4 bent wheels
 

My 2015 ZO6 had vibration. Took to dealership. Checked each tire n wheel. Said each wheel out of round.
No word on what they'll do, though praying GM will replace them. 5000 miles on them.

do you drive on rough roads....maybe you hit a huge pot hole..?

super hard to bend factory wheels

Bent wheels are caused by impacts/potholes. I wouldn't expect them to do anything :(

Yeah...OEM wheels are typically very durable (as you'd expect).
They must have had some serious impact damage to bend them, IMO.
S.

Silver lining.
Now you can buy a set of OEM spiders and be rid of those damn 20 spoke wheels that take 15 minutes each to clean

Frustrating
 

Michigan roads are rough, though never have I hit a large pot hole or even a medium size.

I understand
 

Though, in my opinion, the wheels should withstand moderate road imperfections and small pot holes.

All 4
 

If I had 1 or 2 bent, I could agree, but 4. That seems absurd as well as improbable.

Sorry to hear about the bent rims. I know its probably painful but can you post the resolution to this? Im curious what GM says.

p.s. what are spider rims?

True
 

I may look at after market, though I'll assume they are equally susceptible to damage.

if there's no evidence of impact GM should replace them !

Yes, thank you.
 

yes, I'll let you know.

There are services that claim to be able to straighten bent wheels.

None
 

I pray they do. If not, I'll have to let it go and move forward. I can't afford new wheels, so I'll keep them.

I've heard
 

Yes, I've heard there are. I'll look into it.

My wife's Benz just had a bent wheel straightened, back to smooth as glass now, cost $125.

You think it's more probable that BG put four bent wheels on your car when it was assembled? I guess I don't agree.
Good luck getting it warrantied. I suppose if you have documentation from when the car was pretty much new that there was a vibration, you'll have a good argument that it came that way from BG.
S.

Might want to get a second opinion if it were me. Good luck

I don't doubt your word, but four bent wheels is almost impossible for one person to do, let alone come from the factory that way. Therefore, it would seem the only explanation is horrible roads that you ran over either unintentionally or on purpose. Or, there was something wrong with the wheels' construction quality that caused it to happen over a relatively short period of use (which I consider 5K miles to be). Trouble is, I do know the roads around parts of MI, as well as areas to the east of it to NYC. My opinion is you could do that to all wheels in just about any locale during or after the winter. But unless you're trying hard, to do it to all four wheels is improbable as you say. Hope it turns out well for you.

Bent wheels
 

Recently went through the Corvette factory during my NCM delivery--Right after they start the car, they align it, then put it on a machine that looks similar to a four wheel dyno. The car goes through a very extensive series of tests as the wheels are turning. Bent wheels would probably show up there. In 2009 I picked up a brand new Corvette (3 miles on the odometer) in CA and drove it back to Vegas. It had a vibration. Took it to a Vegas dealer to get the tires rebalanced. They found a bent wheel. I had hit nothing. So, assuming the OP did not hit something and damage all the wheels, I would think that the wheels could have been bent during transportation from BG. One of the first C7 Z06's in Vegas was delivered to the dealer with damaged tires (not cold weather cracks) and a scuffed wheel. Not trying to trash the transportation company, but sometimes things happen. Hard for the dealer to notice a slightly bent wheel during the PDI process.

I totally agree with this. When the wheels and tyres are correct balanced on a machine like the Hunter Road Force balancer, the tech IF they know what they're doing, can tell if the wheel, the tyre, or both are out of round, and by how much. To have all four wheels out of round without you hitting a major road defect is extremely unlikely.

I would find the best place in town that has a Hunter 8900(?) machine and that also sells large after market wheels and tyres. Have them check the run out on all four wheels/tyres by doing a full road force balance. It may be a set of bad tyres instead of the wheels, or perhaps a combination of both.

Good luck,
Bish

I have heard the rims are made in China, if so, we all should demand new rims for safety reasons. I have talked with my dealer, we are friends outside of the car business. I have an American truck made in Mexico, with Chinese wheels, we have laughed about. .smh

I guess they're not called spider rims on the C7. Doc wheels sells them.

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/...pse623d2e5.jpg

I agree that a second opinion is called for.......odds of four bent rims are pretty crazy I would think

Not blaming
 

Michigan roads are known to be harsh. I've deffinetly been down very bumpy and bad roads. It was a surprise that all 4 were out of round.

Agreed 100%
 

Amen.

Agreed
 

Yes, awful roads, but all 4...seems like I would have to take it off roading.
To have all 4 also seems that when I'm at 150 plus mph I'd be in a frenzy. Not at all. It's a small vibration on left front.

Correct
 

My rear bumper had an oil spot in the paint. Things happen. Errors etc.

Thank you
 

I will do that.

No doubt
 

These wheels feel inferior to others as well as visual defects.

At delivery you were given an opportunity to get a tire and wheel warranty. If they were Chinese manufacture they would have just cracked and fallen off! God help us on the new trade deal if it passes! Good luck, but I doubt GM will cover as others have stated. second go round get the warranty.:thumbs:

I got the warranty!

I think it would be almost impossiable to get all four wheels out of round wihout some serious tire and vehicle damage. I would bet on some damage when the wheels were manafactured or shipped to the factory. I think GM owes you some wheels.

Correct.
 

I wish I would have gotten it.

If you got the warranty it covers road hazard etc so not to worry ,you should be OK.:thumbs:

Smart move
 

I wish I had.

OK.... here is my full view (aside from short comment initially) from someone who has worked in the service industry for a long time and seen a TON of wheel damage (albeit not GM (BMW))

I have seen out of round wheels from the factory, although rare. Im sure GM sees them too. To have 4 bent from the factory would be as likely as winning the lottery. You would also of had a vibration on the vehicle from the time of delivery.

A bent wheel will most often balance out OK, but can and will cause vibration. If it is bad enough to cause the vibration, you will be able to see the bend by spinning the wheel, either on the cars hub spinning by hand, or on the balancer. It will wobble and look egg shaped when spinning. If it is this badly bent, there is no balancer that will correct the issue.

If the bend is small/slight, you can find a shop (as someone else here referenced) with a Hunter Road force machine. It will actually measure the rim runout, and place the hard/high spot of the tire with the low spot on the wheel. Its not actually that simple, but the easiest way to think about it. They will be able to give you a reading that is measured in lbs of variance. Anything under 10lbs is great, 15 under is OK but can cause some issues with really picky cars/clients. Above that you more than likely can feel the issue. Bad tires are just as likely to cause high roadforce readings as what the wheels are, but the machine will tell you which is the culprit.

I have seen plenty of time a car come in with all wheels bent. Big wheel cars with Runflats are HELL on wheels. Bumps in the road are not absorbed by the tire sidewall and are directly transmitted into the wheel. If an impact is the cause of the bend, you will have a witness mark on the wheel on the inner portion of the barrel, all the way out by the lip. This is caused by the tire pushing up and into the edge of the wheel when hitting a bump. It will look like a little black stripe of rubber, and then should line up with the bent portion of the wheel. Sometimes they are hard to see, but I would bet $ that they are there.

There are lots of places around here that straighten/repair wheels and do a great job. Figure to pay $75-$200 depending on the severity. Here is the catch... You are heating and bending the metal back to its original shape. By doing this, you are also weakening it and making it more likely to bend/crack in the future. More permanent options? Drive carefully and/or get rid of the runflats.

-Jared

Thank you for your very good insight
 

Thank you for putting me at ease. I'm not wealthy and worked hard to get this car. I was surprised to hear some say it is improbable. I feel it absolutely is possible, but the car drove so well. I feel it it drivers left front that may have been damaged by a bump. Not sure.

I bought a new Monte Carlo in 1974, I chased a vibration for a month, then after 3 tire changes found 4 of the factory rally wheels were bent.

I went to the dealer parts dept then ordered 4 new wheels, when they called me a few days later I pick them up then I told them the story of why I ordered the wheels.

If I left it to the service dept first I would have still been waiting for them to call.

Gosh, I don't get it
 

I'm very frustrated at the lack of real care at dealerships. They are overwhelmed and throw bandaid at everything.

I had an out of round tire on a new car fresh from the dealership. They sent me to a grease pit shop. The old guy worked on it with a rasp for a bit and sent me on my way. It worked.

Weldcraft Wheels in Livonia MI does a great job if you go that route.

Might try doing it all over again by going to a good tire/wheel shop and get a second opinion. Hard to imagine 4 wheels bent without knowledge of some events prior. Just say you have noted a vibration. Few years ago had MB that used to eat tires. Checked into some wheel shops that were recommended by Local Porsche shop that was involved in racing which sent me to a wheel shop. There found out that I had two bent wheels. The problem was corrected and it was not expensive if I remember correctly, but as others have said held true and that was once repaired the alloy was softer and the problem reoccured.

I've heard of this
 

I called today, they do it by hand.

Bent wheels
 

The only thing I haven't seen mentioned is low tire pressure which will let wheels take the impacts. I fixed an aluminum wheel for a BMW driver who had hit a hole on the interstate, and a month or so later, he came in with another one to repair.

I do agree, though
 

Yes, if at low pressure and a hit, I could see it bend. I do lower pressure when racing. I just feel that if my wheels were all bent, 150-170 mph would shake me a bit. You never know for sure unless it was an impact then shutter after.

What type of racing?

This might bend a wheel or two...


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9920a6101c.jpg

They should, but if you hit a speed bump a little too fast, it could do it. I'm not sure if our wheels are forged or not - others will know better. Being 4 and not 2 rules out a pothole or similar. Hard to bend forged.

Only you will know if/what you hit, and keep it to yourself in case someone's listening :-)

Lol...yes, possibly
 

lol
I could see that doing a touch of damage.

Two types
 

Mostly drag on street some track.
I've done course too, but not often.

Speed bump, never. Train tracks, yes.
 

Gosh, I never hit a speed bump to my knowledge, though train tracks, I have.
I believe that the dealership is incorrect and I will have a few opinions from other repair facilities.

If you hit the rumble strips on a road course hard enough running low tire pressure you certainly can bend a wheel.
I hit the rumble strips in a C5 at Mid-Ohio several years ago on a right turn apex and bent both right side wheels. They still held air. The wheels were bent so badly you could see the bent areas of the outside of the wheels when standing beside the car. They were track wheels and I bent them back nearly perfect with a large hammer and a block of wood. Not hard at all to bend all 4 in one weekend.
I would bet your wheels were not delivered damaged when new.

I can see that
 

Im not blaming GM. I feel that the tech is incorrect about all 4 being bent.

Repair?
 

Do they repair wheels too?

Yes they repair wheels. Over a period of approximately 5 years I've had them fix two of my wheels from two separate cars.

Bent Wheel Experience
 

I saw a reference to Michigan which sparked my memory of Grand Rapids in 2005. Unintentionally took my new whip off-roading with 150 miles on the odometer. One of the alloy wheels was extremely bent, didn't think there was any way they could fix it. Took it to a rim manufacturer and they straightened it out perfectly. Think it was $50 or $75. Rides straight as an arrow 120k miles later.

It is called Keystone Alloy Wheel. I called and they don't do it at that facility anymore. They now send out of state. So you need to give them just the rim for about a week. Number is (616) 452-6066 x4.

If that is not helpful, at least I can chime in with personal experience that if a wheel is bent, there are shops out there that can straighten them out, obviously depending on the damage. Good luck!

Great news
 

Thank you.

I had 18" aftermarket wheels straightened.
He showed me the run out with a micrometer, and they where bad, All 4.
I didn't think he could straighten them and I was tired of the vibration so I was going to buy new ones.
He Straightened all 4 and the car rides 100% better.

Here is his number.
He has a Mobile service and can even straighten the wheels on the car.

Corvette wheel straightener
651-423-2432

Last year I made a trip with my 2011 ZR1 to Bowling Green and traveled a great deal on I-75. That road pounded the hell out of my car to the point that I had broken both of my headlight projector stands and both headlights had to be replaced. After that ride I went to a GM dealer with a well known and sought after (in my area) alignment technician. I asked him about wheel damage and after checking mine they were perfect. What he told me surprised me however. He said he's seen more bent wheels on Corvettes caused by the transport company drivers cranking them down on the car carrier much too tight. Combine this with a few hundred miles to the dealer and you have four bent wheels. He then told me the latest shipment of 2014's that were PDI''d there were three cars that had to have the wheels replaced due to transportation damage (bent wheels). If I-75 didn't bend my wheels I can't imagine what the pot hole that would damage them would look like. Not saying this is what bent your wheels but worth looking into.

Same happened to me.
 

Last week, my 2015 Corvette Z06 (only 2000 miles, bought it back in Feb 2015) also had vibration, my story is slightly different. I ran over a small block of wood in the road that fell off a truck (couldn't be safely avoided), that's when the vibration started. Took it to the dealership. They call me later and tell me all 4 wheels are bent. I only ran over the wood with the left side, so the right side shouldn't be bent.


I had them put it up on the lift and sure enough all four are bent. After discussions with the service and sales department, we all agreed that the ones on the left are more bent after running over the wood which made the vibration more noticeable and prompted me to take it in. The other two were already bent from regular driving hazards.


We also agreed that the combination of lighter alloy wheels for performance with run flats doesn't allow the tire to absorb enough road shock which is what is bending the wheels. The car doesn't have a spare tire, so taking the run flats off leaves you stranded, and then if the person who comes to tow your car doesn't bring a flat bed and/or doesn't know what they are doing, they will damage a sports car that is this low.


I'm really upset because a car this expensive should have a wheel and tire combination that can stand up to regular road hazards, I can understand the wood bending it, even though this has never happened to me in my life with the more than 40 cars I've owned.


I'm left with the options of figuring out a wheel and tire combination that will work better and still look nice (hard to find anything that fits), putting regular tires instead of run flat (still hard to find), or just getting rid of the car all together (lose a good deal of money).


i only drive the car once or twice every two weeks, yet this still proves to be a problem for the wheels.


I luckily bought the wheel and tire hazard protection, so 3 wheels are being replaced, one is being fixed, and 4 tires are being replaced. Even this process takes about a month because even the stock Z06 wheels and tires are hard to find and have limited availability.


I know that even when I get it back, this will more than likely happen again, I planned on keeping the car indefinitely when I first bought it. I like the person who posted this thread am not rich, I just worked hard and saved to have something I wanted. The road hazard program doesn't last forever, so a solution has to be found. I plan to call GM and find out what their official stance on this is and if they plan to do anything to resolve this in future models as well as try to help current Z06 owners who took the leap of faith to purchase this expensive and all new model they sold us.


The official stance of the dealership itself which is likely the same as GM's is that they would not cover this under the regular warranty (even for the two wheels/tires that clearly never hit anything and that I only had the car a few months with a couple thousand miles on it).


If anyone knows of any other stories or paths that they would take, I'm open to hearing it. Thanks for reading and for any responses, especially from the original poster of this thread; Fatboyyella, on what happened with your situation would be very welcome and appreciated.

Thank you!!!!!! I'm not crazy!
 

I'm not glad you had this happen, though it makes me feel better. I'm disgusted that this is happening at such low impact road imperfections. These wheels should be better. To get replacement race wheels, $5000 if not more for after market wheels.

These wheels given how heavy they are should be super strong, and these stories of relatively minor impacts causing major issues is very disturbing. I'm now very glad that I purchased the wheel/tyre warranty and I really wish the Z06 wheels were Italian as they used to be.
Bish

Warranty
 

I was going to purchase the warranty, but it stated that the wheel would have to be damaged to a point of not allowing the tire to hold air.

It's not surprising this is happening. The Z has really low profile tires that can't absorb impacts at speed to protect the wheels. The Z is a street/track car capable of well over 1g and it isn't set up to run over 2x2s or 4x4s or potholes at speed. That's what SUVs are for. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I understand
 

I race mine and drive it hard almost daily while in it. I still feel, the road imperfections that I encountered should not have bent all 4 wheels.

A block of wood isn't normally considered a road imperfection.

I'd ask when the last time their wheel balance machine was serviced. More than likely it's been awhile and the machine is not calibrated correctly.

As a kid 40 years ago I installed and service alignment and wheel balance machines. You d be surprised how many machines are not calibrated correctly.

Go try an independent shop ....

If I remember correctly steering wheel vibration is most likely the front wheels. In the seat vibration is the rear wheels. Pick a vibration that closely resembles yours and do road force balancing on that set of wheels. Don't tell new shop your dealership story.

See what happens.

Jmo

That's what my money would be betting on.

It is possible that there were a bad batch of wheels. Quality control is not what it used to be especially if these wheels came from China. It may not be highly probable but nobody here can say with assurance there were not a few hundred bad wheels. :thumbs:

Correct
 

Assuming you're referring to the gent who responded to my thread regarding his encounter with the 2x4. Though it was only on left side. Agreed, that hit could be devestating.

:spit:
:iagree:

I'll let Lou Gigliotti prove you wrong here.... fast forward to 2:28 (Link is supposed to do that for you...)
Haha - not really, but if you get LG coilovers you can hit a 4x4 without worrying about tire rub. Bent/broken rims and body parts, not so much- :D

:thumbs: That hurts just watching that video.

My best guess would be that something happened in delivery. There are many opportunities for just this type of incident, but I agree that I hope you brought it up before with your dealership. Best wishes for you.

Had the same issue and they replaced them.

Have you done anything yet? Still driving around on your bent wheels??

My $.02.

I worked at a dealer through college.

First: Most dealers just hire high school help in the "pit" (oil change) department. The oil change techs also get the tire work as the main techs are to busy to be bothered by tire work. Most of these kids don't know what they are doing and can only do an "ok" job at balancing tires or patching holes. They probably don't even know how to road force balance a tire.

Second: Get a road force balance. If it is done proper you will know if the rim is bent or not. If it is a slight bend you can just force match the tire to the bend spot, and you will never know the rim was bent. I have done this on many tires and you cannot feel any vibration, but when the tire gets moved on the rim to match up to the bend in the wheel you then have to do another regular balance also. I have seen this part skipped and then you still get a vibration. So you have to make sure they balance the tire after the force match. It is like 2 separate jobs...a force match, and then a tire balance.

Third: If this still does not work out, you could still have bad tires. I have had a few wheels come in with vibrations and even after a road force, and tire match nothing happened. After that same vehicle put new tires on everything balanced out perfect and did not even require a road force balance. I have even had it happen to one of my own cars. Was in college and did not want to replace tires as I still had a solid 8k miles left in tires, dealt with the slight vibration through summer and when replaced tires everything balanced and force matched perfect with the new tires.......it happens.

So in conclusion, take it to a good shop and see what they can do for you.

Best of luck

The evidence is that they are bent.:leaving: