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Question: Saw Blade Corvette Rims

air1jpg

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
394
Location
Louisville, KY
Corvette
1996 Polo Green LT1 Coupe
Does the direction of the "saw blades" matter? I had some new Kumho Esta ASX tires installed on my vette today and when I got home, I noticed that the saw blades on the rims are pointing the other direction. :confused Though, at least all four wheels are pointing in the same way.. :L
Are these tires uni-directional like the Goodyears are? I am wondering if I could swap the back and front tires from left to right? I did not see an arrows indicating rotation direction on the side of the tires.
 
Are the tires directional?
 
I don't think that the ASX is directional. I think you can probably swap tires/wheels side to side to get the sawblades running the right direction.
 
I hope the tires are not directional. I read somewhere that the blade design in the rims help cool the brakes. Is this true?
 
yes it is...
The twist of the blades on every yr c-4 was designed to help draw air thru the wheel at speed.

In addition, the wheels are part of the handling design where air is forced either around or the car or out from under the car thru the wheels. The low pressure/vac at sustained speed helps stick the car to the road. If the tire shop mounted the tires on the wrong way or the wheels on the wrong side, make 'em fix it. You paid for it, tell them to make it right.
 
Yes, the blade design helps pull the air in from the outside of the wheel past the brakes to help cool them and it also helps draw the brake dust to the inside of the wheel too.
 
So that is why the inside of the wheel is always plastered by brake dust. Hmm...got love Dave McClellan and the boys, always got something neat up their engineering sleeves.
 
I'd certainly make the shop switch them and remount the tires if they are'nt unidirectional.
This is kinda pet peeve of mine...I see Vettes all the time with them going the wrong way. It doesnt help that the earlier c4 vanes are in the opposite direction of the later saw blades and causes confusion.:W
 
I don't think that the ASX is directional. I think you can probably swap tires/wheels side to side to get the sawblades running the right direction.
Yes,Kumho ASX's are directional tires!:thumb
:beer

attachment.php
 
Yes,Kumho ASX's are directional tires!:thumb
:beer

attachment.php

Thank you.. At least I now know the tires are mounted in the correct direction! :) Are you of the same opinion on the direction of the saw blade rims? I think I am going to have them re-mount the tires so the rims are turning the same direction they once were. Should I not drive the car much until the rims are mounted the right way? Will having the saw blade rims rotating the oposite direction, will that have an effect on my brakes? I don't want to tear up my brakes if the rims make a huge difference.
 
Well, I knew that Jesse used these tires and knew that he would know. That would tend to say that you need to have them remounted. The wheels actually have markings on them saying which side the wheel is supposed to be mounted.
 
Check the rims

No you can not rotate the tires. First the back tires are a different size than the front.

Take this picture back to the place that mounted the tires and have them do it right.
Picture002.jpg

If you have a torgue wrench take it along and have them check there torque settings. The nuts should be torqued to 100# per FSM

Junk's picture shows that the tires are directional and therefor if they are mounted on the rims correctly and the rims are mounted according to the information on there inside they should be right. Also make sure they have not mixed the front and rear rims. Again they are two different sizes
 
No you can not rotate the tires. First the back tires are a different size than the front.

Take this picture back to the place that mounted the tires and have them do it right.
Picture002.jpg

If you have a torgue wrench take it along and have them check there torque settings. The nuts should be torqued to 100# per FSM

Junk's picture shows that the tires are directional and therefor if they are mounted on the rims correctly and the rims are mounted according to the information on there inside they should be right. Also make sure they have not mixed the front and rear rims. Again they are two different sizes


Now if he has a Z07 all wheels are the same size. 9.5 x 17, however they are still marked as to which corner they belong!

tcxd40
 
No you can not rotate the tires. First the back tires are a different size than the front.

Take this picture back to the place that mounted the tires and have them do it right.
Picture002.jpg

If you have a torgue wrench take it along and have them check there torque settings. The nuts should be torqued to 100# per FSM

Junk's picture shows that the tires are directional and therefor if they are mounted on the rims correctly and the rims are mounted according to the information on there inside they should be right. Also make sure they have not mixed the front and rear rims. Again they are two different sizes
Thank you for the pic, this really helps alot. I will call the place tomorrow and take it back and have them re-mounted. I noticed today that at least one of the tires is not balaced quite right either. :eyerole My front and back tires are different sizes, so I know I don't have a ZO7.. ;)
 
I talked to the shop who installed the tires today. I have an appointment Saturday morning to correct this problem. Thank you for the help! :beer
 
I’m with John, make SURE they torque them at 100 ft lbs AND in a star pattern. Don’t want any warping. I have seen SOOOOOOO many idiot shops use an impact wrench to put on lug nuts and they either break off the studs right there so when the poor guy has to replace a tire he breaks the lug stud with a lug wrench. :mad

Whenever I took my C4 to a shop I took it to shops that would let me IN the garage or they didn’t get my business. :thumb

Easy fix though.
 
Yes,Kumho ASX's are directional tires!:thumb
:beer

attachment.php

Courious, are the tires marked with left or right hand side? The "outside" marking could be on the outside while mounted on either the right or left side of the car.
 
Courious, are the tires marked with left or right hand side? The "outside" marking could be on the outside while mounted on either the right or left side of the car.
Outside,Go's to the outside,don't matter what side there on!! If Not,It could pull bad and be squirrelly as h*ll!!:thumb
 
Thank you for the pic, this really helps alot. I will call the place tomorrow and take it back and have them re-mounted. I noticed today that at least one of the tires is not balaced quite right either. :eyerole My front and back tires are different sizes, so I know I don't have a ZO7.. ;)

air1jpg, it’s safe to say that your ‘96 is not a Z07. The last year the Z07 option was offered was in 1995. There were three suspension offerings in the ’96 model year:
FE1 – standard base suspension
F45 – selective real time damping
Z51 – performance handling package

It’s recommended that you retorque your wheels (100 ft lbs) after you have driven the car 100 miles (use the previously mentioned “star” pattern).

Any luck finding that fuel line clamp?

B17Crew
:w
 
I took my vette in this morning and the place re-mounted my wheels so that the rims are now on the correct sides. They also re-mounted the tires as they swapped the rims. (even though they didn't have too) :thumb
B17Crew, I looked at my codes and found that I have the FE1 standard suspension on my vette. I sent Taber an email, but I haven't recieved a response as of yet. I am going to call them on Monday. I aslo have a few more Corvette salvage places to check out. I am a bit surprised that I am having this much trouble finding a plastic clamp.. ;shrug
 

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