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Last week the warning light came on and I had to address low tire pressure in the passenger rear wheel. Out here its a pain to get most shops to consider patching a run flat so I went with a guy who has shod Corvettes for many years. Turns out I had a crack on the inside of the rim which was the source of the air leak. I don't recall hitting anything in the 9000 miles on my 14 Z51. The rim went out for repair and it seems there was another small crack which required welding as well.
Anyone else out there experience rim cracks?
Comes with the territory of low profile tires of most high performance cars. One thing that might help is increasing tire pressure. That will take stress off the sidewall when hitting potholes.
I would have gone to the dealer and had the rim replaced under warranty.
Bill
Chasing cracks by welding is not a solution. If cast aluminum base car wheels it may well have more cracks that are not yet visible externally!
What they showed in the early video on how they fabricate the forged wheels for the Z51, was a lot of mechanical deformation that also would increase the strength. Welding eliminates any extra strength from that cold work!
For safety reasons GM may well replace the wheel on warranty. If no visible external damage that was caused by abuse, I would insist on new wheels.
Much more of a safety risk IMO than the very remote chance that there will be software conducting a test of a seat belt retractor just when you have an accident!
Not many, but in the last 2+ years there have been posters on here with cracked wheels. Good advice to get a new wheel tho. It might be hard to make the case with the welds now. I'd still talk with your dealer's svce. mgr and explain what you saw, did, and what s/he can do for you.
Not many, but in the last 2+ years there have been posters on here with cracked wheels. Good advice to get a new wheel tho. It might be hard to make the case with the welds now. I'd still talk with your dealer's svce. mgr and explain what you saw, did, and what s/he can do for you.
Tell them you had a weld repair as a temporary fix until you get a new wheel and that you won't take any fast turns of exceed XX mph!
Chasing cracks by welding is not a solution. If cast aluminum base car wheels it may well have more cracks that are not yet visible externally!
What they showed in the early video on how they fabricate the forged wheels for the Z51, was a lot of mechanical deformation that also would increase the strength. Welding eliminates any extra strength from that cold work!
For safety reasons GM may well replace the wheel on warranty. If no visible external damage that was caused by abuse, I would insist on new wheels.
Much more of a safety risk IMO than the very remote chance that there will be software conducting a test of a seat belt retractor just when you have an accident!
Wheel on my 09 cracked sometime ago. Ended up ordering a new wheel from place in OK city. Matched almost 100%. Didn't recall hitting any potholes either. Tire was still fine. Crack is on back side. Front rim ok.
Only wheel problem I have had with 7 new corvettes.
Rim cracks
Chasing cracks by welding is not a solution. If cast aluminum base car wheels it may well have more cracks that are not yet visible externally!
