drew47000000

I'm considering some Chrome Grand Sport reproduction rims against some of the 2012 GM chrome star rims.

My first concern was that overall quality and durability wouldnt hold up, but i've gotten great news on them. With that being said does anyone have an idea how close they look compared to the OEM wheels side by side? I'm pretty sure the center caps dont pose any problem with making them look 100% but how does the rest look? Also feel free to chime in on the quality too. Thanks All!

3 Z06ZR1

The plains center caps look like . Compared to the correct GM cap!
that said the wheels look the same to the untrained eye.
But they weigh more. Even a few pounds on each wheel is not too good!

Jaxxx

It's the weight that kills them. Unsprung weight makes more difference than more people realize

drew47000000

Anyone know what the aprox weight diff is?

haljensen

Good luck with getting an answer to that question! Wheel weight is TOP SECRET information by all manufacturers and retailers. What should be a simple question is never answered except in vague terms like "about 2 #'s heavier than stock".

We've had some Forum members weigh stock wheels and post the weights but they all must have had different scales since the weights never matched each other.

Seems that one of the Vendors could spend a few hours weighing the various styles and sizes and posting the weights but----------------?

Or the manufacturer could weigh the wheel and post the size and weight in their ads?

Don't hold your breath waiting.

jdk541

Just be careful about the quality. Some and probably most have had good luck with them. I tried a set and went through hell with them. Finally went back to OEM. I put a set of reproduction Z06 style on my car and they looked awesome. Worked like crap, but looked awesome. The weight was proabably about 3 to 4 pounds a piece heavier than the OEM wheels. That is just a guess from lifting them up and moving them around etc...

Good Luck!

Top_Fuel

I purchased replica wheels for my Mustang and they were excellent copies. Quality was quite good for an inexpensive Chinese knock-off. Yeah, they may have weighed 1-2 lbs more than an OEM wheel, but it's not a big deal. I put OEM center caps in and you couldn't tell the difference.

That being said, OEM wheels for C6s are easy to find and reasonable to buy...so I would have to be in a jam before buying replica wheels. But it looks like you have to get replicas if you want GS wheels on a non-widebody C6.



I don't care where you buy them...here is the one thing you absolutely MUST do when buying any replica wheels...

Take the new wheels to a good shop and have them spun on a balancer to make sure they are straight BEFORE mounting any tires on them.


If you mount a tire on a new replica wheel and THEN find out you have a bad wheel, most vendors will blame the tire mounting process and will hang you out to dry.

These wheels are made overseas (China) and travel thousands of miles in shipping containers before they arrive in the US. The vendors re-selling them do NOT do any quality control checking on them. This is not to say they are junk...it's just that a bad wheel does find its way into the system on occasion. So just take this extra step so you don't get burned.

For what it's worth, most people here have had good experiences with replica wheels.

Never-Enough

No problems w/my replica spyder wheels so far.

jdk541

This is EXCELLENT advice. Please do yourself a favor and listen to what Top Fuel has to say. I wish I would have done this...

Orange05_C6

I've got some 09 z06 spyder black replicas on my c6. Check out my garage for photos but they are great. I can't tell a difference in weight between stock and these. They have held up just great all summer. I love them. I got them from I think its bob over at house of wheels. He's a good guy

dkrhardy

I bought replica wheels for my '07 and they said to have them checked prior to mounting.
Top Fuel hit that on his 1st try! It is not just good advice, it is mandatory to do it!
I am considering doing wheels on my '12, but not sure ..... the stock chrome wheels are soooo easy to clean.
Don

AORoads

And while TopFuel's advice IS mandatory imo, find out one more thing: who pays for shipping back and forth? And that doesn't mean for 1 wheel, but for all wheels if you have to keep shipping a wheel back and forth, and eventually ship the entire 4 set back because you're disgusted. Remember: all that "wheel balancing/testing" is on your dime unless you get some kind of a break from the tire installer/shop that they'll test as many as you have to bring them to get a set of 4 that works properly.

TLS_Addict

Even stock rims will be different in weight because the molds used for aluminum will actually enlarge slightly over time and mold runs.

One of our company divisions makes aluminum wheels for Honda, Nissan, Toyota.....etc The molds are changed out more frequently than an iron part mold because they are prone to enlarging.

When you sell a wheel based on its intended weight of say 22 lbs and they are weighing in at 23.5 lbs your margin is being eaten up.

Not all stock wheels will weigh the same from one car to the next.

Vette5.5

Personally, I wouldn't run repros on my car myself. As mentioned, quality can be hit or miss. When putting together a track set up on my ZO6, most vendors advised against doing this, so bought some used factory Speedlines from another forum member. Never had any problems with those.

Orange05_C6

ya i wouldnt go with repos for the track but then again, who knows how other companies quality is either. When I asked about the ones I got, the one guy used his for the track no problem. I guess you just get what you want and hope for the best with anything cause even OEM ones will have problems now and then

SolidlyStated

[QUOTE=jdk541;1582376825]Worked like crap, but looked awesome./QUOTE]

How does a wheel work to varying degrees?

jdk541

[QUOTE=SolidlyStated;1582381003]My reproduction wheels worked great as long as the car was sitting still or driving 51 MPH or below. But at 52 MPH they started to send a steady vibration that could be felt in the stearing wheel and gas pedal. They were balanced and re-balanced three times. My installer confirmed they all had a certain degree of run-out in them. After spending hundreds of dollars fighting with these P.O.S.s, I bought a set of OEM Chrome 5 spoke from another forum vendor here, slapped those bad boys on and the car is smooth at all speeds. I would have loved to kept the re-production wheels on due to their appearance, but I wasn't about to settle driving my Vette less than 50 MPH.

Again.... Just my experience. I got a bad set. I have heard many great sucess stories from others about the repros. Everyone just should be educated so nobody else gets burned.

red2012

[QUOTE=jdk541;1582381152]I went thru the exact same scenario as you except mine did it at 72mph. the worst part is i put them on my brand new '12 coupe after 500 miles. i said oh **** i ruined a perfectly good car with vibrations. i bought a oem set from a forum member and sent the aftermarket ones back at my expense(i did get a full refund). The oem ones i bought from the forum member were butter smooth all the way to 150mph. Moral of the story? you take your chances with aftermarket wheels.

TroyPyles

I've had the same vibration problem. Starts at 75 mph more or less. Had them rebalanced and its better but not perfect.

BadToo

Got mine from Bob at House of Wheels and have had no problems. Balancing was no problem. Black chrome has held up well.