Foosh

That damage is so superficial. A little sanding and a little painting will absolutely get that wheel to 100%. They painted it once, it can be painted again.

I've done it a couple of times, and my wife and daughter have done it a whole lot more times.

I've had dozens of wheels fixed, most worse than that, with absolutely no way to tell they were ever repaired. Low speed impacts like curbing aren't going to cause any structural damage, and the cosmetic damage repair is easy for anyone with experience doing that kind of work.

It's about an hour job and $100. Replacing that wheel would be the same as flushing money down the toilet.

Vetteman Jack

I agree with just getting the wheel repaired. I would go ahead and replace the tire - no sense taking chances with it on a car as capable as a Vette.

23/C8Z

i'd replace the tire cause it's horrible to look at. for structure/reliability? it's fine. no cords, not even a hint of it cutting into the rubber behind the rim protecting portion. the rim is cake. $150 and it'll be like new.

cream ridge, NJ forget shop name. owner is "chip" he's done mine and all my friend's performance shop customers needing help.

DP RS

I'm totally showing this picture to my wife who swears the curb rash on her rims isn't a result of actually rubbing up against a curb....

I wish I had more to offer, but I'll agree with the folks who said it's time for a new tire. That cost has to be cheaper than what might happen if it decides to give out at speed.

phantom1

Wheel might be bent. If you do repair it, check it first to make sure it's not out of round or wobble.

Foosh

Not even remotely likely w/ typical low-speed curb damage which the OP's picture clearly depicts.

3 Z06ZR1

You could get a lathe tool and gouge out the rubber every 6 inches
around every tire exactly the same so they look the same or I would just get a new tire!
The rim is an easy fix you could just some gloss black and mask off the rim and fill and sand smooth and shoot it gloss black.
Maybe paint the whole outside of the rim gloss black so it all matches.
The rim damage is just cosmetic.

phantom1

I would check it before spending money to fix it. You never know. I've had rims that looked perfect and where out of round.

Foosh

Well, I suppose you are right that "you never know" even with remotely improbable things like winning $100M in the lottery, but if it's out-of-round after that very minor, low-speed curb damage, you can pretty much be guaranteed that it was out-of-round before the damage depicted in the OP's picture.

Simply re-balancing the tire/wheel would tell all you need to know. We're talking about a $100 fix here.

I respect your decision to "check it" as unnecessary as that might be. Do whatever it takes to sleep well at night.

~Stingray

I didn't know you could do that to tires. How do you take out a chunk? Was there something sticking out of the curb?

thegame

Guys if you sand and paint the rim yourself to fix would you use gloss black spray can or gloss black with touch up brush instead? Does it matter?

thegame

Yea it wasn't really a curb. Backing out of my garage I have half stone/blocks separating the grass from the driveway. That's what I hit.

joemessman

I had about the same rim damage you have. I took a blunt object and wrapped fine grit sandpaper on the end of it, without removing the wheel, and sanded out the damage. On the last sanding I used a real super fine grit paper on the blunt object and it came out fine. I used a little artist brush to paint the sanded areas and looks great. I know where I fixed it, but anyone else won't notice. I told someone I damaged my wheel and fixed it and asked them if they could find the damage. He couldn't after looking the wheels over for a couple of minutes until I pointed it out to him. He squinted his eyes, and said he wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't pointed it out to him. Practice your sanding and painting on something else first until you get the feel of it and you'll be fine. Brush it on.

dfettero

See if there is one of these shops near you. http://www.awrswheelrepair.com/

Motohead279

Rim repair place will fix that and you probably would never know.

I would not take any chances on the tire though and replace it. Better safe than sorry.

thegame

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Yes I purchased a new tire same as oem and it will be installed this Thursday. Then this weekend I will sand and paint rim. I have gloss black paint. It will be way better than it is now.

It doesn't even have to be perfect because I plan to get all new rims and tires probably by the end of next year. Thanks for all the help !

Foosh

That's essentially what the wheel repair companies do with type of minor damage seen in the OPs pictures. That type of damage can be fixed without dismounting the tire. I've watched them do it on my wife's cars in my garage several times.

They sand it smooth, and then mask-off the tire and undamaged surrounding area. There is a GM paint code for the gloss black wheels, and they'll spray and blend-in that area with fine-tip spray gun.

If you're going to replace the tire, I'd do that first, and then get the wheel fixed.

rakuhn

I would recommend replacing both. Certainly take some place where it can be evaluated by someone who is more knowledgeable in this area than I.

Foosh

Lol . . . why not just replace the car, which is now damaged? Just imagine how much stress was put on those suspension parts in that glancing 1-2 mph impact.

thegame

True I'm just gonna trade it in