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Forged wheels - How do you know?

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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 05:28 PM
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Default Forged wheels - How do you know?

OK - we know Chevy put forged aluminumwheels on some of the C5s. But for the life of me I can't figure out how to tell them apart, or if there werecertain option packages that automatically included them.
I have the factory "Highly polished" wheels on my 04 CE coupe. I have been told that these wheels were forged because that enabled the high luster on the factory polished wheels. Is this true? Does anyone have a definitive answer?
Glen
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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 06:01 PM
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The only forged wheels I know of on the C5's were on the 2001 Z06 from Alcoa.

Toque
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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 06:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Toque
The only forged wheels I know of on the C5's were on the 2001 Z06 from Alcoa.

Toque
Yep only the 01 Z06 had forged wheels. The 02+ all had speedlines on them.
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Old Aug 12, 2010 | 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Bret01Z06
Yep only the 01 Z06 had forged wheels. The 02+ all had speedlines on them.

Interesting! I have 01 Z06 wheels!!! Is that a good thing?
All I know is that they weigh absolutely nothing!! You'd be shocked!
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 08:11 AM
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From: Wylie TX --> Less is More, except under the hood !
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Originally Posted by 87gtNOS
Interesting! I have 01 Z06 wheels!!! Is that a good thing?
All I know is that they weigh absolutely nothing!! You'd be shocked!
Yea that's a good thing.

They are not quite as light as the 02-04 Z06 Spun cast Z06 wheels though.

01 Z06 forged - 19.6 lbs, front; 21.4 lbs, rear
02-04 Z06 cast/spun - 19.2 lbs, front; 21 lbs, rear

I still have my 04 Z06 wheels, and I will never sell them.

Toque
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 08:37 AM
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bite them like a piece of gold and you can tell.
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 09:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Toque
The only forged wheels I know of on the C5's were on the 2001 Z06 from Alcoa.

Toque
I'm not sure that this is correct. I now have Alcoa Z06 wheels on my 02 coupe, but it came with polished thinspokes also made by Alcoa that I believe were forged. There are other threads discussing cracking problems with the forged thinspokes.
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 09:46 AM
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From: Wylie TX --> Less is More, except under the hood !
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Originally Posted by jornahow
I'm not sure that this is correct. I now have Alcoa Z06 wheels on my 02 coupe, but it came with polished thinspokes also made by Alcoa that I believe were forged. There are other threads discussing cracking problems with the forged thinspokes.
That could be true. I'm not sure.

Toque
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by jornahow
I'm not sure that this is correct. I now have Alcoa Z06 wheels on my 02 coupe, but it came with polished thinspokes also made by Alcoa that I believe were forged.

00-04 polished thinspokes (and 01 Z06) are forged Alcoa's
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 02:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Domin8r

00-04 polished thinspokes (and 01 Z06) are forged Alcoa's
This was my understanding as well.

I have forged Alcoa thinspokes on my 02.
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 04:16 PM
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Permit me to tackle this from a different angle. If they are thin-spokes from Alcoa, can we assume they are forged? Whereas all Speedlines were spun cast?
The reason I'm curious is that I believe forged wheels are supposed to be stronger, and I want to take the car to a road racing circuit for some training. I would not like my wheels to be harmed in the process. So if one type of wheel is better for this sort of driving than another, I would try to get a used set of whatever wheel was considered stronger or more forgiving.
Glen
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 05:01 PM
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Personally I was glad to get rid of my forged thinspokes after seeing posts like this:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...al-reason.html

With our OEM wheels it is not always the case that forged is better/stronger. I suspect that in some cases the forging process creates stress risers and forged wheels may be more prone to failure than a spuncast wheel.
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Old Aug 13, 2010 | 06:18 PM
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From: Wylie TX --> Less is More, except under the hood !
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Originally Posted by olefam
Permit me to tackle this from a different angle. If they are thin-spokes from Alcoa, can we assume they are forged? Whereas all Speedlines were spun cast?
The reason I'm curious is that I believe forged wheels are supposed to be stronger, and I want to take the car to a road racing circuit for some training. I would not like my wheels to be harmed in the process. So if one type of wheel is better for this sort of driving than another, I would try to get a used set of whatever wheel was considered stronger or more forgiving.
Glen
I would get a set of 02-04 Z06 wheels. Light weight, and an inch wider in front and rear than thin spokes. That would give you more rubber on the road. The 02-04 Z06 wheels are what GM track tested at Nürburgring. You can find a set for sale on here often.

See Nürburgring remarks about it about 2/3rd's down this page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_C5_Z06

Toque
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