum is too thin to weigh 28lbs. To confirm my sanity I weighed last night my full size spare 15x8 ralley with a 235/60/15 tire & ralley wheel total weight is 48.6lbs & according to tire rack the tire weighs 26lbs => 22.6lbs. Only the cast wheels such as Boyd's or Foose weigh close to 28lbs because they need to make them thick enough to not bend on the street because they are cheapo metal cast. I was originally going to go with an 18" Boyd or Foose wheel but found out all of them are cast wheels and weigh at least 25lbs!!! So I ended up buy a set of forged Bonspeed wheels costing an arm/leg but worth it. The fronts are 18x8 with 245/45/18 tire weighing exactly 50lbs which is actually 1lb lighter than my ralley with a 255/60/15 tire mounted. I did not want to add any extra unsprung weight. My rears are a tad heavier 18x10 with 275/40/18 but I dig the look big time and it is only a couple pounds heavier mainly due to the tire being 3lbs heaver. You have to make sure you match your tire selection with the wheels as you don't want to get lighter wheels and then put on such a big tire that it negates most of your efforts to reduce unsprung weight.

I ran some back to back 1/4 mile times with my other car (automatic) I use to have between forged 15" BBS vs. 18" OZ Racing where weight diffence was 8lbs per wheel. I ran a consistent 0.1s faster ET with the lighter skinnier wheels. I had a little more wheel slip off the line with the 215/60/15's, but I was moving a lot quicker compared to the heavier & wider wheels. I put back on the 15" wheels at the end and made 2 more passes and it was all the same....0.1s faster and I spent all day at the track running almost 20 times. This was changing out all 4 wheels. You can really feel the difference in both acceleration & braking when you change your unsprung weight.
Reply
Old Oct 10, 2007 | 03:01 PM
  #16  
kayosnes's Avatar
kayosnes
Racer
 
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 436
Likes: 0
From: Stavanger
Default

Also:

Annyone know what 17x8 and 17x10 torque trust wheels weights compared with the stock tires. (what i am evaluating to change to when i get my finger out and buy new rims)

also would you save weight with going to 18" rims insted of 17"?? (and yes i know the rim will be heavier, but i guess the tire would maybee make up for that.)
Reply
Old Oct 10, 2007 | 07:47 PM
  #17  
petronix's Avatar
petronix
Instructor
15 Year Member
 
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 228
Likes: 3
From: Tampa FL
Default

I just weighed a 2.5 in VBP spacer and a 2000 c5 thinspoke rear wheel on my bathroom scale.

The spacer weighed about 8 lbs, including the extra lug nuts (and studs) necessary to mount it. I think the second set of studs and lug nuts probably weigh more than the aluminum spacer itself.

The 18 x 9.5 wheel weighed about 19.5 pounds with center cap.
Reply

Get notified of new replies

To C3 Wheel weights

Old Oct 10, 2007 | 09:23 PM
  #18  
yel76low's Avatar
yel76low
Thread Starter
Pro
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 634
Likes: 0
From: Hastings MN
Default

Awesome, thanks for the weights, guys!

But darn, I was really hoping those spacers wouldn't weigh so much. I wanted another reason to switch my wheels... although it already will drastically improve handling and looks...
Reply
Old Oct 11, 2007 | 08:07 PM
  #19  
GUSTO14's Avatar
GUSTO14
Le Mans Master
20 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,812
Likes: 2,029
From: eastern NC
Default

I happened to be weighing some C5 ZO-6 wheels a while back and decided to weigh the '82 Collector Edition wheels I happen to have a set of. The CE wheels weighed 18.5 pounds each without the star-burst caps. The caps couldn't weigh more than a pound each, but I didn't think to weigh them at the time.

Just for info, I was weighing a set of OE (aftermarket) ZO-6 wheels against a stock set of Speedline ZO-6 wheels and was quite surprised by the difference...

Stock ZO-6 Front's 18 lbs Rear's 19 lbs
OE ZO-6 Front's 21.5 lbs Rear's 22 lbs

Needless to say they're pretty close...

Good luck... GUSTO
Reply
Old Oct 13, 2007 | 08:27 PM
  #20  
DZRick's Avatar
DZRick
Le Mans Master
10 Year Member
 
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,447
Likes: 3
From: Syracuse NY
Default

I finally got to weigh one of my 69 steel wheels today and it came in at exactly 25 lbs.
Reply



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:28 PM.

story-0
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-1
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-2
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-3
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-4
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-5
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE
story-6
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor

Slideshow: 2027 Corvette lineup vs the world.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-24 16:12:42


VIEW MORE
story-7
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!

Slideshow: 10 major Corvette problems from the last 20 years.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-14 16:37:05


VIEW MORE
story-8
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!

Slideshow: 5 most and least popular Corvette model years.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-08 13:25:01


VIEW MORE
story-9
2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!

Slideshow: 2027 Corvette buyer's guide

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-17 16:41:08


VIEW MORE