I’ve fallen victim to the wheel cracking issue for my 2019 C7 Grand Sport. I’m aware that the cast aluminum they use is not of high quality, and I’m wondering which forged wheels I should consider. Additionally, I’d like to know if anyone has experienced any issues with their forged wheels cracking. If anyone has any recommendations that won’t break the bank, I’d appreciate it. I’ve seen some other posts on other forums, but when I try to click on the links or look them up, they don’t appear.

 

The OEM wide body wheels are not forged, a quality set of aftermarket wheels will be

 

Any wheel can be damaged but I have yet to see a post about a true forged mono-block wheel cracking. They can bend if they take a hard enough hit. It's pretty rare. Even the cheaper rotary forged wheels will be stronger than the C7 OEM wheels. You can buy a set for less than $2k. Forged mono-block are usually over $2k and closer to $4k. Take a look at Wheel designers. They have a Grand Sport OEM replica that is forged mono-block. Our forum vendors have posts all over the forum with their wheels. Take a look around. Especially the Vendor forum.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-for-sale-163/
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I have a set of these on my 2014 in the smaller size. I love them. No issues. I was impressed with the quality when I received them.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/25697056045...kAAOSwd6poSK7N

 

My 2019 had both rear wheels crack at approx 38K. I had the Tire & Wheel warranty so Chevy replaced them with new OEM GS wheels. Decided to stop worrying about my wheels after I toured the Forgeline facility in Dayton, OH. One of the owners gave me the tour and I picked out a set of VX1S fully=forged wheels. No issues with my Forgeline since. There are several companies selling forged wheels for the C7 GS. Recommend that you go through the Forum to see what is available and some idea of prices..You can spend a few $1000 on up to $10,000 on forged wheels. If you plan to keep your GS long term, the investment in forged wheels is well worth the peace-of-mind they provide. Good luck.

 

An "Advanced search" across the C7 Forums will disclose about a gazillion threads regarding the crappola OEM wide-body wheels. Any quality FULLY-forged aftermarket is better, without doubt. Can good forged wheels be damaged? Of course, anything CAN be if mistreated badly enough (think racing, curbing, etc.); but, that's not at all likely in regular driving. Always make sure the word "forged" is NOT part of another term (such as "rotary forged," etc.) which will mean it it not really a fully forged wheel. Some like to stick "forged" in their titles to confuse the issue. Also, price is often a good giveaway, as well. And, ask for specific wheel weights. That will confirm the story, without doubt.

 

I took off and sold my stock wheels to not have to deal with cracks and installed Wheel Designers forged Cup replicas. Only ended up getting about $1600 for immaculate stock chrome cups, but better than nothing Wheel shop said they seemed like a good replacement and I wanted black anyway. Was my plan from the start. Mounted up perfect and stock center caps fit. Finish seems a little soft to me but so far they are working out great. Only have about 1k miles on them but they have taken a beating on our MI roads with zero issues so far. Just don't have the embossed "corvette" letters on the rim edge. They were $4k for the set shipped to me nicely. 99% of people couldn't tell they are aftermarket. Sorry about yours. Get some forged for sure.

 

I was just in your shoes 2 weeks ago. Passenger rear on my 17 Grand Sport developed 2 cracks and was losing air bad. I called Wheel Designers and they had me a replacement set cut and installed ( i was local to them) in a week. I went with the forged GS01 and love them!

 

We have 1 set in production now which should be heading to powder coat in a couple days. You can select your powder coat color.
These are direct oem specs no modifications required. Call me 714-340-5875

 

The forum is blessed with a sizeable number of supporting vendors that specialize in aftermarket wheels for the Corvette. Just check either the General or Parts for Sale sections for the C7 and you will run across threads from the various vendors and they usually show a picture of the wheels and a brief description. You can then follow up with the vendor concerning those that happen to catch your eye

 

From the years of discussion about this, it appears that the only forged C7 factory wheels are with the Z51 package.
The bombed-out roads of Illinois have given us some huge hits on our Z51 wheels, two occasions were enough to ruin the stock PSS tire (still held air!) and very slightly bend the wheel. Tire shop said they could just road force balance it out but I had the wheel straightened each time and about 20k miles later no problems.

 

Block forged from KRNC.

 

These guys do good work. Forged and even custom forged at a good price.

 

Agreed, made me forged version of the OEM wheel, just what I wanted.

 

Another vote for Forgeline wheels, as I replaced my OEM wheels on my 2019 GS. Mine are Black Ice F01.

They look great with Watkins Glen Gray exterior.

 

Spun Forged from E5 -- cheaper than forged but better than cast to me

 

We do a lot of BC Forged and Vossen wheels are replacements.
Vossen HF5 is popular and BC Forged a lot of different styles.

-Josh

 

I have a 2018 GS, and although I haven’t had any issues yet, I would like to replace the OEM wheels for peace of mind. I try to avoid rough roads, but in CA that’s not easy. Since I don’t track the car and don’t really drive aggressively, would folks on here still recommend getting genuine forged replacements, over the “flow forged” etc that seem to be about half the price? Also, I’ll be going to run flat tires when I switch to new rims. Should that factor into my choice?

I’d like to take longer trips with my C7, but my current rim/tire situation is preventing me from enjoying the car as much as I could.

 

^^^^^
We have a friend with a 2017 GS with about 45k miles on it, including long road trips. Over the years he has had to replace 4 original factory wheels because of cracks. Only once did that effect a trip, we were driving along an interstate and he radioed me to say that his RR tire was showing low. We pulled into a nearby truck stop and the friendly guys jacked up his car (he carries lifting pucks) and pulled the wheel. As usual, the crack started at the inboard edge of the rim where it was hidden underneath the car.
The leak was slow, so they aired it up to 40psi and reinstalled. I had to tell them that 100 lb-ft is correct lug torque for a C7, not the ~200 lb-ft they use on a big rig.
We finished the next 3 days of the trip, airing it up to 40 every morning and at noon.

Suggestions-
Spend 30 seconds and scroll through the DIC every morning after you start, to compare the pressures. They will go up and down with temperatures, but anything more than about 3 psi lower than the others is a warning.

Carry a can of Slime or FixaFlat, that can sometimes be a temporary fix to get home.
Carry a cig lighter air compressor.

It sounds like you currently have non-runflats, your plan to switch to runflats is good. A runflat will be ruined if you drive it more than about 20 miles while flat, but the ruined tire will still keep you driving for hundreds of miles if needed.

Best of luck to you...