chriscable34

Just got my dad a set of wheels that was from a 2011 car. Well I took the tires to a Discount Tire because we have had great luck with them. Well they mounted the tires on the new wheels and balanced them. Well when they balanced them they pulled the old wheel weights off and the #d%= chrome came off with them. Here is a picture of the weights. It happened to two wheels.

Wayne O

I'm sorry about the damage. Obviously, the wheels are defective or they're just really poor quality. I've heard of tape pulling paint off a car but chrome?

chriscable34

Thats what kills me. They are still virtually brand new oem wheels. They dont have a single scratch except for the chrome. They look great but now both of us are worried about them peeling more.

chriscable34

I made Discount document the issue.

KB9GKC

Hello,

I'm betting that the Chrome Rims are not GM originals, and were installed at the dealer when car was new.

Can you verify by the markings on the rims that they are actually GM rims??

Douglas in Green Bay

chriscable34

Yep they are speedline from italy. They are the newest style like the centennials but chrome. I dont think there is replicas of these yet. I will get a picture of them. We are headed home from discount not.

Jimmy W1

Sorry to hear about this. Whenever tires are changed on a car, all people have to do is tell the tire people to put the weights ON THE BACK OF THE RIM instead of on the outside. Then, this type of thing won't happen. Remember that the next time you all get tires or rims.........

PatriotZ

So obviously the weights were not on the inside of the wheel? Wonder why they were balanced like that....bummer.....


well Willis, (the above poster) beat me to it

chriscable34

It was on the inside but the outside of the inside. I can't believe brand new oem wheels do this.

boraxman

Thats bad...Maybe they can be covered under warranty or it may be time for some custom wheels?

ladder13

Nice wheels, sorry that happened. Maybe GM will take care of this?

mtraylor2001

I would think GM would cover them under the 2011 car's warrenty.

Z06LUST

EDITED upon more research:

I strongly suspect those are NOT factory chrome wheels. A local dealer near me thinks ALL Corvettes should have chrome wheels. If a "new" Vette comes with painted or Comp grey wheels and does not sell in 4-6wk--the wheels go out for chroming at a local shop with an add-on charge for sale bling. Yeah, they chrome over comp grey wheels still leaving the $395 markup for compy grey on the MSRP sheet and then adding another $2k add-on for the upgrade, chroming by a local shop.

The giveaway I believe is the inner wheel where it pealed. There are other posts on that point--GM apparently does chrome and then PAINT the inner part of the wheel-to protect the barrel. Barrel chrome NOT polished and in rough shape before being painted over. See link below--

Your wheels were either painted wheels and then dipped post factory or the 1st owner stripped the protective paint and polished the thin layer of underlying chrome and in that process weaked the chrome bonding (scratches, chemicals etc). See thread below

There is the potential that these were painted wheels that we dipped by the dealer or 1st owner. Talk to the seller--ask to see the MSRP sheet or the decal in the glove box for the codes that relate to that car.



http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...me-gumbys.html

cclive

Is it possible that only the paint on the inside of the wheel was pulled off and not the actual chrome??

AmmoVet

I was under the impression that most speedline chrome wheels had chrome barrels but they were painted over. Many here have taken that paint off to find the chrome, rough but still chrome. First time I've heard of chrome barrels on OEM wheels.

OregonC6

Would not call that "plating" more like what I've heard, in the case of jewelry, "washed". That being a very light coating of material like gold over sterling silver that's perhaps all of a dozen atoms thick. This looks like grossly substandard to me. Oh, how I miss the 60s ( and earlier ) and those heavy steel bumpers with that thick chrome plating.

oh well

Z06LUST

Could be the case here-thanks for pointing out, edited my earlier post and reread the other thread in detail. But the pics I've found on the net show very very rough chrome. OP's chrome (where not peeled) looks highly polished. Someone obviously "worked" on them via redipping a painted wheel or removed the paint and polished as in the thread.

Either way..post factory someone did something to those wheels...had them dipped or removed the factory barrel overpaint and polished the wheels (but in that process weakened the chrome bond-scratched, chemical interaction etc)

CaryBob

Unlikely. The OEM wheels didn't have chromed barrels. Pretty sure the chrome was added later on.

chriscable34

I understand what you guys are saying. That makes sense. I just hope it doesn't peel anymore. Thank you all for the facts.

mtraylor2001

You are exactly right. I took a look at my wheels and there is no chrome in the inside.