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I believe when the C7 was introduced, all the standard wheels were made in China, then switched to Mexico, but my 2018 Z51 wheels are again Chinese made. It says so on the stamping on the wheel barrels.
Not a GS, but a 2017 Z51. Not sure which side of the argument this supports:
We had one wheel bent from hitting an exposed manhole while the road was being resurfaced. No damage to the tire or the edges of the wheel, the slight bend was detected during a re-balancing. Possibly came from the factory that way, though I doubt it. Straightened by the aftermarket wheel insurance company, they said the bend was not enough to require replacement, I didn't like it but no choice, our local Corvette Tech told me he was comfortable with it in this particular case.
We had another instance where we hit some unknown pothole or whatever, it ruined the tire but did not damage the wheel. See pic. Tire was still holding air a day or two later!
Wheel repair companies are pretty good, they won't repair a wheel if its too far gone, I would feel safe running a repaired wheel. I own a 2017 ZL1 and have had Corvettes and Camaro's (looking at the ME C8), knock on wood I haven't bent any wheels running around here in Minnesota, the pothole capital of the world, but I do a pretty good job of watching for road hazards just because I live in the Twin Cities metro area and they are everywhere. We have two seasons, winter and road construction.
If you end up having to replace your wheels, you can also turn in a claim to your insurance company. If you have full coverage they would cover this as a road hazard damage, minus your deductible. I know a few ZL1 owners have also bent rims, just a hazard of driving cars with low profile tires.
I believe when the C7 was introduced, all the standard wheels were made in China, then switched to Mexico, but my 2018 Z51 wheels are again Chinese made. It says so on the stamping on the wheel barrels.
Interesting! My 17 GS has the made in mexico ones. I wonder if there is any difference in the construction.
It's quite likely that each style of wheel is sourced to a different manufacturer. All I can say is that 2018 Z51 wheels are made in China. It's also interesting that in a recent poll, there were very few Z51-style wheels reported bent, but a rather large number of Z06 and GS wheel bends. I think it's related to wheel style. The Z51 style has much thicker spokes, which could mean they are less prone to bends.
My new 2019 Grand sport has 1000 miles on it and TWO bent front rims.
I have NOT hit anything major other than normal driving. But there is about 10 miles stretch of a road being repaired where we live and on Tuesday I drove on it (highest speed was probably 30mph) I know I read where some others were having issues with their rims on the GS and z06.
On Tues I took it in for the first oil change and I drove away and realized they had lowered my air from 38#s to 32#s. So when I picked it up from the dealership the day I took delivery apparently they didn’t take out the air down to the right cold pressure.
So now its down to who is responsible for purchasing 2 new rims?
Is the dealer responsible for not correcting during PDI?
GM for a faulty rim?
Or me for being a blonde and not knowing?
Find a reputable repair facility and have them check all 4 wheels. I had the same vibration and had 3 bent wheels and 1 cracked wheel. I had wheel and tire insurance so I had 1 wheel replaces and the other 3 repaired. I am now looking for new wheels as i know it will happen again. There are a lot of us that are experiencing this same issue. Good luck
Not a GS, but a 2017 Z51. Not sure which side of the argument this supports:
We had one wheel bent from hitting an exposed manhole while the road was being resurfaced. No damage to the tire or the edges of the wheel, the slight bend was detected during a re-balancing. Possibly came from the factory that way, though I doubt it. Straightened by the aftermarket wheel insurance company, they said the bend was not enough to require replacement, I didn't like it but no choice, our local Corvette Tech told me he was comfortable with it in this particular case.
We had another instance where we hit some unknown pothole or whatever, it ruined the tire but did not damage the wheel. See pic. Tire was still holding air a day or two later!
Location of the impact makes a HUGE difference. The pictured impact is on the outside facing edge near the spokes. That's probably the STRONGEST part of any given rim. I wouldn't be surprised if the bent rim had the impact occur on the INSIDE edge of the rim.
It's simple leverage, really. Corvette C7 FRONT rims are wider than a majority of car's rear rims, on even cars with staggered offset and sporty intentions. The front rim on a GS is 10" wide, which is WIDER than the aftermarket rim that would fit on the rear of my BMW Z4 M Coupe. The end result, combined with a low profile tire AND 19"+ diameter, is impact on the inside rim edge can easily exceed 20% of the leverage a typical rim on a typical car today (18" x 7.5) would experience. At this size, it's impossible NOT to expect more damages from the same typical impact you would see on a daily basis.
It's just facts of life folks, this is something that one will have to live with and deal with to drive on such massive wheels and such low profile tires. There's nothing on the market that even comes remotely close at this price range and volume in terms of wheel size vs. tire profile.
I incurred two damaged tires and bent rims on the passenger side enroute to Florida from St Louis just outside Nashville. A pothole on the highway hidden by rainwater. The tires [Michelin M&S] did not lose air and I actually did not feel any balance problems. Later had the wheels checked and discovered they were bent and had them straightened. Seem OK. Michelin was extremely helpful when replacing the tires, which had less than 1000 miles on them.
mike
Originally Posted by The HACK
Location of the impact makes a HUGE difference. The pictured impact is on the outside facing edge near the spokes. That's probably the STRONGEST part of any given rim. I wouldn't be surprised if the bent rim had the impact occur on the INSIDE edge of the rim.
It's simple leverage, really. Corvette C7 FRONT rims are wider than a majority of car's rear rims, on even cars with staggered offset and sporty intentions. The front rim on a GS is 10" wide, which is WIDER than the aftermarket rim that would fit on the rear of my BMW Z4 M Coupe. The end result, combined with a low profile tire AND 19"+ diameter, is impact on the inside rim edge can easily exceed 20% of the leverage a typical rim on a typical car today (18" x 7.5) would experience. At this size, it's impossible NOT to expect more damages from the same typical impact you would see on a daily basis.
It's just facts of life folks, this is something that one will have to live with and deal with to drive on such massive wheels and such low profile tires. There's nothing on the market that even comes remotely close at this price range and volume in terms of wheel size vs. tire profile.
I incurred two damaged tires and bent rims on the passenger side enroute to Florida from St Louis just outside Nashville. A pothole on the highway hidden by rainwater. The tires [Michelin M&S] did not lose air and I actually did not feel any balance problems. Later had the wheels checked and discovered they were bent and had them straightened. Seem OK. Michelin was extremely helpful when replacing the tires, which had less than 1000 miles on them.
mike
Mike-
We should both have kept our damaged tires, and mounted them as a matched pair for off-roading.
As Hack mentioned, my impact was right where the spokes go into the rim, but yours was almost exactly between the spokes. It also looks like your impact was enough that the tire marked the rim at impact location, mine did not.
Of course, my wheels were dirtier and than makes them stronger.
Was VERY careful around Nashville returning home.....terrible roads......
Originally Posted by Gearhead Jim
Mike-
We should both have kept our damaged tires, and mounted them as a matched pair for off-roading.
As Hack mentioned, my impact was right where the spokes go into the rim, but yours was almost exactly between the spokes. It also looks like your impact was enough that the tire marked the rim at impact location, mine did not.
Of course, my wheels were dirtier and than makes them stronger.
Hate to say it, but having the air at 38 was a major contributor. 30 PSI cold is the correct pressure.
I TOTALLY agree!!
the day I picked it up from dealer they did the PDI and I never checked it (honestly didn’t figure I would need to...my fault). 1 week later I took it to a closer dealer for the 500 mile oil change and they lowered it. That’s when I realized it had a shimmy. Earlier that day of the oil change I rolled over a strip in the road where there was construction at about 30mph and it must have been then when it happened.
the run flat side walls are very stiff , do not compress much and transmit all the energy from a pot hole hit directly to to rim causing the rim become egg shaped. more psi is not a good thing.
It's also interesting that in a recent poll, there were very few Z51-style wheels reported bent, but a rather large number of Z06 and GS wheel bends. I think it's related to wheel style. The Z51 style has much thicker spokes, which could mean they are less prone to bends.
We drove 17 yrs/200+k miles in Z51 Corvettes without damaging a wheel or tire. Then we got the 2017 Z51 with Mag Ride where the settings were "Stiff", Stiffer", and "SuperStiff". Within six months we had bent one wheel and separately ruined one tire while driving in the Tour setting.
Early this week we got the Mag Ride update which made Tour and Sport much more comfortable. One car isn't a good survey, but it will be interesting to see if we have any future damage with the softer system.
