mityaz

Hey guys,
Not sure what to make of this, did 2 track days in the zr1 and started experiencing a bit of vibration. Took the wheels off and sure enough, one front and one rear show slight wobble when spun on a balancer machine. Took the car to the dealer but they are saying that i hit a road hazard. I wasn't really arguing with them but i did not hit anything in the car. Just track driving. Sometimes you go on the curbing, but that's about it. The reason why i bought this car is for track. I'm disappointed that it can't even handle few days at the track. Spoke to GM, they opened a case and will call me withing 1-2 days.

DOes anyone have experience with this? Any advice on how to go about these wheels? I'm not gonna spend money to replace the two wheels if they are made form some soft material.

ZR-1DUDE

That sucks.

Same side?

Any tire damage?

Let us know how it goes with GM.
D.

mityaz

Tires do not show any damage. A funny observation is that the front wheel calls for zero weight when attempted to balance. Almost as if the wheel was balanced while already bent. The other two wheels show a tiny bit of wobble but the tire guy says they would be considered "acceptable"

SouthernSon

Sometimes things happen with mass production. Spring Mountain instructs to straddle some kerbs (which, of course, means hit dead on at times) and don't think any had balance issues when I was there. Hope it gets resolved soon for you.

Thomasmoto

JMHO, but if you are going to track the car you may want to get a set of Forgelines or CCW's.

Both are much lighter and stronger.

ZR-1DUDE

One of the first things I did was buy some forgelines.

D.

mityaz

^ i don't disgree, but that's a bit besides the point. For me the very reason to justify the car is that is was track ready. It seems that at least here the car is not track ready

2003pilot

Forgelines and then no more worries

Newton06

If you are aggressive on curbing, you will bend the OEM wheels.

Both my Z51 & Z06 suffered bent OEM rims.

Depending upon your SA/dealer relation, you may be able to get them replaced under warranty, but they will simply bend again.

IMHO, I don't believe they should be bending with track duty.

That being said, I switched to Forgelines & slicks.

orclubduck

Mityaz,

It sucks that you have bent wheels...this is a long standing topic here on the ZR1 forum...you can search this forum and see many threads on the subject. I don't think that this is even just a Corvette/GM issue, but any car that has low profile tires and wheels.

I have decided to put my Cup 2's on a set of Forged wheels for track days and buy some Pilot SS's to put on the stock rims (not bent yet) for use on the street. I was considering getting a second set of GM Wheels, as they run about $625 each to use with the Cup 2's...but it is only a couple of hundred dollars more per wheel for forged wheels from many of the Forum Vendors. The Cup 2's are great, but the Pilot SS's do not give up much performance on the street, are better in weather, and last about 3 times as long. I don't mean to sidetrack your OP to talk about tires...but it my opinion/advice to match the Cup 2's to forged wheels and use this combo on the track, you will save money in the end by getting a much longer life from the Pilot SS (and even longer life if go to the Pilot A/S 3).

Jeff

madrob2020

Has anyone spoken to the SCHOOL to see if they have experienced this WHEEL problem across all models or some more than others. They might not be forthcoming tho since there is THAT LAWSUIT. I went & banging the curbing every day would surely make this apparent.

Zjoe6

At Spring Mountain I was on the curbs at every apex. No bent wheels. The curbs are pretty gentle so that might have something to do with it. Never dropped a wheel.

orclubduck

I did ask Spring Mountain on a PM am about wheels when I was considering a second set of factory wheels for track only use with my CUP 2's. Their response was the factory wheels on the 15 ZR1's have held up well...they have had an issue or two...but for the amount of laps and types of drivers their response was positive.

Even though I received this info...I decided to spend $3500 on forged wheels as opposed to $2500 for factory wheels just to be safe.

Jeff

Plumbit

Seems like the “right” way to go about this unfortunately is to buy a set of forged wheels and shelf the factory wheels until its time to sell..... obviously it shouldn’t be like this but it is.

hcvone

Well that sucks, that's why for decades I have been getting aftermarket wheels, Forgeline, and never had another problem, don't really want to do this but had to.

Thomasmoto

I get your point.
Maybe if you just don't hit the curbs you won't have any future issues. I have always seen this as a way that unloads and upsets the car anyway. The minimal time that you save by doing so isn't really worth the risk of a much greater problem. I recently had a friend that had this very thing happen to and he totalled his C7 Z06 that he had put a ton of money into.
As far as "track ready" even the OM gives specifics on how to maximize the performance and reliability.
Every other vehicle that fits in this market has specifics on maintenance and track prep.

NicD

People need to remember that saying something is track ready does not mean you will never have problems, there isn't a single car in existence that will not have problems when it's being beat on. That being said there are plenty of Porsches, BMWs, and other "track" ready vehicles that have bent rims at tracks or even driving on regular roads so it's not like this is a unique issue. With low profile tires and hitting aggressive track curbing or potholes you will have a problem at some point no matter who makes it, probably better off just buying some better ones like just about everybody does who races no matter if it's a Corvette, a Porsche, or whatever.

serpent

Agree with others on track wheels, like forgelines. Not only are they lighter (will help with performance). But they will be stronger than OEM.

tlippy

This is my post after I bought new A/S Michelin tires.

"Funny that U'd post this. I experienced this same sequence. My new Mich tires have a pulsing vibration at speeds between 50 mph and 70 mph. Took them back to Discount tire and they told my 2 left rims were bent. Went to a wheel expert and indeed my rims are bent. Getting them fixed net week. $125 each rim."

pibohmark

Before you assume the wheels are slightly bent I would check the following. I am currently at Mid Ohio and developed symptoms as you described. I am a very hard driver and always use the curbs at pretty much every track I go to. The track temp was so hot the last few days that the glue holding the wheel weights on failed. Not while running as the centrifugal force held them in place but as I cam into the garage and parked I saw a few laying on the ground. The next session, I experienced the same sensation you describe. Took them off, scaped the track rubber off and took them to Pep Boys to be rebalanced, I then went to Lowes and purchased aluminum tape and covered the wheel weights +2 inched all over. Next round problem is gone. Might check and see if you see missing weight.