Have the chrome GM Genuine Accessory 5 spoke wheel on my '07 (correct wheel style for the 07). Garaged, washed frequently, 20K miles. 3 yr/36 warranty over. Wheels were installed at delivery by the Chevy dealer on an exchange basis for the original silver 5 spokes.

Last fall I noticed that the thin chrome plating inside the drums was flaking and peeling. Looks like crap. It really disappointing to say the least.

Has anyone else had this problem on either the factory (Speedline) chrome 5 spokes or the GM Accessory wheels and did GM do anything to help you out?

Thanks
Ed

 

I have it on my 7 spoke chrome rims as well. From an 08

 

Here's a recent one:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...on-inside.html

 

I've had 3 C6's - a 2005, a 2006, and a 2009.

IIRC, chrome wheels were not available from the factory until the 2007 model year.

I got some aftermarket chrome wheels for my '05, and the barrels of the wheels were chromed.

For my 2006 Z06 I bought some chrome wheels from another forum member who had them chromed. They were originally silver painted or polished factory GM wheels that had an aftermarket chrome job, and the barrels were chromed.

However, I've seen many factory chrome wheels, and NONE of them has had the barrel chromed - the barrels are always painted gray.

My 2009 ZR1 came from the factory with chrome wheels and the barrels are painted gray.

I can't imagine that GM Accessory wheels are any different than the factory OE chrome wheels - I bet that any chrome wheel GM sells for the Corvette has a gray painted barrel.

So......I bet your chrome wheels have an aftermarket chrome job. They may be genuine GM wheels, but they came silver painted or polished and an aftermarket chrome job was done on them - just like my Z06 wheels.

I'm almost certain that all the Vette wheels that come from the factory in chrome (on a car, or as a GM Accessory wheel) will have a gray painted barrel. If the barrel is chrome, I think it's an aftermarket job.

BTW, unless you have some very good documentation that those wheels came on your car when you bought it (some very solid original paperwork showing that the dealership swapped the wheels for you with "factory" wheels), I think you're going to be SOL for warranty work on them.

The RPO codes on the glove compartment door show what wheels were put on your car as it came down the assembly line. I think that you'll probably have a very difficult time getting warranty work done on a different wheel than it was built with.

Just MHO, YMMV - Good Luck!!!

Bob

 

I bought my 2011 Z06 with factory chrome wheels. The barrels are paintd grey.

 

True, all factory chrome wheels have gray painted barrels but......they are chrome underneath the paint......just not pretty finished chrome.

Here's just one example:

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

 

Thanks for the link, Rick!

C6cmnthru, are your barrels chrome, or is the chrome flaking through the gray paint???

If the barrels are chrome, it looks like you have either stripped the paint off your wheels, you have GM wheels that had an aftermarket chrome job, or your wheels are aftermarket chrome wheels.

Whatever they are, like it says in the thread linked above, if anybody has chrome barrels they might have to pay a little more attention to keeping them clean to avoid problems with the chrome chipping/flaking.

Like I said in my previous post, I think a dealer would most likely not provide any warranty service on the wheels.

First of all, they aren't the wheels that the car was built with - the dealer will check the VIN and see that different wheels were put on the car as it came down the assembly line.

Second of all, even if they are factory wheels that were chromed by GM, if the "protective" gray paint had been removed I think there would be questions about providing warranty service.

Good luck!!

Bob