Ever since I changed rims I have had this annoying front end vibration. The rims are MINT (they came from Smitty). The car has been aligned (after the new rims) and is within reasonable specs, the wheels were balanced and rotated last week. The steering wheel/car vibrates at highway speed. Any thoughts/suggestions??? I have heard some mention of spacers or some other part to be used with aftermarket wheels???

David-

 

Yeah Hub rings they are called. They make it so the rim sits flat against the cars hub. Don't know where to find them though. Maybe the maker of the rims have them?

 

Thanks. I will try getting in touch with Helo. Are the rings specific to the wheels or are they generic so that I could go to the local "rice" shop and pick up a set?

 

Hub rings just make sure that the rim is centered when mounting. The Helo rims do not need rings..since they sit flat against the HUB.
You will experience vibrations at high speeds due to 2 things:
1: you modified your suspension/wheels/ tires... Note the sidewall is strong on the SO3 tires but no where near as soft as your stock tires.. so you will feel every crack in the road the more you wear them.
2: your running a wider tire then normal and the ruts in the road will make it seem like you are on a train track..

This is all part of modifying a car, you give to get...



Smitty

 

I understand Smitty. I can see that the ride would be more stiff/harsh (which is what I wanted) and that it would grab the grooves in the road. Also, understood, but this is more of a constant vibration only at speed. I would not think the stiff sidewall would create vibration. Additionally, the wider tire might create some vibration but not this much, plus this is almost constant.

 

Yup, those SO3's are stiff tires but they are nice grip I ran a set of em down to threads :o and you can feel it. And the wider track makes difference too, the SO3's it was noticeable but in the RE750's I have now (245/45/R17) you can really feel the rails effect.

 

I drove my Mom's 2k Vette Vert over the weekend which has MUCH more tire than my CL. That car is much stiffer (drove with adj susp on Full-Comp mode). That car is not vibrating and so forth and it has even stiffer tires as they are run-flats. I am still not sure the tires are the problem.

 

It could be cv joint or axle that's bent. Another possibility is that your rotors may have warped. While it's true that this usually apparent only when braking in some case a warped rotor may be bad enough to cause the front end to shimmy even when your not braking. This is especially likely if you have overtightened the lug nuts. Last I would consider the possibility of one of the tires being "out-of-round", cupped, or having a bad belt.

 

I guess I will be off for another trip to the dealer. The brakes are not vibrating or shuddering on use, but I agree the rotors may be warped. What is the likely hood of the cv joint or axel? Sounds like the brakes may be a reasonably possibility.

 

its either a misbalance tire or the tire/s are slightly out of round. most likely the first, it is very hard to balance very low profile wide tires, especially if its some kid that really doesn't know what he's really doing and its a static balance! go to a shop where they specialize in high perf wheels/tires and they might be able to get it right. sometimes its just a sacrifice you have to live with. if you lived in/ near md and have access to a wheel balancer i could do it for you

 

I think the next time the car is at the dealer I will have them rebalance the tires and check the brakes, CV joint and axel. I am sure they will be thrilled.

 

They are out of Balance - that simple!
1) They didn't get it right the first time
2) You threw the weight off - it happened to me 3 days after a fresh balance.
3) You slightly bent the wheels "out-of-round" during hard acceleration and hitting a small pothole. I have forged aluminums, and I can feel them go out-of-round whenever I'm WFO out of a corner, or on it and I hit a really bumping section, or a pot-hole. Shit, it starts vibrating really bad - Time for an alignment and another balance job!