Rims and LTPWS

[rwpeders]

I bought my LT4 convertible last month and had to fix a few things. One was a LTPWS sensor in the right fron wheel and the right rear rim was slightly bent, pulling the tire enough out of round to cause an out of balance type bounce at highway speeds.

The sensor was fixed (expensive), but the warning light still shows (Service LTPWS). The shop manual says the system needs to be reset to clear the codes. Do I need to take this to a Chevy dealer or is there an easy way to do this?

The other frustrating thing is that all the stock rims are not true. There is a slight wabble at highway speeds on each tire. When I was having the tires balanced, the mechanic showed me the tire spinning at 60mph and the tread line moved back and forth about a 1/4 inch. Is this a common situation with stock rims? I feel like I need to find a good set of mag wheels to keep from wearing out my tires.

 

[Tuna]

Guess here - unless you have a Tech 1, you'll probably need to go to the dealer to have the LTPWS reset.

Bent/warped wheels are not common. Sounds like your car had an off-road excursion some time and bent/warped the wheels. There are places that can straighten them. I think you need to look into this. My old 92 runs smoothly at all speeds and the wheels are very round.

 

[Vettelt193]

it is probably cheaper to just buy new wheels... I know eBay has some pretty good deals on aftermarket 5 spoke rims that look like the collector/ZR1 rims.... you can usually find them in standard silver, high polished, chrome, black, and sometimes even white.

 

[unknown1]

Before buying new wheels,what do you know about the tires? If there old(origional?) thay may have bad/broken cords in them, be sure its your wheels or tires first. Check the runout,that is. I ve seen several tires with bad cord that cause this. Your car came with LTOWS so that means it also has or had the"run-flat" Goodyear tires that some folks like to "abuse". LTPWS should reset after driving about 40 miles,that is if everything is as it should be. Lots of tire installers damage the sensors during mounting or dismounting so that could also be a possibality. Hope not.Good luck,as a lot of tire shops here have NO clue how to deal with the high tech things on a Vette

 

[Vettelt193]

Just an FYI: LTPWS did not require run-flat tires from the factory

 

[rwpeders]

Before buying new wheels,what do you know about the tires? If there old(origional?) thay may have bad/broken cords in them, be sure its your wheels or tires first. Check the runout,that is. I ve seen several tires with bad cord that cause this. Your car came with LTOWS so that means it also has or had the"run-flat" Goodyear tires that some folks like to "abuse". LTPWS should reset after driving about 40 miles,that is if everything is as it should be. Lots of tire installers damage the sensors during mounting or dismounting so that could also be a possibality. Hope not.Good luck,as a lot of tire shops here have NO clue how to deal with the high tech things on a Vette

The tires are the "run flat" GMT's from Goodyear. The front tires are new and the back look like they have less than 10,000 on them. They are in good shape. While I was in National Tire and Battery, we checked for broken cords or other tire problems, but that was not a problem. On the two front rims, the top of the inside edge of the rim moved in and out but I don't know if the amount is signficant. NTB was not trying to sell me anything, so I have no reason to doubt the mechanics word that this is a problem. :confused

 

[rwpeders]

Just an FYI: LTPWS did not require run-flat tires from the factory

You are correct, of course. My car, though, came with the "spare tire delete" option. So that makes the run-flat tires almost a necessity.

 

[rwpeders]

it is probably cheaper to just buy new wheels... I know eBay has some pretty good deals on aftermarket 5 spoke rims that look like the collector/ZR1 rims.... you can usually find them in standard silver, high polished, chrome, black, and sometimes even white.

I checked AFS Wheels online. They have ZR1 and Z06 options. I like the ZR1's with the chrome finish. Four wheels are $1500. I don't need tires, but if you get the wheel and tire option, you can get either Dunlop or Kumho tires that are mounted, balanced and shipped free for only an additional $500. That's a good deal for the tires. They offer the Kumho tires in one size for all wheels. The Dunlop's can be one size for all or the stock arrangement of smaller front and larger rear.

Of course, if I buy mounted tires then they have to be removed to install the LTPWS sensors on the rims.

This begs another question, does it matter if you stick with the stock arrangement of smaller front tires and larger rear tires? Could I put one size all around? Is there any performance or other issues in doing this?

 

[Tuna]

This begs another question, does it matter if you stick with the stock arrangement of smaller front tires and larger rear tires? Could I put one size all around? Is there any performance or other issues in doing this?

No problem going with same size all around. In fact, the Z51 cars (96) and Z07 cars (93-95) came with 9.5" wheels on all 4 corners. You can mount 275 or 285/40/17's (run-flats, if appropriate) on each wheel without any worries.

With the wider front tires and wheels, you may see more 'wander' on the road (wider tires tend to follow the ridges more that skinnier tires) and you may feel a little crisper 'initial turn in'. At the limit, the wider tires should produce less understeer and more trailing throttle oversteer.

 

[Goose]

I have a 95 model and I went from 8.5 in front and 9.5 in rear to 9.5 front and back, that way you can rotate the tires. I bought the chrome Z06 wheels from AAA rims.com with 275/40/17s. I got the Kumho tires. tires were mounted, balanced and shipped to my door for $1730.00. I have been pleased with them.
Goose, Keep on cruising!!!