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Hey guys I need your help it some vibrations...w/20" rims

BiGBlAcKAv 03

BiGBlAcKAv 03

Full Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
257
Location
Miami,FL
??? hey guys well last week I bought a set of 20 inch rims and now im gettin vibration when i drive over 65 mph has anyone else encountered this problem? at frst i thiugt it was the balancing but the place where i got my wheels from said it was my alignment can someone please help??? its driving me crazy. :8: well I will be waiting for any and all replies thank you for your time...

Adrian
 
I find a better shop......did youhit some potholes and maybe bend a rim or egg it?
 
What he said ;)
Most run of the mill tire shops do not have the equipment to properly allign whells and tires of that size.
The town I live in is just under 1 million people and there is likely about 4 shops in town that can do a proper job. Looking at the equipment it is no small investment :eek:
Besides the vibration bugging you there will be more wear as a result of this. I suspect if you call any aftermarket wheel store they can give you the name of a local shop to do this.

Take care.
BTW, I only run my 20's in the summer and have the set up done each time I've put them on (2) and will do so each spring.
 
I think everyone with a car or truck should know about this - certainly anyone experiencing vibrations while driving. I'm very happy to have found out about this machine years ago and now I only go to shops that have the Hunter GSP9700 machine - it's the ONLY way to go when you're having tires and wheel work done (tires rotated, buying new wheels and/or tires, etc.). (y) (y) (y)

The GSP9700 Vibration Control System extends far beyond the traditional functions of a wheel balancer. It not only solves wheel balance problems, but also "road tests" the tire/wheel assembly to eliminate virtually every variable causing vibration in relation to the tire and rim.

cover.jpg


The GSP9700 Vibration Control System includes Hunter's exclusive Road Force Measurement System. This system utilizes a "road roller" which measures the uniformity of the wheel and tire, simulating a road force test and verifying if the assembly is "round when rolling" under load. Now nearly all wheel/tire-related vibration problems can be diagnosed and/or eliminated in seconds.

roadTest.jpg


The good news is you can find shops in your area with a Hunter machine by asking around (do not use a shop that doesn't have this machine) or by going to their Web site! They have a specific Web page that will help you find one nearby:

http://128.242.141.111/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm

You will pay a bit more for wheels/tires spun up on this machine but it's worth the extra few bucks each to have it done. I repeat, do not have wheel/tire work done on your vehicles without having this machine used on your wheels/tires. Once you have this machine used you'll never want to go back to other tire/wheel places again.

You can see how it works by going to this Web page:
http://128.242.141.111/pub/images/demo.cfm

It's very cool and once you understand the logic behind it (finding the high spot on the wheel and the high spot on the tire which allows the wheel/tire place to rotate them so that it minimizes the affect on vibration when driving) you'll never go back to a shop that doesn't have a Hunter machine. Ask for the GSP9700 by that number since Hunter makes a lot of tire/wheel machines!
 
MMD, I agree that that is one of the pieces of equipment, and the shop I use has one. While this does a great job of balancing, there is another item I consider important, the ability to do a 4 wheel alignment. There is another very sext piece of gear that does this. Wish i know the brand but don't. They line up all 4 wheels when I swap from 17 to 20 and/or the other way around. (y)
 
Magic Mtn Dan said:
The GSP9700 Vibration Control System extends far beyond the traditional functions of a wheel balancer. It not only solves wheel balance problems, but also "road tests" the tire/wheel assembly to eliminate virtually every variable causing vibration in relation to the tire and rim.
Click to expand...
This is a nice peice of gear. When I bought my truck, they gave me the grand tour of the dealership, including the shop. They had one of these machines, and were very proud of it. They were working on a set of tires as I was passing through and the tech gave a thorough demonstration of all that it does. He said he looks forward to someone having tire problems becuase he likes running that machine so much.

As nice as the machine is, I'm glad I haven't needed its services yet. >:D But it's nice to know that it's there.

-- SS
 
well thanks for all the info i checked my wheels for bends or eggsand nothing there fine i mean i just got them and i have them wrped in decent rubber so thaat i dont have to freak out about daily driving.. so you guys think its the shopi went to that used a crappy balancer or do you think its my alignment like the guys at the shop told me.. a few of my friends had told me that i had to re align my car and thats wht the problem was. what d you guys think? how uch doesit cost to realign a car?? well look foward to your help again and thanks for responding.
Adrian
 
I had the same problem with my 20's and the first thing that American Racing (manufacturer of the rims) asked is to remove the tabs on the wheel studs. These tabs look like washers and are installed during the assembly process. The tabs are installed on two out of the six studs on each hub. If you remove one of the wheels you'll quickly see exactly what I mean. Removing the tabs greatly improved the vibration problem but did not fix it completely. It turned out that I had one bad rim/tire assembly up front. The wheel would balance just fine (had all wheels rebalanced 5 times) but the vibration would persist. I'm currently waiting for a new rim and tire. Not sure if it's the tire or the rim but I'm tired of messing around (and the shop too) so I'll have both replaced. Right now the bad wheel is on the back so I don't feel any vibrations in the steering wheel. Should get the new set next week.

If you think you have a bad wheel you may try to swap front/back one side at a time in order to isolate the bad wheel, this is what I did.

Good luck !
 
The same thing happened to me. Once the tabs were off of the studs, everything was great. Prior to that, vibration from 60 to 70 was pretty bad.
 
Thanks for the info.. what is the tab? i dont understand what you mean by that? when they installed the rims they put a white plastic ring suposably to keep the tire from moving around in ways it shouldnt.. can you elaborate on what the tabs are please? thank you very much once again. and again I only notice this vibration at 60-70 mphs and its bad in the steering wheel my feet everything shakes and its driving me crazy..
 
Like I said, jack your truck up and take one the wheels off and you'll see. The tabs look like washers and are installed on two wheel studs on each hub, they inserted all the way and are touching the brake disk. Take a screwdriver and a hammer and cut them off. There isn't really much more I can say but it's an easy job for one person to do, you just have to do one wheel at a time unless you can lift the entire truck.

Also, when putting your wheels back make sure to torque them to 120 ft-lbs in a diagonal pattern and check the torque again after 50 miles.

Let us know if this helps.
 
Final torque on the lug nuts should be 140ft/lbs.
 
I had a vibration on my old american racing rims that could not be solved, the tire shop sent them back and put new ones on that worked fine. I think it is definately your rims/balancing and not the alignment. Alignments affect tire wear/pulling/on center feel etc., they have nothing to do with vibrations- your alignment would have to be so out of whack you'd see from afar for it to cause a vibration. I think they are trying to pass the buck and charge for an alignment.

One point- did your truck vibrate BEFORE the new rims? If not, then what did they do to cause that- it just doesn't show up.

Ed
 
Thanks alot guys this weekend i should hopefully ave hi problem fixed im going to remove the tabs and torque the wheels and if that doesnt work im going to cause all sorts of hell for the shop that sold them to me..

thanks again for all the helpful information.
 
i think another problem that causes the custom rims not to spin as smooth is the type of balance. the static balance that is put on these rims is not as good as a dynamic balance. the difference between the two:

dynamic balance- the weight is fixed to the outside lip of the rim

static balance - the weight is applied to the inside of the rim using double-sided tape.

most people want the static of course. who wants a weight stuck on the outside of $5k set of wheels. but, they can be balanced by a knowledgeable shop that has the right equipment.
 
Magic Mtn Dan said:
The good news is you can find shops in your area with a Hunter machine by asking around (do not use a shop that doesn't have this machine) or by going to their Web site! They have a specific Web page that will help you find one nearby:

http://128.242.141.111/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm
Click to expand...
The good news for folks in the NW is that it seems most (all?) Les Schwab stores have this machine (the 5 in Salem do). Good technical insight, Dan!

Brendan
 
Well I hope this message about the Hunter GSP9700 machine gets to the many folks who are buying new wheels and tires. There's nothing like putting them on and getting vibrations - it can ruin your new tire/wheel experience and it just doesn't have to happen. If you're posting on any threads about new tires and wheels you might want to direct them to this thread. They'll be glad you did.

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As MMD said you need to find a shop that has a Hunter GSP9700, and your troubles will be gone.
I was having the same problems with my new 18" chrome terons, and the road force balancing cured any vibration in fact I can't believe how smooth my AV rides now ;D cost me $50.00 to have all 4 tires done.
 
Good info, I pray that it isn't a bad rim. I'm having the same problem along some other issues, but I only got the horrible vibrations once I had my tires rotated. So I will have them re-rotated to try and see if it could possibly be the wheel..

Anyone else having this problem?
 
Summary :
1-Hunter balance (they will need to match mount). This is a dynamic balance and does have the ability to use stick on weights placed behind spokes
2-Push-nuts-- take them off the studs (2 pushnuts on each brake corner)
3-make sure your wheel is hub-centric, I think those "inserts" that go between the rim's bore and the hub are not as effective as having a wheel that is machined to the hub size directly.

Sometimes you can get a tire that has so much imbalance force variation that it won't balance (get a new tire)
 
Hey guys...new tothe board. I managed a custom center at an area Caddy dealer. We had the HUNTER machine and it fixed 90% of the vibration problems. Another member mentioned the brake retention clips...a few wheel manufactures cast or machine a relief on the back of the rim to clear them. another point of interest is if your wheels are lug centric or hub centric.


As the names imply, A lug centric wheel relies on the wheel-studs and lug nuts to center the wheel on the hub. The hub centric centers the wheel on the hub ( raised ring in the center of the brakes. If you have lug centric wheels...call the wheel manufacture and ask them for centering rings.

Also, when you use the Hunter machine, It will tell you the "force Variation". Rarely a tire and wheel assembly is perfect (0 lb. assembly). On the EXT and Lanches, we would not mount the assembly if it was more than a 20 lb. assembly. meaning when the tire spins on the truck, one point of the tire is exerting an extra 20lbs. of forceon the ground...kind of like bouncing a basketball.

One last point, for those of us with 20" and larger wheels. The tires have to be hot to get an acurate force reading. It's a major pain in the a$$ but your ride quality is worth it. The machine will tell you what each wheel forced at so when you mount them you can put them in the right location ex(lf=lightest....rf=next lightest then lr and finaly rr) the trucks chassis will absorb some vibration but more than @20lbs. you will feel.


BTW just drove from Tampa to the Poconos and back on 22s with no problems or vibrations
 
Everything posted here has been correct, those Hunter balancers
are fantastic.

If you still have a problem with balance, have them dis-mount the tire
turn it 90 degrees on the rim, and balance it again. Sometimes the tire and wheel are way out, and by coincidence they are mounted with the heavy spot matching, the balancer won't compensate. Turning them
allows them to balance.

Worst case, its the wheel. I had new wheels put on my chevy pickup years ago, and the wheels (Quality brand / Name deleted to protect the guilty) were soooooo far off they would not balance well.

Luckily a friend ran the tire store, he kept one wheel, sent the other three back to the distributer and got 3 more. All of them were bad too!
Made them send him 10 more! Finally found four he would put on my
truck. Ran smooth for 155K miles from then on.

Guess it was a bad batch of wheels, but the point is exhaust all possibilities........For the cost of wheels and tires, they should be
perfect.
 
;D

Rotated the tires yesterday and the horrible vibration/shake went away.

So I suppose that means that one of tires/wheels is messed up. I will have both tires remounted to the wheels and see if that is the problem. I suppose if that doesn't take care of it that I will need to start looking for a new single rim??

Thanks for the info guys.
 
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