When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
To all you guys that have the factory magnesium wheels on your vette, riddle me this: All the factory mag wheels I have seen have color coded tape weights on the OUTSIDE of the rim. THAT is ugly!!! At the risk of chipping the paint or damaging the finish, has anyone had any experience in removing the tape weights without damaging the finish??
I am in the soon to be process of replacing the rear tires on the car and I was wondering if the tape weights can be successfully installed on the INSIDE of the wheel if balancing requires the weight. Why the factory would put such things on the outside of what is a beautiful wheel, I'll never know (other than it was quicker to get them out the door).
My local Mr. Goodwrench says they can demount, mount and balance the tires with no problem. They didn't talk about weight requirements......that is scary.
To all you guys that have the factory magnesium wheels on your vette, riddle me this: All the factory mag wheels I have seen have color coded tape weights on the OUTSIDE of the rim. THAT is ugly!!! At the risk of chipping the paint or damaging the finish, has anyone had any experience in removing the tape weights without damaging the finish??
I am in the soon to be process of replacing the rear tires on the car and I was wondering if the tape weights can be successfully installed on the INSIDE of the wheel if balancing requires the weight. Why the factory would put such things on the outside of what is a beautiful wheel, I'll never know (other than it was quicker to get them out the door).
My local Mr. Goodwrench says they can demount, mount and balance the tires with no problem. They didn't talk about weight requirements......that is scary.
Any thoughts/comments?
take a real carefull look at the front wheels. you will see that if you put the weights on the outer inside.... at the first revolution of the wheel the brake calipers will summarily remove the weights. the clearance is not enough. the rears would be o.k. i think. check it out!!!!!!
mtwalet, I recently had some DR's mounted in the rear and the tires were mounted using the correct weights on the inside of the rim with no problem. They were on the outside before but atleast the shop had the wherewithall to place the new weights strictly on the inside. The inner weights were removed leaving no damage. I was thinking of doing this up front but from what I'm hearing the weights would not last too long on the inside of the front wheels.
One of the reasons I put 18" wheels up front..........You can take the OEM weights off with a very steady hand, xacto knife and bug/tar remover and time
I also run 275/40/17 MT ET Street drs on my 17", work great on the rear........smaller caliper does not hit the weights!
And give me 1.49 60' so the tire is not to big for the wheel
House of Wheels is selling me a replacement front pair for 225.00 each. Bob told me that all Magnesium wheels are NOS. No aftermarket companies sell copies. I will be getting them in a couple of days. We will see what they look like.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '25
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Originally the magnesium wheels were a $3K option on the car and at the end of the C5 run they were down to about $1500. Pretty pricey for just a set of factory wheels.
I personally like the looks, but I have heard the finish chips easily - not a good thing to have happen to the wheels.
I swear by the N73 mags. They are good looking and lightweight. I went with 18x9.5" on 4 all corners and had them powder coated a lighter champagne color to better compliment my FG color. Powder coating is much more resilient than the original bronze paint.
You can see the difference from the original color by the center caps. And as far as tape weights go, mine are all internal and are perfectly balanced. If I owned a TR, MY or NB C5, I'd have these mags in white.
I saw a set at Corvette Expo in TN back in March at the used parts section, buy said he'd take $400 for them. I should have bought them just cause they were so cheap, but really didn't have any way of getting them home.