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After putting 80,000 miles on my ‘17 Z06 I had to replace the wheels because one of the rears was cracked and leaking and all the others were bent. Decided to go with forged wheels hoping they would be stronger, after four months the BC forged are all bent, I did hit a pretty large pothole at about 45 miles an hour with the right wheels so I’m not too surprised they would be bent, but the left wheels have not hit anything that I would expect to bend them. The wheels on the right side of the car are out of round by 1/4 -3/8 inch which is enough to cause noticeable vibration. The wheels on the left are only out of round by about a 1/16 - 1/8 inch. Maybe the carbon fiber wheels on the C8 are the answer, kind of pricey though
The best solution would be to downsize from the 19/20" front/rear OEM sizes to 18/19" or 18/18". The smaller diameter wheels will encounter less bending stress and the taller tire sidewalls will shield the wheels from more of the impacts.
I have had a similar experience with Forgeline wheels which I completely regret purchasing, if you drive the car there is no way to avoid it.
The only solution is to downsize; purchasing forged wheels does nothing to prevent the problem and in hindsight the OEM although disposable, are cheap......................
Maybe there will someday be a class action against the forged wheel manufacturer, if so count me in.
The best solution would be to downsize from the 19/20" front/rear OEM sizes to 18/19" or 18/18". The smaller diameter wheels will encounter less bending stress and the taller tire sidewalls will shield the wheels from more of the impacts.
I know some have done this, not sure if it is to avoid bending wheels. The OEM design although probably optimal for performance leaves the wheels vulnerable to imperfections in the road. Unless you drive on pristine roads or with no traffic so you can see far enough to avoid obstacles, you are likely to get bent wheels. The wife of a friend of mine bent the wheel on her Buick SUV, so I guess any wheel can the bent
I have a set of BC Forged on my 19 C7Z for almost 2 years now, zero issues at all. I went to a 19/19 setup which gives a larger rear profile tire that helps with impacts.
I know some have done this, not sure if it is to avoid bending wheels. The OEM design although probably optimal for performance leaves the wheels vulnerable to imperfections in the road. Unless you drive on pristine roads or with no traffic so you can see far enough to avoid obstacles, you are likely to get bent wheels. The wife of a friend of mine bent the wheel on her Buick SUV, so I guess any wheel can the bent
Another benefit of downsizing is an increase in the number of tire options. TJay74's decision to go 19/19 is another popular option, though obviously it's not downsizing the fronts. That's probably the route I would take since I don't daily my Z06 and I steer clear of traffic.
I suspect that GM's decision to go with 19/20" sizes was mainly a design decision (big wheel trend) with cost cutting factored in. Limiting the wheel and tire selection allows them to negotiate more (GM) favorable deals with their suppliers. Engineering often has to reach a compromise with other departments.
If you had non forged wheels, instead of bending your wheels, your wheels could have cracked and broken into pieces = accident. Seen it a lot at the track, forged wheels will bend and be noticeable, cast wheels will break off and you lose control.
Might want to get a smaller diameter wheel to help with pot holes.. We've never had a client break their forged wheels, yet.
After page after page of people saying forged wheels would solve cracked/ bent wheels we have a few people who went that route and have not really fixed anything except possibly the bank account of the forged wheel manufacturers.
All the people who said they really had minimal problems with the stock wheel were in essence told they were crazy and not running the car hard enough. Apparently it turns out that a lot of the forged advocates changed the wheel size which negates any apples to apples comparison.
Bent forged wheels are repairable. Just because they are forged, doesn't make them immune from bending, it just means that what would completely destroy a cast wheel just puts a bend in the forged wheel. This applies to all wheels. Care must be taken to not hit potholes at 45mph as no wheel really will escape that kind of impact undamaged. I've had forged wheels bend before due to my carelessness and I just got them repaired. Shop I deal with just "unbends" them, forged is really good in that respect that you can retain the majority of the toughness of it when repairing. The GM stock wheels do not repair well at all.
If you hit large pot holes you will bend or crack any wheel. Its not rocket science I have had two sets of BC Forged in 19/19 no issues in 4 years even had a set of Signatures.
Bent forged wheels are repairable. Just because they are forged, doesn't make them immune from bending, it just means that what would completely destroy a cast wheel just puts a bend in the forged wheel. This applies to all wheels. Care must be taken to not hit potholes at 45mph as no wheel really will escape that kind of impact undamaged. I've had forged wheels bend before due to my carelessness and I just got them repaired. Shop I deal with just "unbends" them, forged is really good in that respect that you can retain the majority of the toughness of it when repairing. The GM stock wheels do not repair well at all.
do you know if they dismounted the tire before repairing wheel?
Tires are dismounted before repairing bends in forged wheels then remounted afterwards. Repairing a bend cost me $125, vs a god damn GM wheel where I had to replace the whole god damn wheel.
At least aftermarket forged companies usually offer lifetime replacements..
I don't think any wheel manufacturer offers a warranty that covers road hazards. Even HRE's warranty for a $10K+ set of wheels is quite limited.
From HRE's page:
HRE products are warranted to be free of defects in materials or workmanship for as long as the original purchaser/consumer (deemed to be the date the wheels are received by the purchaser/consumer) owns the wheel. The wheel finish is warranted to the original purchaser/consumer for a period of two (2) years from the date of purchase to be able to withstand non-hazardous weather and climatic conditions, non-hazardous paved road conditions and typical operating temperatures for normal driving.
As a condition of this limited warranty, HRE products must be properly installed on the vehicle for which the wheels were intended and manufactured for as specified and agreed to on the Order Confirmation authorized by the consumer/purchaser, or in the care and mounting instructions provided at the time of delivery, and where applicable, by using the specified lug nuts/bolts or other hardware which may be supplied by HRE for such installation. In addition, the tires that are mounted on the wheels must be proper for the vehicle.
EXCLUSIONS FROM WARRANTY
This warranty does not cover damage to, or any failure of an HRE product caused by unreasonable use of the wheels, road hazard or externally caused damage from the following conditions:
1) Refinishing HRE Forged or FlowForm wheels. Repairs done by anyone other than HRE that involve any of these processes will VOID your warranty and may undermine the structural integrity of the wheels, causing a safety hazard that may result in injury or death:
a) Disassembly
b) Refinishing
c) Heating
d) Bending
e) Cutting
f) Welding
2) Off road racing, or unpaved road driving conditions or road hazards; for example, pot holes, gravel, road debris, scrap metal, tire remnants, trash and other road clutter.
Forged are definitely worth the upgrade in my opinion. But it is not a fix all for poor driving and/or road conditions. I have absolute garbage roads here, my forged wheels are holding up just fine.
02-21-2022, 02:45 PM
Not impressed with BC forged wheels
