2013 ZL1 Wheels - anyone else have problems

[FFPM73]

When my car was delivered to the dealer, part of their "check" is making sure the lug nuts are torqued. I know first hand that a thin wall socket has to be used on our cars because of the tight space. Maybe and I am spit balling here, but maybe the tech used a regular socket causing the socket to burn off or rub off the clear coat. That exact problem happened to me with my Tahoe. Just a thought.

[01pewterz28]

Originally Posted by FFPM73

When my car was delivered to the dealer, part of their "check" is making sure the lug nuts are torqued. I know first hand that a thin wall socket has to be used on our cars because of the tight space. Maybe and I am spit balling here, but maybe the tech used a regular socket causing the socket to burn off or rub off the clear coat. That exact problem happened to me with my Tahoe. Just a thought.

I can tell you for a fact it has nothing to do with how the lugs are put on. Far too many owners are having the issue. When I picked up my ZL1 wheels they were flawless it's caused by too thin of paint and water/ brake dust eating into the paint.

[KidB]

Originally Posted by 01pewterz28

I can tell you for a fact it has nothing to do with how the lugs are put on. Far too many owners are having the issue. When I picked up my ZL1 wheels they were flawless it's caused by too thin of paint and water/ brake dust eating into the paint.

After some persistance on my part on my 2013 #1310 chevy is going to replace all 4 of my black wheels for the thin paint issue. The dealer told me the black ones are on national backorder so it may take a couple of weeks.

[muscle96ss]

Originally Posted by OVERPAR73

The brake dust is out of control!! I have to clean the wheels after every drive to and from work, about 10 miles. The wheels start to look black, very dark and the dust is very hard to clean off! Do I need to go to ceramic pads to prevent all this dust? I also have several areas that look very thin with the polish on the wheels!

Someone on here mentioned using the Armor All Wheel Protectant. I too was sick of my polished wheels looking black only a couple days after washing. After using the Armor All product I can say I am simply amazed. There is still some dusting that collects in spots around the lip but the spokes are dust free.

[VcrusaderV]

I've got black wheels and the paint is very bad. In some places you can see aluminum with spatter. I noticed it during my first wash job but figured the battle with GM wouldn't be worth it....

[Skylane765]

Originally Posted by Nailn it

I have the same issue with my black rims, obviously some kind of paint method issue. Looks like yours have the same issue. Where yours appear stained mine show bare metal. My guess is that those spots are where they missed the clear coat. I haven't done anything about it. Can't see it from a distance but if you get up close you can easily see it. All of my rims have it. Some worse than others.

I have the same issue, but it is not a big deal to me. I will just drive the car, driving one time gets break dust on most wheels so I am not worried about it.
It is not worth my time trying to take the car in and mess with other people work on the car. The car is not that much of a exotic car, it was built on a assembly line.

[Skylane765]

Originally Posted by OVERPAR73

The brake dust is out of control!! I have to clean the wheels after every drive to and from work, about 10 miles. The wheels start to look black, very dark and the dust is very hard to clean off! Do I need to go to ceramic pads to prevent all this dust? I also have several areas that look very thin with the polish on the wheels!

So why do owners worry about the little paint missing in a hard to see place? If brake dust is always over them.

[Skylane765]

Originally Posted by RobZL1580

Brandon, what do you think of that?

I just got my car a few days ago and paint is thin around the lugs, but it hard to see.

[alyssasdad]

Well I had 3 of my wheels replaced by the dealer because of this problem. My service manager called me when they came in. When I got there and looked at them,they were better, but still not 100% perfect. There were still little places around the lug nut holes. Not near as many or as bad. I just said, "screw it",put em on!! This car is not going to be perfect nor is it going to stay perfect. If you drive it, sh1t happens!! My local dealer has 5 ZL1s right now. Two of them have the silver wheels and both of them have these same little places around the lug nut holes. Just thin paint from the wheel factory,Plain and Simple. So if some of you want to keep fighting the good fight until your cars are 100% perfect....I salute you!!!! But for me,mine is close enuff!!! Im going to enjoy it instead of spending all my time at the dealer.

[Skylane765]

Originally Posted by alyssasdad

Well I had 3 of my wheels replaced by the dealer because of this problem. My service manager called me when they came in. When I got there and looked at them,they were better, but still not 100% perfect. There were still little places around the lug nut holes. Not near as many or as bad. I just said, "screw it",put em on!! This car is not going to be perfect nor is it going to stay perfect. If you drive it, sh1t happens!! My local dealer has 5 ZL1s right now. Two of them have the silver wheels and both of them have these same little places around the lug nut holes. Just thin paint from the wheel factory,Plain and Simple. So if some of you want to keep fighting the good fight until your cars are 100% perfect....I salute you!!!! But for me,mine is close enuff!!! Im going to enjoy it instead of spending all my time at the dealer.

I understand owners wanting thing perfect, but it is not that big of a deal if the blemish is on the wells for the lug nuts.
I rather drive and work on my car myself. If given new wheels, then the tires have to be taken on and off, that is just more chances of some other thing to go wrong.

[JustGeorge]

I have the same problem with my wheels on my 2012 ZL1 that has 6k miles. The car has never been driven in the rain let alone snow. It is a fair weather weekend ride. In fact the car is about to go into winter storage. The only cleaner I use is the car wash soap.

On Oct 30th I took my car back to the dealership to report the wheel problem (all four are affected). The service manager came out and took a look. He went into the shop and came back with wheel cleaner. When he used the cleaner on the wheel it actually made it worse.

He then took pictures and said he would be contacting Chevy. I have not heard another thing about this issue. How long does this process take?

I bought the extended warranty with the car and had no issues with the car.

My thoughts are if the wheels look this poorly at 6k, what will they look like at 12k? The wheels are clearly defective. This has not happened to any of my other cars.

[Mpsmith1]

Please let me know when you hear back from Chevy. I have the same issue with my wheels, but my dealer wouldn't even bring the issue up with them.

Good luck to you!

[Hicompression]

The problem I have encountered with my ZL1 wheels is that when driving through rain or after washing the car, water tends to stay in the lug nut holes unless you use a paper towel to wick/absorb it out. If left in the holes, the water evaporates, leaving a hard layer of mineralization, brake dust and staining. This discolors the silver paint in the hole around the lug nut and is very hard to clean. I just live with it.

[Squatch]

My wheels are the same around the lugs, but also on each spoke its pitting. its pitting really bad on the inside lip of the rim (that cant be seen very well). I asked GM, and they took pics and forward to Chevy, but they said it was just road debris causing the damage.
I'm to the point of getting them powder coated black now. I have the optional white/chrome (whatever color they are) wheels.