Rim Problems

[2002greenhornet]

I'm really depressed. I guess I shouldn't be surprised however. I should have taken Rizal's advice.

My new rim & tire setup vibrates over 60mph. Levels off and is less noticeable from 66 to 75, then gets bad at 80 again and levels off--but still vibrates all the way up to 100+ mph. The vibration is both front and back, as I can feel it in the seat AND in the steering wheel to varying degrees throughout the speed range. I tried switching front to back but it didn't help. There is no way I can live with this.

I got this setup from DiscountTireDirect.com. They promised me this wouldn't happen. I called them last week and told them about the problem and they said that I should get them balanced locally and they would reimburse me. I went to a good shop (thanks again to Rizal for the referral) and they re-balanced them, saying all of them were out of balance. No mention of bent rims. I was actually glad to hear that, hoping that my problem was fixed. It wasn't. Same behavior as described above. Since I've also had the car lowered, I decided to put the stock rims back on to make sure it wasn't the suspension. It's not, the cars rolls smooth as glass at all speeds with the stock rims.

One thing I noticed when switching back the stock rims is that the hub centering ring that comes with the aftermarket setup fits snugly--but not tight. You can wiggle it a teeny bit back and forth on the hub. The stock wheels fit EXACTLY. You can't move them even a tiny bit when they are seated on the hub. I wonder if this very slight play would allow the wheel to be mounted off-center enough to cause the problem.

I'd like to hear what others are experiencing with their aftermarket wheels. These 5Zigen wheels are supposed to be good and so are the Nitto tires from what I've heard. Is this wrong? Maybe I was blinded by my desire to save a little money and bought crap. What do you think?

Thanks in advance.

[s e y t o n]

try getting better fitting hub centric rings. if the rims are not bent and properly balanced, that would be the only logical problem seeing as how everything else is fine.

i have 18s, i had a similar problem but rebalancing and hub centric rings did the trick.

good luck.

[cruze105]

try getting better fitting hub centric rings. if the rims are not bent and properly balanced, that would be the only logical problem seeing as how everything else is fine.

i have 18s, i had a similar problem but rebalancing and hub centric rings did the trick.

good luck.

^ what he said. if u go over excess speeds of 60 you would feel the shaking cuz u either have no centric rings or they are not snugged in tight.

[hari-bhari]

i have a similar problem with my new 18s. its only been 2 weeks . where do i get these new rings and how much do they cost for parts and installation?

[2002greenhornet]

They are just small steel or aluminum (?) rings made for your car model that fit on the hub to take up slack around the center of a wheel that is manufactured for multiple model applications. They are supposed to fit exactly. They should have come with your wheels if they are needed. If you need them and didn't get them, the people you bought your wheels from or the wheel manufacturer should have them for about $3 each.

You can install them yourself. Just remove the wheel normally, slip the ring over the hub (make sure it seats properly), and reinstall the wheel. Use a torque wrench to tighten the lugs!! Don't just guess. 85 ft/lbs should do it.

[2002greenhornet]

By the way, hari, your car looks awesome.

[thealkimo]

i had vibration at 60mph+ too after installing 18s and tried hub centric rings but to no avail so i ended up getting my wheels rebalanced, even tho i paid the distributor to balance them for me

oh well, try hub centrics first cuz they're cheap and then try rebalancing.

[SolaraT]

Make sure it is not the tire making the vibrations because I have one tire that will not balance no mater what. The rim is perfect the the tire is wacked out of shape. It would be more expensive to get it fixed. High performance shops have better balance systems designed for lo pro tires and what not.

[noodlerooney]

I thought 76 ft-lbs was the correct torque for our rims. And don't use any antiseize on the lugs.

[2002greenhornet]

76ft lbs is too low, IMO. My owners manual says 80ft lbs. A lot of rim sellers say between 80 and 100, which of course is intentionally vague, to cover their asses. The speed shop that did the lowering job on my car said he uses 85. 85ft lb is a good number that you can still get off with a regular lug wrench if you have a flat. DiscountTireDirect has a good chart.

[noodlerooney]

76 ft-lbs is factory spec. from the factory repair manual for the OEM alloy rims (2000 SLE V6). I thought you could run into problems (rotor warping?) with over-torqueing. Granted, 80 ft-lbs is only 5.3% over spec.

[2002greenhornet]

You're right. I just double-checked the owners manual and it also says 76ft lbs. I don't know why I had in my head that it said 80. I've been doing so much poking around on this, I got mixed up I guess. In any case, like you said, there's not that much difference, even if you go to 85ft lbs it's unlikely to cause any problems. In reality, the difference between 76 and 85 is probably less than a quarter-turn of the nut.