Lenny S

Does anyone know the added lbs difference on the chrome reproduction wheels vs the stock painted aluminum?? Thanx.

haljensen

Frequently asked question that has never been answered to my satisfaction.. To have a correct answer someone will have to weigh their painted wheel on a good scale, strip the paint, prep the surface, chrome the wheel and then re-weigh the same wheel (with no other changes) on the same scale. Hasn't been posted yet.

There shouldn't be much weight difference. You are starting with at least 2 thick layers of paint (color and clear coat) on a painted wheel. A chrome wheel would have 2 (or 3) VERY thin layers of metal.

The lightest wheel would be stripped and polished with no clear coat.

To make it easy lets assume we are only chroming or painting the face of the wheel. If the wheel were flat it's a simple formula for area; pi X Diameter. An 18" wheel would be 56.54 sq. inches, a 19" wheel would be 59.69 sq. inches. The difference would be the weight of 2 thick layers of paint vs. a thin layer of copper and a thin layer of chrome. Paint MAY weigh less than chrome but we are using VERY thick layers of paint vs. VERY thin layers of copper and chrome.

From wheel weights I've seen posted on this Forum there are variations in weight from wheel to wheel by the same manufacturer as well as the differences in size, material and construction methods from different aftermarket manufacturers.

The only weights I know for sure are; The Factory Reproduction C6 Z06 style Black w/machined face wheels in stock sizes weigh approximately 2 pounds more than the stock polished wheels.

holdin5aces

2.75 kilograms

Lenny S

Thanx, but I presume the aluminum wheels should be lighter than chrome which isn`t aluminum, if I`m right in my presumption. Are reproduction, or for that matter any chrome wheels, aluminum??? I don`t think the plating has any weight worth mentioning, its the actual weight of the wheel if it isn`t aluminum, I was wondering about. Thanx again.

haljensen

All the wheels are aluminum. Factory stock or aftermarket. One of the differences is the coating put on the aluminum. Thin Chrome or thick paint or thick powdercoat or even possibly no coating on polished.

Then there is the difference in maufacturing, there are at least 4 manufacturers of C6 Z06 style wheels, there can be differences in alloys, differences in casting techniques, machining and quality control.

If you get away from the C6 Z06 style then you have to add type of manufacturing to the mix: cast, pressure cast, forged, billet, 1 piece, 2 piece, 3 piece, etc.

The manufacturers and the retailers are no help, they will not give the weights of their wheels.

rollin18

how about in US not metric?
is that weight front or rear?
thanks

wow you wouldnt think this would be such a complicated question
unlike the Over-thinkers above

simply chrome weight.. front / rear?
painted... front/ rear?

haljensen

If he had asked a specific question,i.e.; What is the weight of a Factory Reproduction C6 Z06 style wheel in factory 18X8.5 and 19X10 Chrome compared to a factory 18X8.5 and factory 19X10 painted 5 spoke the answer is the Factory Reproduction Wheels are aprx. 2#'s more each wheel. He didn't specify which wheels he wanted compared so he got general answers.

Same wheels same size factory 5 spokes different finish probably weigh the same + or - quality control specs.

Indy-hp

After much research on this subject, I determined that the factory base wheels (pressure cast) are around 22 lbs. fronts and 24 lbs. rears. The Z06 replicas in base sizes (traditional cast) are about 2 lbs. heavier. Even very expensive forged wheels tend to weigh about the same as the base factory wheels, and some aftermarket cast wheels are as much as 8 lbs. heavier than stock (Crays).

Bottom line, the pressure cast stock wheels are stronger than replicas and weigh less, and even forged wheels at 4x the price, while stronger, are about the same weight as stock. Whether chrome plating adds significant weight was debated here awhile back but not determined, but I personally doubt that it adds more than a lb., if anything, over the weight of painted stock.

Lenny S

Sorry guys I didn`t specify, I was asking about the Z06 wheeels. I guess around 2lbs+ or so is my answer then. Thanks, I ordered them, was just wondering.......Lenny

haljensen

Which Z06 wheels? Chevy stock? Aftermarket? Which company? Z06 stock sizes and offsets or C6 stock sizes and offsets?

UTVOL06

Thats way too light weight.. 2.75 Kg=6.1 lbs

base wheels probably weigh close to 22lbs

CCW forged 505a's polished alum weigh about the same.

The chrome Z wheels are gonna be heavier.

I wish they would make some really nice looking race wheels..I'd save up and pay for some 8-10lbs wheels if it gave me a performance advantage. maybe 18lbs fronts?

I'm betting the new 08' QG7 Forged 5-spoke AKA "Gumby" wheels will be even lighter than the base wheels..not very thick and forged. Should be lighter than CCWs.

HIRISC

Hal makes some very good points about the possible differences in wheel weight.

You cannot extrapolate from one wheel and/or manufacturer to the next - as mentioned above there are vast differences in the material/density/processes they use.

Wheels need to be weighed - sans tires and sensors to give an accurate basesline from which to compare.

Must Have:
Manufacturer
Construction - 1 piece/2/etc..
Material (most aluminum, but others are in existance)
Wheel Size
Finish (chrome/polished/etc.)
Claimed Weight in Lbs.
Actual Weight in Lbs.

Would be nice to add:
Retailer where you bought them - URL
Offset (not important for weight, but helpful)
Car Fitment (what's it going on?)

The sticky is OK, but there are sometimes large variances for the 'same' wheel. In addition, weights posted there are often with the tires (of obviously varying tread thicknesses).

Most manufacturers of wheels - and their retail outlets - are generally hopeless..

When I was looking for new wheels for my previous C5, I couldn't get any accurate information from any retail wheel vendor.. The best I could must from a couple of them was 'about 5 lbs heavier' per wheel.

With all of the wheel variations owned by Forum members, it should be easy to come up with a simple spreadsheet of 'actual' wheel weights.

I'm happy to host if you guys have exact details (as mentioned above), PM me with them and I'll get it going.


Chris

Lenny S

Well, actually, I already bought them, from Corvettes of Houston. Didn`t get a delivery date as of yet, its Sunday night. I`ll try to borrow a hanging scale, and report what the weights were when this is finished. The stock wheels are nice, but chrome is chrome. Wish they made Cragar SS in C6 sizes. Hey, thanx for all your input, and offering to investigate. Perhaps whatever weight I will be gaining, I will have to make up with extra HP!!! LO!!! Thanx again guys.....Lenny

drivinhard

I know this is C5 related (and this in the C6 section) but FWIW someone did this on the Z06forum (can I say that?) a few weeks back with a C5 Z06 wheel, and it was about 1.1 lb of paint per wheel IIRC. I can't find the post as their servers crashed and lost the last 6 months of posts

All that to say:

1. I've dealt with another wheel manu. (Team Dynamics) with 17x7" wheels that were 17.25 lb painted, and 18.1 Chromed, if that helps.

2. I plan to strip a pair of front C5 Z06 wheels here soon, and I have before weights (cleaned, no weights/valve stem) and plan to do after. BTW the same exact wheels off the same car vary by ~ .1 lb. lol

20.32 lb for a 17x9.5" 2001 Alcoa Forged C5 Z06 w/ Argent paint.

Will post stripped/polished weights when done.

Lenny S

Chrome wheels are in. 22 for the fronts 27 for the rears. I won`t go ounces as I don`t think that matters, all that and these aren`t precision weights. But thats what they show. I was told they are cast aluminum from where I bought them. Triple plated. They sure look nice. I`ll post the stock wheel weights after the switch, early this week. Thanx guys for your attention.....Lenny

teds427

Front wheel black chrome stock runflat



Rear tire and wheel all stock Z06 sizes wheels are from Bob @ house of wheels



Tire pressure sensers, center caps and balance weights

w.f.tracy

If you are looking for performance gains (which is a benefit from lighter wheels), the only significantly lighter wheel is the Dymag as on the Callaway C16. Unfortunately, that wheel is ferociously expensive. GM did a good job of keeping the weight low on the base wheels. There is a reason the original supplier went belly-up.

haljensen

Thanks for the info but; Since "black" chrome isn't a Factory finish it doesn't help with the original question of which is heavier. From what I've been able to find out "black" chrome is a chrome wheel with an additional layer of black tint coat paint so you have both a chrome and a paint finish.