Faulty wheels have been a touchy subject for Corvette owners, particularly those who own the C7 Z06 and Grand Sports as owners have complained for years about their aluminum wheels cracking under normal driving conditions. Now it appears that we have another issue with the Corvette’s wheels, but this time it’s affecting the new C8 Corvette.
General Motors has released a new Technical Service Bulletin today for the 2020-2021 Corvette regarding “Wheel Casting with Exposed Porosity” which is just a fancy way of saying that some Corvette wheels have holes in them from the casting process.
The C8 Corvette’s wheel porosity issues are covered in TSB #N202315730 and #N202315731. The cover sheet claims that the total number of U.S. vehicles involved is approximately 13,049 with only 10% of those vehicles believed to be impacted. We were able to get our hands on both PDF versions which be viewed and downloaded here and here.
Certain 2020 model year Chevrolet Corvette vehicles may have a condition where exposed porosity in wheel castings are larger than allowed and do not meet internal GM requirements. Vehicles in this field action are to have two sets of wheels inspected. The wheels on the vehicle are inspected under N202315730 and the extra wheels are inspected under this field action.
In the TSB, dealers are notified that affected vehicles would be marked in the GM Global Warranty Management System and when these cars come into a Chevrolet dealership for service, the technicians will need to inspect all four wheels and replace if necessary.
GM provides a list of part numbers for the wheels and it shows that both the Open Spoke and Trident Wheel designs are included in the TSB.
Here are some of the images that GM supplied showing the various porosity issues in the wheels:
GM says that any wheels identified as having the porosity issue need to have a 13mm hole drilled completely through the rim barrel of the wheel so they can’t be reused, and then dispose of the faulty wheel through a reputable metal recycler.
At least GM is acknowledging the manufacturing defects and is offering to replace any affected wheels at their cost. Owners of C7s were not as lucky and many have joined several on-going class action lawsuits as GM has denied any responsibility for those wheels that have cracked or bent.
Source:
Chevrolet.com
Related:
Hundreds of C7 Corvette Owners Join Class Action Lawsuit Against GM Over Defective Wheels
New Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against GM Over Defective and Cracking C7 Corvette Wheels
A Lawsuit Against GM Over Cracked Corvette Wheels Has Been Dismissed
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Does this notice affect 2021’s as well? I only see mention of 2020’s and C7’s.
The first TSB lists 2020-2021 Corvettes while the second TSB shows only 2020s. I have updated the post to include a screenshot of the first TSB.
This is just shoddy work. How can someone sleep at night knowing their castings are bad? Anyone who has done complex castings knows EVERY SINGLE RIM HAS TO BE REVIEWED. I hope GM can find another supplier.
Gary S.,
I see no reference to C7 wheels being covered under this TSB. Please point out where this TSB applies to C7s. Thanks.
There is no mention of removing the tires which leads me to believe that GM considers the porosity to be cosmetic. I would argue that wheel strength is also compromised.
What about surfaces covered by the tires? Shouldn’t they be inspected also? Obviously, tire dismount/remount would be required and I don’t think that their allotted labor time will suffice. Secondly, what about wheels which porosity is internal to the casting and therefore not be visible. Only XRay will identify those. Should internal porosity in the spoke be present, particularly where the spokes join the center disk, wheel-strength could easily be compromised, in particular during high cornering velocities.
Lastly, the TSB limits coverage to vehicles still covered under the “New Vehicle Limited Warranty”. It is not impossible that there are some cars out there who have already exceeded that already.
Montana Bob
Is a recall forth coming from the Manufacturer for possible Wheel defects and can inspection be accomplished during the first Oil Change? Is C8 VIN 5418 included in this possible recall or were defects found in post UAW shutdown of Vendors due to strike and is UAW responsible for damages of Supply Chain due to their Strike on GM?
I would like litigation against Union behavior for vendor companies and Corvette Division of General Motors?
This kind of piss-poor quality control is unacceptable in ANY vehicle whose average transaction price is in the $86k range. It wouldn’t surprise me if GM’s own bean counters created this problem by forcing the company to use a sub-standard (cheaper) wheel vendor — much like they did a few years back when GM installed all those cheap (plastic) ignition switches that led to the death of many owners.
Well the great value is a bit tarnished now. Who would want to risk driving with wheels that can come apart?
.2 of an hour to inspect all 4 wheels? How generous! You can starve with Chevy warranty labor I was a line tech in the late 70’s it can rally ruin your day!
USMCA and NAFTA are great for this country.
I see GM is still cutting corners.
As a C7 GS owner who had to buy a set of quality wheels from Forgeline due to the cheap crap GM sold me, if i were to buy a c8 i would insist on the dealer replacing the stock wheels with US MADE quality FORGED aftermarket wheels.
How do these issues and others, get by the inspection dept.???
Are they sleeping at work?????
Second to the last photo (#5754360) explains the reason for the problem “MEX”
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