I went to the local tire store to get my sensors put in and to have my tires re-balanced. The tire guy showed me that both my right side wheels were bent. I have never hit a curb and do not remember hitting anything significant enough to cause this. These were originally mounted by the same guy in October. You cannot see or find any tire damage or any impact or curb rash anywhere on the rim. The tires balanced fine and hold air with no problems. I had noticed a little vibration above about 80 mph before the trip to the tire store, but I had thought I just needed to get re-balanced and would do that when I got my sensors installed. The vibration is still there. The tire guy said they were not that bad and wouldn't worry about it. I called the wheel manufacturer and they said if I sent the wheels to them they could evaluate and repair. If a defect was found they would cover the repair. If they determined it was caused by hitting something and it just needed to have the inner barrels replaced the cost would be $255.00 per wheel plus shipping. Needless to say I am pretty upset about my very expensive wheels being bent. I don't know if I should just drive the car and forget about it for now or send them in to be repaired?

I need the moral support of my fellow forum buddies! What should I do? Is it worth fixing if I have to pay for it? What if I hit something else the day I get them back? :cry

 

Firstly Corey, let me say, that sux. :cry

Secondly, let me reaffirm my offer to loan you two of my wagon wheels to use on the right side of your car while you send your wheels in for repair. :jester

Thirdly, it could be worse- you could have a $5000 TV that has not worked properly for the last 5 months despite 5 service calls from the home theater store, the last one being this morning... ( :cry :cry ) so count yourself lucky.

Just turn up the radio and you won't even notice the vibration :D

Lates, YORK

 

Justin, you got two 17" wagon wheels I can borrow to put some DR's on??? :D

 

Corey, I don't know much about Fikse's record for this sort of thing, but I sense another "Baer incident". I'm curious how they found the run-out? Also, another reason I think you would lose is that they are both on the same side of the car which gives them a good reason to say you hit a pothole with both wheels.

For the benefit of everyone else who reads this, Corey is a very good friend of mine, and I can assure you that if he says he did not hit anything hard enough to cause this, you can believe him. The man does not lie!

 

Ambitin - hey, it's the forum police here. We're gonna have to move your reply to off topic. Only the reply, we'll leave the rest of the thread here where it belongs :lol:

 

But Corey NEVER exceeds the speed limit, and ALWAYS drives extremely cautious......

 

Well, Jim I am sure I must have hit something hard enough to cause this. I just don't know what or when. I am wondering if these wheels are just not strong enough or if the manufacturer got a bad batch of metal if that is possible.

Luke, the tire guy, pointed out the rim as it was rotating on the balance machine. The machine that measures the amount of "run-out" as you called it was not working, but he said it was not all that bad. We could actually see the inner lip "moving" or appearing to move as the wheel rotated.

I guess what I really need to know is, was this just a freak thing or can I expect this to happen again w/ light-weight aluminum wheels on the roads of Houston? Or, is there really something wrong with these two wheels besides the obviousness of the bend?

:cry :cry :cry

 

I've been thinking the same thing myself. In fact, my Mcleod Dual-disk is being installed by MTI on Tuesday so I'll be ready for serious dragstrip action after I get it broken in. If I do put tires on them, you can for-sure borrow them dude.

What kind of tires does one put on the 17" wagon wheels? I don't think you can get ET streets in 17", right? So you have to get like nitto's or something? So will nitto's at 17x8.5 hook better than pilot sports at 18x10.5???

Let me know on the tire type required- maybe I"ll order them tomorrow :)

Lates,
Justin

 

Let me guess, the inside of the wheel isn't quite so round anymore?

Unfortunately, I've had this happen on a couple sets of custom rims with low profile tires (on other cars). I too, had never hit a curb or anything signifigant, just a couple years of normal street driving. The insides of all 4 rims looked more like octagons instead of perfectly round, the fronts being much more noticible.

Everyone and anyone knowledgeable about wheels and tires I've told just nodded their heads and smiled when I described this. They say it's all too common and they see it all the time. Low profile tires may be the sheit for handling and looks, but offer very little protection and cushion for the rims. Can't suggest a cure, as I've been told it will continue to happen if you're hitting potholes, crossing nasty rr tracks, or in other words driving it on the street. That said, I know I'm a fool for going to 19/20's, but at least I know what to look forward to. :rolleyes:

Unless the vibration is severe, I wouldn't recommend fixing them yet. It will happen again in a year or two. Sharp rims btw, they look great on your car. :thumbs:


:cheers:

 

Unfortunately, Corey's wheels are only a couple of months old...


[Modified by ambitin, 9:31 PM 1/10/2003]

 

Debating the same w/ my FM5. Had the front rebalanced took most of the vibration out but still shake slightly at hwy speed. the RF need some work, send it once to a wheel shop w/ instruction not to heat during repair "cause it's forged...Needless to say it did not work. should've just send it to Fikse in the 1st place.

 

Thanks for the reply! This is what I was afraid of! :cry

Justin and Quin, I would like to thank ya'll for hijacking my thread! :jester :seeya :flag

 

Hey, I offered the first piece of advice on this thread- borrow my wagon wheels, rice out for a few weeks, and send your wheels back to the manufacturer...it's the only way you'll be satisfied in the end.

Lates,
Justin

 

See this thread: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=469566

 

Et tu Jimbo?!? :lol:

 

Justin, get the 275/40/17 BFG Drag Radials....they will hook good, not as good as the ET streets, but should improve your times by at least 0.3 seconds...

 

Roger that. Tirerack has them on backorder though. Do you think the 315/35 17's BFGs would fit on the 17x8.5 wheels- those are in stock.

Thanks,
Justafa (hijacker #1)

 

discount tire has them in stock....at least that's what they told me today when I was getting my sensors put in....

 

That sux Corey. Sorry to hear it. For what it's worth, I'd get them fixed, even if I had to pay. I don't like what vibrations do to a car, especially a fine machine such as yours.

I have a dumb question......what's w/ the wheel sensors on the Z06?

 

Read this thread: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=461496

:cheers: