NHTSA Complaint #11456523 — 2016 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

Rear rims (20 by 12, cast aluminum) have both cracked with no trauma to the rim other than simply driving the car on the street. Right rear has been repaired multiple times and has now cracked right beside the repaired cracks. The left rear has cracked on the inside by the bead and with two wheels cracked and leaking air, I have ended up ordering two new rims from GM. I put some tire sealant in the left rear and that slowed down the slow leak while the new rims were being delivered. I have talked about this many times with the dealer and with GM, and they say I must have caused the cracks by my driving, which doesn't make sense to me. They say sue me and point out that you, the NTHSA, haven't ordered the rims recalled. These are now the seventh and eighth cracks that have developed on my rear rims, three different rims. One original lasted 27,000 miles before the first crack. The replacement original for that first rim lasted about 7,000 miles before the first crack. The last original rim of the same size on the back lasted 37,500 miles before the first crack appeared. I bought a 1978 Corvette new with forged aluminum rims and drove it some 150,000 miles with no rim cracking problems and I drove a 2001 Corvette Z06 that I bought used for over 100,000 miles over the same roads I've now driving my 2016 Corvette on and had not a single rim cracking problem (again, forged aluminum rims on that). I have had no cracking problems with the front 19 by 10 cast aluminum rims, so it sure appears to be the rear rim cracks are because of defects in the casting process. GM make the choice to go with cast aluminum rims instead of the stronger forged aluminum, and I don't take exception to their design choice as long as the rims hold up to everyday driving stresses. The rim cracks historically expand over time and ignoring them could, in the dealer's estimation, result in catastrophic rim failure resulting in a serious accident and potential driver fatality.