Pics!!

Sorry, no pics yet. I didn't open the boxes today.

Didn't get a call from the driver till quarter till 3. He said he was heading to his next stop, which was Autozone. I suggested meeting him there to get the wheels from him. So he said he would be there in 10 to 15 minutes.

Connie and I headed out here and stopped off at the post office. I had to ship something out, so I was waiting at the counter while the person in front of my had a half dozen boxes to go out, and was taking forever while she asked question about them, and had them all measured by the guy behind the counter. After the third one, I couldn't wait any longer, so I walked out to head back to Connie's truck. While I was inside, Connie checked the post office box, and she said she saw an R&L Carrier truck go by and thought it had to be the driver we were supposed to meet up with. Problem is that he was headed in the wrong direction, away from Auto Zone. So we drove to Auto Zone, and sure enough, no truck there. It was maybe 10 after 3 when we got there. I went inside and asked the girl at the counter if B&L had been there to make a delivery, and she said yes, he dropped of the delivery and left real soon afterwards. Sheesh...

So we headed back home, in case the truck was headed to our house after all. Glanced at the Walmart parking area as we passed, but didn't see the truck there. And no truck on the road outside our driveway, neither. So I went into the house to check messages on the answering machine. No, I STILL don't use the cell phone.

Anyway, the driver left a message saying something to the effect that he was at the Auto Zone, didn't see us there, and was leaving. Double sheesh.... So I called him and he said he was at the auto store next to Winn Dixie. Which would be Advance Auto. I asked him what the heck he was doing there, and he said when he didn't see us at the Auto Zone, he figured maybe I was confused and went to Advance Auto instead. Yeah, right.... Obviously dealing with a genius here. He said he waited at the Auto Zone for quite a while, and I called BS on that one, telling him I went inside and asked the girl and her story didn't jive with what he was saying. So he says, "OK, I guess I didn't stay there that long.".

So I asked him how long he intended on staying at Advance Auto and he said he would stay there as long as needed. But then changed his tune and said he would meet me at the Dollar Store (or whatever it is called), nearby to where we live. I was getting pretty hot by this time. We headed out again, this time to the Dollar Store, and yeah, the truck was there. Then the driver tries to tell me that he told me he would be at the Auto Zone at 3:15. I said, "Oh no you didn't. You said you would be there 10 to 15 minutes from when I talked to you on the phone originally." So he then says, "Oh, I guess maybe I did say that." The guy isn't real good at lying, apparently.

Anyway, got the wheels loaded into Connie's truck, brought them back home, and have them sitting in the garage. By then I had had enough, so I figure I will open up the boxes tomorrow. I want to set up for video while unboxing them, and just didn't feel like messing with it this evening.

I hope this isn't an omen. None of the four boxes look damaged on the outside, so that is a good sign, but still...... I always get the heebie-jeebies when things go wrong, as you just don't know when the bad stuff will stop, nor what it is trying to tell you.

But I'll see how things go tomorrow, I guess.

Oh, no apologies from the driver for missing the appointment window. R&L's website says they guarantee delivery in the window, but no mention of what exactly they guarantee. Nothing of the sort "Guaranteed to be delivered within the appointment window or __________". So I emailed them about that. I think I am due that _________.

Had to run errands most of the day, but I did get over to the garage and unboxed the wheels after we got back. Took video, just in case, but everything looked OK as far as I could tell without a real close look at them.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/cray_wheels_01.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/cray_wheels_02.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/cray_wheels_03.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/cray_wheels_04.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/cray_wheels_05.jpg


Hope to get the old wheels off this weekend and do a thorough cleanup of the wheelwells before putting the new wheels on. Supposed to get heavy rain, however, so not sure if I will want to venture out much unless I can catch some breaks in the rain. I know this should be something saved for a rainy day, but I never have been very keen on actually going outside IN the rain to do something I saved for that day....... :hehehe:

Well, apparently my problems with this R&L Carriers shipping company were extremely minor compared to what others have gone through with them.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/reta...-carriers.html

When I emailed their "customer service" about what their "guaranteed delivery time" meant I was told that the shipper did not pay for that option. Eh? No mention of that on their website that it is optional. And I was told that the "guaranteed window" for delivery was just an estimate. Doesn't mention that on their site, neither.

https://www.rlcarriers.com/guaranteed-service.asp

I was also told that the shipper would have had to pay extra for a smaller truck to deliver to my address. So I wonder what would have happened had I not offered to meet the truck at a different location?

And I thought FedEx and UPS are bad at times........ :ack2:

Got the old wheels off and cleanup up the inside of the wheelwells.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/wheels_off_01.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/wheels_off_02.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/wheels_off_03.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/wheels_off_04.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/wheels_off_05.jpg

One thing interesting to note that on both sides the rear tires have been (or had been) rubbing against the brake air ducts.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/...ire_rub_01.jpg

So I am hoping these new tires don't rub even more than the old ones apparently did.

New wheels look good.

Looks great!













l

So I went over to the garage after dinner to put the new wheels on the C5Z. Figured I should start with the rear wheels, because I just wasn't convinced that they were going to go on without issues. And yeah, sure enough. I just put the passenger side on and spun the tire by hand and could hear obvious rubbing of the tire against the brake air duct.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/...ire_rub_02.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/...ire_rub_03.jpg


The rubbing is at a different spot on the duct, so my guess is this would be a problem.

So I took a look at the driver's side to see how much trouble it would be to just remove that duct completely. Not too tough. Just a half dozen or so 7mm screws holding the wheelwell liner and the duct in place. So now there is just a hole in the liner instead of the air being directed via the duct.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/...removed_01.jpg

I don't think it will really affect anything, as I don't take the car to the track and doubt the brakes would ever overheat on me.

So I pulled the passenger side wheel off again, and did the same on that side.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/...l_liner_01.jpg

Interestingly enough, when I pulled those liners out, I had what seemed like a couple pounds of sand fall out onto the floor with more remaining below the duct vents.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/sand_01.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/sand_02.jpg

Oh yeah, I wanted to use my old lugnuts, but come to find out they were too large in diameter for the front wheels. I couldn't get my socket around them to tighten them onto the hubs. Fortunately a new set of lugnuts came with the wheels, and they used a smaller diameter socket that would work OK.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/new_wheels_01.jpg


http://www.corvetteflorida.com/pics/new_wheels_02.jpg


So, the wheels are installed. But will likely be a while before I can take the car out for a test drive. Raining like hell here all day long, and supposed to continue on through Monday or so. No, I don't want to get mud stuffed into all those nooks and crannies that the sand has been getting into.

Oh, a couple of other interesting things I found out.

While I had all the wheels off of the C5Z, I went and weighed them all to see what sort of weight difference we would be talking about.

• Old wheels
  • Front wheels/tires = 42.75 lbs.
  • Rear wheels/tires = 49 lbs.
• New wheels
  • Front wheels/tires = 66 lbs.
  • Rear wheels/tires = 60.75 lbs.

Weights are per EACH wheel/tire.

So I am putting on 70 lbs total unsprung weight with those new wheels and tires. Granted, there is some weight lost on the old tires because of wear, but I don't think it would be overly significant.

Now what surprised me is that with those new wheels/tires, the rears (which are larger), actually weigh less than the fronts. I wouldn't have expected that. It's just the opposite with the old tires and wheels.