TL260power

I went to the dealer yesterday to get these two problems fixed and they said I needed Hubcentral rings to be installed on my wheels. I have aftermarket rims and tires. I got the wheels installed locally at Tires Plus. He asked me if I got the rims/tires installed locally and I said yes. He told me to go over there and see if they have it. I installed my rims/tires 3 years ago. I can't remember if I ever did an alignment at the dealer. But what the hell are Hubcentral rings. I never heard of that. He said they are what hold the wheel securely onto the car. Can't remember the term. Calipers..anyways..Has anybody have this problem before???

Well the dealer told that they won't be able to do the alignment and fix the shake on the steering wheel because they would need the rings to tighten the wheel onto the car and without it the problem will continue no matter what...

01tl4tl

HUB Centric rings- no problem!
to understand whats happening- the center of the rotor edge has a HUB or lip that sticks out- on the stock wheels, this size is matched to the center hole on rim.
When you get aftermarket rims there is often a larger center hole on them- so when the lug nuts get snugged up- there is a chance of misalignment of the rim to the studs.

Go to the place that sells the rims and buy a set- it should have come with but....

its a plastic or metal ring- you slip it into the center of the rim. make sure it seated flat-
now the 2 sizes have an adaptor between them and all is well

TL260power

Ok thanks...yeah I wonder why it didn't come with my rims...But I will buy some at Tires plus. I'm sure they have them there or should I order some from Motegi? Those are my wheels...

01tl4tl

try local first and the problem can be solved on the spot- they measure the 2 parts and get the right adaptor for you- may even put them on!!!

If you ever had them off for balancing- its very possible they were lost and left off then.
The tire balance machine needs the rings removed- then they are forgotten

TL260power

^^^ I might of had my tires balanced and they probably forgot to put them back on...Not sure...

Sweet07TL-S

I had the same problem with my 07 TL-S until recently. I got 5Zigen wheels and Falken 452 tires put back in the middle of february at Discount Tire. Since then the car was smooth as silk until 55-mph. Over that and the car would start shaking noticeably. The faster I went, the worse it would shake. I just went back to them 2 days ago (I'm lazy) and had them check it out. The rings were missing and I had the wrong lugnuts (OEM) on the car. They set me up with the rings for free (they didn't notice they were missing the first time) and new lug nuts. Cost me $32. The shaking completely went away. I tested her out on the FL T-pike on the way home up to around 95mph. It is smooth as hell.

gshantanu

Went to Firestone, forked over 70 bucks but all they did was align my TL's front wheels. When I asked about rear wheels (which were obviously out of alignment from the printout they gave me), they said they would need to break some bolts for that and it will cost more. Does this sound correct? They asked for about 250 bucks for parts and labor to fix the rear wheel alignment.

I did not bring my car back yet, but do you guys think I should get this done? My car used to pull slightly towards the left (on highways).

TL260power

Ok I finally got my alignment fixed. What happen was my front left tire had a metal broken inside. I think the guy said that.. I can't remember. It was two weeks ago..Anyways so that what's causing the car to still shake. So I but new tires and brought it back. Now my car feels good as new..I also bought the centric rings.

01tl4tl

gsh- the TL has an easy to adjust rear toe--
for the camber they would have to change some parts- but only if you have significantly lowered the car!
Stock- the front and rear TOE is what you pay to have adjusted- 70 bucks for a 4 wheel thrust alignment is normal
Make a visit to the shop and speak with the manager, if they dont know how to do it, thats fine- just refund your money and go somewhere that does right.

TL260- sometimes potholes can impact a tire hard enough to break one of the belts inside and cause all sorts of problems. One of the reasons to buy Road Hazard when you can!
Any other hassle and report them to the state auto repair board

gshantanu

Thanks 01tl4tl, I got back my car. The camber is fine (I have not lowered my car). It is all about toe. I think they mentioned that usually it is adjustable, but nuts in my car were stuck/welded/hard to adjust and they would have to break 'em. And that is why they wanted to charge the additional sum...I have given up on Firestone and will go to some other place.

FirePR2002

I gave up on them a long time ago - never had a good experience with Firestone. I'll drive across town to avoid Firestone. Good luck!

sb65

Wish I could figure out why my car shakes between 62 and 80 mph. It started right when I replaced the OEM Michelins with Yoko Avid V4s, and I run OEM rims on my 2003 TL. I even replaced a wheel that one tire place said was slightly bent. So far I've had them balanced 6 times at 2 different shops, with no improvement. I'm thinking I might just ditch the Yoko's and go back to OEM Michelins or try some bridgestones, even though the Yoko's only have about 20K miles on them. I really miss that smooth-as-glass ride I used to have.

The last shop to try to balance them also asked about whether it had hub-centric rings, and I had not heard of them so I told them that I highly doubted it. They checked anyway and affirmed that the OEM wheels did not have them.