Wilson's C5 Corvette Wheel & Tire Page
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My goal was Aftermarket Polished Wheels with Runflat Snow Tires. I then learned that increasing
the wheel width by half an inch over stock was possible with stock tire sizes. So I looked for
17x9 & 18x10.
Wheels I found that were supposed to fit:
Make/Model - Sizes
BBS/LM - 17x9, 18x10
Fikse/All 5 - 17x8.5, 17x9, 18x9.5, 18x10
HRE/540 Series - 17x8.5, 17x9, 18x9.5, 18x10
LPE - 18x9.5, 18x10.5 - BF Goodrich g-Force 265/35ZR/18 & 295/35ZR/18
Hart/Diablo - 17x9, 18x10
Fittipaldi/Tubolare - 17x9, 18x10 - Pirelli P Zero 285/40/ZR/17 & 285/35/ZR/18
Fittipaldi/500 Modular
Forgeline/RS, LS - 17x9, 18x9.5, 18x11
Weld/ZR-142, ZR-146, EVO-313, EVO-323 - 17x8, 18x9.5
Weld/XR series was announced in Vette magazine July, 2000 - page 33
Mallett - 17x8.5, 18x9.5 - custom fitment available
Enkei/V1, Phalenx - 17x9, 18x10
Cragar - 17x8, 17x9 - no 18's
Centerline - custom built - referred by progressive wheels
Kinesis/K5, K10, K20, K58 - 17x9, 18x10 - Nov '99 Turbo Magazine pg 132
MSW
Gara
Momo - custom wheels appeared in Vette 2/00
Billet Specialties/Monaco & CanAm5
These companies confirmed they dont have C5 fitment:
Alba,
Arelli,
KMC,
American Racing (will have some in spring 2000),
Concept Neeper, Ace Alloy Wheel
Here are some other cool wheels:
Laced,
ILAN,
Vision
Here are some retailers:
Wheel Mart
National Wheel Connection - gave me disturbing news below
Discount Tire - will sell Weld, but not Goodyear
Fab Speed - for fikse wheels
Progressive Wheels - wholesaler for concept neeper
I received the following disturbing email from National Wheel Connection:
Of the lines you mentioned we are able to order Weld and Hart. Weld advises
nothing available. We have also been advised by Goodyear not to mount
runflat tires on any applications that are not OE, as the weight of the
tires are generally too much for aftermarket product specs. We have had one
experience with runflats on 20" rims which literally broke the rims
approximately 3" inside the lip all the way around. Sorry we couldn't help.
So I then concentrated on picking a wheel from from Fikse, HRE, Kinesis, Fittipaldi, BBS,
LPE, Mallett & Forgeline because they are tried and true. I decided on HRE 541 because of the look
and went to them to get a price for their wheels mounted with Goodyear Mud & Snow (M&S)
tires. I had heard it's best to buy wheels & tires already mounted and balanced so that
you dont have to find a tire shop that can do it without damaging the wheels' finish.
The wheels and tires were purchased from South County Autosports in California.
They take at least 4 weeks to make! I ordered them on 12/30/99, they arrive on 3/6/00. Three
of the lug nuts from South County Autosports were of a different style, and I was never able
to get matching ones from them.
The Tape
Weights used to balance the wheels must have fallen off during shipping, but I didnt find them in
the packaging. I had to take the wheels
to Goodyear to get them re-balanced. South County Autosports reimbursed me for half the balancing
charge. HRE supplied the allen wrench so I could remove the center caps.
A year later the tire pressure sensor failed, but HRE sent me another one under warranty.
Goodyear put it in for me.
Wheel Removal (MY00)
#1) Unscrew lug nut caps.
#2) Pop off center cap. Use flat head screw driver with cloth wrapped around it.
#3) Mark location of wheel to hub.
#4) Clean all parts of wheel and hub.
#5) Remove wheel.
Installation
#1) Align the locating mark on wheel to mark on the hub.
#2) Tighten lug nuts by hand. Then, using 1/3/5/2/4 pattern, tighten to 30 lb-ft.
Then tighten to 60 lb-ft and finally 100 lb-ft.
#3) Install lug nut caps and center cap.
HRE Pics
Shipping & Tread
With summer tires
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