The chrome on my wheels is starting to flake off. Husband says you can't really fix them, they'll need to be replaced. It's my car and he really wants no part of it. He'd prefer I take it to the dealer for repairs because if anything happens to it, he doesn't want it on his hands. Apparently, I'm a little over the edge with my car??? Anyway, he says, "you need to get new rims".

Take pity on me, I try to handle things with the vette by myself, without his involvement. (Learning some things the hard way too!)This is the first car I've had that needed new rims and the only one that I would even be concerned what the rims look like. I'm assuming that since I can't put them on, I'll have to have a local shop do it for me. If I find some online that I like, can I have them shipped to a local place and pay them to put them on or should I just find some locally, buy them and have them put on?? How's that work?? :o

 

There are many sources that can help you. Several are affiliated with the forum and there are countless others, probably near your area. You will get some inforative responses here and also you can chek with one of your "bling-bling" wheel houses as to what their suggestion might be.

You are on the right place and you will get guidance very soon.

Don't Panic !

 

You can buy the same type of wheels that you have now, on the C5 parts section for next to nothing. Or you could upgrade to Y2K wheels for a little more, there seems to be a lot of wheels for sale in the parts section...

 

It depends on what year your car is. If factory rims they may still have warranty.

 

Hey Mindi... I bought my vette from my boss who sent the stock wheels to Tenn and had them chromed when he first got the car... about six years ago (check my sig for a picture. My wheels look just like yours). Mine are starting to peel also but no one can tell but me when I wash it. My boss said that the chrome job only lasts a few years and then you have to get them re-chromed. When it starts getting real bad I am going to just buy new wheels. There are several guys and girls here who have cool looking wheels. Check out Evil Twin and Patches photos for some nice looking wheels on a Torch Red.

 

 

Mindi - there are lots of options available to you. You don't say what type of wheels you have - aftermarket or O.E.M. Not that it really matters, but if they're aftermarket the dealer really isn't going to be of much help. Also - are they really chrome or polished and clear coated aluminum? If they are chromed - one option is to take the car to someone, have them remove the tires from the wheels and send out the wheels to be rechromed.

If the wheels are beyond salvage - or you just want a different look, then many of our forum vendors sell a vast array of wheels. If the tires are still good and worth retaining, the tires can be mounted on new wheels - assuming of course that you wish to stay with the same sizes as you currently have. If new wheels are your choice - seek out a wheel that has the exact same dimensions as your current wheels, and be aware that the wheels have tire pressure sensors mounted to the wheel. If you decide to retain the TPS - mark it's location and have it put back where it was (ie: Left front, right front, etc.)

Some of the vendors offer packages with tires and wheels shipped mounted. The issue with this is if you plan to re-use your sensors. If you want to reuse your sensors - then vendors like the Tire Rack can provide you with a list of shops in your area that will mount the sensors on the wheels, the tires on the wheels and the wheels on your car......

Clear as mud?

After I looked at the photo of your car - I realize that you have chrome "wagon wheels". Nothing wrong with that - it's what I have.

There are chrome wagon wheels available on the C5 Parts For Sale quite often, and often for a reasonable price.

Also there are options to move to the thin spoke wheels and again they are quite often available on the parts forum. Biggest issue is to remember the tire pressure sensors....

 

You have a number of options available to you. You can get your current wheels rechromed, but for about the same price you can get a new set.

If you want a different look, check with any of our fine forum vendors like West Coast Corvettes, House of Wheels, Xtreme Motorsports, Corvette Garage, etc. They all sell aftermarket wheels, including reproduction sets and have some very good prices.

Or you can check the C5 Parts for Sale section and maybe pick up a nice used set of wheels for your car.

 

It is not worth it to get those whells rechromed IMO.
Chances are if they are peeling then they are also pitted and rechroming will not take away the pitting. Spend the money for another set.
I would suggest Z06 motorsports from Bobs house of wheels or another vendor.
These are nice wheels at a low cost. Get stock size so you can keep the same tires.
Many people local will move them from one wheel to the next for you. If nothing else there is a place called dice tire on the carlisle pike that will do a great job and cheap. Not to far from you but I am sure there are others in your home town

 

I've got a spare set of those in great shape.....I'll let you have them for next to nothing + shipping if you don't want to buy new ones. PM me if you're interested.....

 

here is a site to check out.

http://fixrim.com/index.htm

 

Thanks for all the info folks. They aren't totally gross yet, so I have some time to check things out.

Mindi

 

There are lots of options for you to choose from, but ill tell you one thing, if my wife said, "you need new rims", I would be buying some CCWs right now!!!

 

I have an 02 Z06. I liked the Z06 wheels but wanted a chrome set. I purchased a set of Z06 chromes from ZIP Products at a very good price. About a year later, they started to pit on the inside of the rim (where all of the brake dust collects). At first I though it was my fault for NOT keeping the wheels clean enough!

I ruled that out because one of the front wheels was pitting and the other one was not! I contacted ZIP and they ask me what I wanted to do? I asked them to replace the wheels NO problem, but as my car is a daily driver, Jason said that the wheels would most likley pit or even flake sooner or later.
He offered to credit me the price of the wheels plus mounting and balancing towards any other wheel that I wanted!

I picked some very cool 19" CCW's and got wider rims and 19" tires all in the same package! Thank you Jason!!

Here is why I chose the Polished Aluminim rims over Chrome.

You can polish chrome very easily if it gets scratched, it is easy to fix, it does not rust, does not flake, and is easily repaired if damaged. If your car is a daily driver or is driven where there is salt on the road, polished aluminum is the way to go!

If you want to see a VERY NICE picture of the wheels, take a look at Evil Twins pictures of his car!! Very nice!!

If you love chrome and do not drive your car in harsh conditions, chrome will most likley do just fine!!

Bill Curlee