My Race Star Ind. wheels experience so far...

[Jason@JacFab]

Figured I would put this here as we were discussing it in the "CHEEP" drag wheels thread, but I don't want to turn that into a rage fest... I ordered some 17x4.5 Racestar wheels on 4/21, they arrived today... I was immediately disappointed in the "dark star" coating...

Every picture I've seen them in, they look like black chrome, which is cool... Maybe I got a messed up set? They just look gloss black to me with a tinge of some sort of reflective/mirror clear coat at most angles. The center caps actually look better than the wheels themselves. The coating looks on the wheels looks nothing like all of the pictures I have seen lead me to believe...

A couple pictures:

Originally Posted by 62nalide

Is it me or the center caps a different color?

They do look different from most angles... I figured it was probably the difference between the base materials being plastic (center caps), and metal (the wheels)... That also disappointed me, but is understandable due to the different materials, so I can't really complain too much, but still...

The kicker is, once I had the tires mounted, took them back to the shop to put them on the car... The vendor I ordered them from... Which had them drop shipped direct from Race Star as they don't stock them, which is also the first vendor that Race Star recommended when I called them and was told they don't sell direct... Whoever it was that screwed up, whether it was the recommended vendor, or Race Star, sent me the wrong lug nuts... SO I couldn't even get them on the car to run at the drags tomorrow.

I don't know much about hubcentric rings, but the ones I received are way too big for the Camaro hub stubs. Maybe they determine the size of those by the lugs you order, in which case mine were the wrong ones? I ordered the 14mm (per vendor recommendation, and research on here), and received the 12mm lugs.

But at the end of the day, they were "CHEEP" because they were on sale, the coating on the wheels and the center cap and be plasti-dipped or painted, not the end of the world. Called vendor, no answer, left message that I received the wrong lug nuts

On the plus side, they only weigh 34.5lbs with an M&H 185/55/17... And they do fit on the car.

Should have ordered the polished ones... I knew it.

[Juice2SS]

Which car are you putting them on? I ordered those for my SS and they didn't clear the Brembos at all.

[Jason@JacFab]

They clear on the v6 brakes.

[Juice2SS]

Well, we need pics when you get the lugs. I want to see how they look on the car.

[Denis]

Now granted I have a different model but the finish is the same. I'd say there's an issue with the caps being a different color. Mine have a slightly different finish. I'd attribute it to the center cap being plastic and the wheel being metal as well. Although out the sun it's hard to notice.









Just curious, who was the vendor race star recommend. They recommended a vendor to me and I called and never received a call back as well.

[smokum]

Contact discount tire. They are a vendor and will honor any price that is online. Bought mine through them and we received them in 3 days. You also need a adapter to make them fit. Takes a little work to make them fit right. I made my wheels fit the ctsv/zl1 brakes.

[Jason@JacFab]

It was Kent's that was recommended. I just got off the phone with the guy, he said the right lugs should have already shipped yesterday, and that Race Star apparently said I do not need to ship the wrong lugs back (at the moment)... Everything I ordered has shipped directly from Race Star, so it was their f#@k up... Not a big deal...

[Denis]

Originally Posted by RacnJsn95

It was Kent's that was recommended. I just got off the phone with the guy, he said the right lugs should have already shipped yesterday, and that Race Star apparently said I do not need to ship the wrong lugs back (at the moment)... Everything I ordered has shipped directly from Race Star, so it was their f#@k up... Not a big deal...

yea Kents is who they recommended to me as well. not very good as far as customer service goes. Called them, no answer, no call back. Ordered the part nember that Racestar told me through Kents site and never got tracking or any type of shipping confirmation but they did arrive at my home. i have yet to check to make sure they are correct though.

[jvoisel]

I not too crazy about to racestar lugs, used them on my car but just make sure you don't use an impact as you'll scuff up the inside of the wheels pretty good. The hub centric rings don't fit our cars, just put the lugs on in a staggered pattern and the wheel should center up fine.


Good friend of mine owns 1320wheels.com, check him out.. Use coupon code LSNATION and the prices should be WAY better than any of the other advertised places online.. Or just call him (Derek) and tell him Joey sent ya.

[Juice2SS]

I got my front RaceStars 92 polished for $160 each and the rears for $210 each. He sent me the 94 dark stars saying they would fit but they didn't so he hooked me up good. Kent's is good stuff.

[Jason@JacFab]

Originally Posted by Denis

yea Kents is who they recommended to me as well. not very good as far as customer service goes. Called them, no answer, no call back. Ordered the part nember that Racestar told me through Kents site and never got tracking or any type of shipping confirmation but they did arrive at my home. i have yet to check to make sure they are correct though.

Says 14mm on your lug nuts. They should be the right ones.

Originally Posted by jvoisel

I not too crazy about to racestar lugs, used them on my car but just make sure you don't use an impact as you'll scuff up the inside of the wheels pretty good. The hub centric rings don't fit our cars, just put the lugs on in a staggered pattern and the wheel should center up fine.


Good friend of mine owns 1320wheels.com, check him out.. Use coupon code LSNATION and the prices should be WAY better than any of the other advertised places online.. Or just call him (Derek) and tell him Joey sent ya.

Yeah, I was wondering about the rings, they look to be about 1/2" too big... I was just going to pre install them into the wheels?

[dekan513]

i got the same wheels jason. 1 is the same as the center cap and the other is black. 2 diff colors i contacted them and they said its the lighting. lol . well u can tell a huge diff in the 2 rims i have. ill not order nothing else from them. all i wanted was the same color wheels lol . ill get pics up. i went ahead and mounted tires on them. i just gonna plasti dip them and later powder coat cause they cant get it right . should have just bought welds cause thats about how much ill have in these to get them to look the same.

[Jason@JacFab]

Originally Posted by dekan513

i got the same wheels jason. 1 is the same as the center cap and the other is black. 2 diff colors i contacted them and they said its the lighting. lol . well u can tell a huge diff in the 2 rims i have. ill not order nothing else from them. all i wanted was the same color wheels lol . ill get pics up. i went ahead and mounted tires on them. i just gonna plasti dip them and later powder coat cause they cant get it right . should have just bought welds cause thats about how much ill have in these to get them to look the same.

Thanks for posting! Sounds like your one f-ed up one looks like my two... Quality control issue?? I'll most likely paint these as you can't powder coat the center cap. Hoping the lugs show up today.

[BMR Sales]

Just FYI for future reference....forum member "Beefcake" is a great guy to buy RaceStar products from. We deal with him quite a bit.....good guy!!!