Has anyone else had problems with steering wheel shimmy/vibration with wheel/tires packages purchased online? This package was apparently "balanced" beforehand.
Anyway, so I take my car in to get the wheels balanced again at a local shop, cuz I'm getting shimmy/vibration between 60-70 mph. The place, later on, tells me that they were "unable to balance them". I call BS on that one. I called Buy Wheels Today.com, where I purchased them, and they called BS on it, too. Then, when I drive my car, I get vibration from 40-70 mph.
Then, when I drive home later, I see that my right front wheel is missing the TSW logo wheel center piece, so it's on a road somewhere in town. Like, WTF?
Anyone else have probs with wheel/tire packages ordered online?
I had problems when I purchased Torq Thrust 2's for my 2000 Camaro SS online. It was one of the worst experiences. All four rims arrived damaged from when they mounted the tires. When I called to complain, they said it must have happened during shipping. I had to get American Racing involved in order to get the situation resolved.
Last May, I ordered a 17" tire/rim package for my Cavalier from The Tire Rack. Best balance I've EVER gotten on aftermarket tires or rims. I've take the car up to 100 mph w/o any shimmy or shake.
I have problems getting my Stern ST-1s balanced correctly. They seem to be remarkably difficult to balance. It took two different places and 5 tries to get them acceptable... and then last week I rotated my tires and told them to go ahead and balance them, and sure enough now there's a shimmy again. The weird thing is I even stood there and watched them balance them, and the machine said they were good (at least as far as I could tell, I am by no means checked out on a wheel balancer). Guess I should have left well enough alone
I had all kinds of problems getting the aftermarket wheels and tires balanced on my car. You can look for someone with a Hunter 9600 machine to balance them. That will get you close. However, you may be dealing with out of round tires. What kind of tires did you get? My first of aftermarket tires were Falkens -- and they were absolute garbage. Now I've got some Generals -- and they're great.
You may also double check the torque of the lugnuts. If they're too tight or done inconsistently, that could cause issues as well.
Hate to tell you, but unless you get lucky, you're looking at multiple trips to the store to get these things done right. When you go to your local tire shop, ask for their best man, usually the manager, to do the balancing.
Overall, just be methodical. See if the tires are out of round, Hunter 9600 balance, get somebody good to do the balance -- and make sure the lugs are tightened right. If the tires aren't any good, the best you can do is put up with a slight vibration until they're toast. Either that or buy tires from your local dealer and sent the mail order ones back.
Last edited by b_a_betterperson : 08-22-2007 at 12:59 PM.
Well, I went do Discount Tire and they balanced them pretty well. Still some slight vibration between 40-50, but tolerable. I'll leave it at that. It definitely has been a learning experience.
My rubber is Kumho Ecsta SPT's, and it's a staggered package. BuyWheelsToday.com has been highly cooperative, great customer service. They are going to reimburse me for the bad balance, and sent me a new center cap free of charge.
Don't know if I'd go with buying online again though, it seems to be hit and miss with quality.
I buy my tires online through tires.com -- which is owned by Discount Tire Direct. Either that or I get the best online price, then go to DTD who matches it on the spot.
Seriously? I think part of the issue is with the Kumhos. A lot of the Asian brands just seem to have a lot more issues with being out of round than other brands.
I have been to hell and back with Discount Tires. I bought the warrenty on my tire when I bought the car. Went to get the normal rotate and balance from them and they scratch up all four wheels. I told the manager he had to make it right. So he ordered me a new set of custom wheels I picked out. The guys there do a static balance instead of a dynamic. 2nd mistake. I guess by this point they are tired of dealing with me so I go to another store, one of the wheels are calling for a lot of weight, I am told the tire might be bad. Looking at all the tires, they have ozone cracking so they replace all the tires and one of the wheels came out out of round so one more new rim. Get everything on today and still got some shaking in the steering wheel around speeds of 50-60. Not as bad, considering living with it but, it just upsets me that if they would have took there time from the beginning and not scratched all four orginal wheels I would have still be fine.
I had all kinds of problems getting the aftermarket wheels and tires balanced on my car. You can look for someone with a Hunter 9600 machine to balance them. That will get you close. However, you may be dealing with out of round tires. What kind of tires did you get? My first of aftermarket tires were Falkens -- and they were absolute garbage. Now I've got some Generals -- and they're great.
You may also double check the torque of the lugnuts. If they're too tight or done inconsistently, that could cause issues as well.
Hate to tell you, but unless you get lucky, you're looking at multiple trips to the store to get these things done right. When you go to your local tire shop, ask for their best man, usually the manager, to do the balancing.
Overall, just be methodical. See if the tires are out of round, Hunter 9600 balance, get somebody good to do the balance -- and make sure the lugs are tightened right. If the tires aren't any good, the best you can do is put up with a slight vibration until they're toast. Either that or buy tires from your local dealer and sent the mail order ones back.
Well, I'm having bad vibration problems between 50-70 MPH again. One mechanic I've used said that DT has a "roadforce" machine that checks if the tires are out of round. I called them and they verified this. DT also said that they can fix out of round tires? Does this sound right? Anyway, here goes try number 2, wish me luck.
Has anyone else had problems with steering wheel shimmy/vibration with wheel/tires packages purchased online? This package was apparently "balanced" beforehand.
Anyway, so I take my car in to get the wheels balanced again at a local shop, cuz I'm getting shimmy/vibration between 60-70 mph. The place, later on, tells me that they were "unable to balance them". I call BS on that one. I called Buy Wheels Today.com, where I purchased them, and they called BS on it, too. Then, when I drive my car, I get vibration from 40-70 mph.
Then, when I drive home later, I see that my right front wheel is missing the TSW logo wheel center piece, so it's on a road somewhere in town. Like, WTF?
Anyone else have probs with wheel/tire packages ordered online?
hey man, hows it going. i think your problem is, you need hub rings for your TSW wheels. with out the rings they vibrate. remember, we have hub centric wheels,. not lug centric. when you get the hub rings try to get them out of billet aluminum or stain less steel. there is this guy on ls1gto that makes them. cijason.
jm.
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The weird thing is I even stood there and watched them balance them, and the machine said they were good (at least as far as I could tell, I am by no means checked out on a wheel balancer). Guess I should have left well enough alone 
Well, I went do Discount Tire and they balanced them pretty well. Still some slight vibration between 40-50, but tolerable. I'll leave it at that. It definitely has been a learning experience. 
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