If you guys could help that would be great.

I purchased H&R 15mm wheel spacers a few days ago, slapped them on with no trouble at all.
Now when I reach 60 - 75 mph on the freeway my steering wheel vibrates violently.
I took them off , cleaned the hub for any particles that I missed the first time around. Re torqued them at 80 ft lbs. Still has the problem...

Any ideas of what it could be, if you could name some things to check I will do them one by one.

Thanks a lot for your input.

 

15mm is a fairly large amount of spacing.


You do have extended wheel studs correct? if not i'd say thats your problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">15mm is a fairly large amount of spacing.


You do have extended wheel studs correct? if not i'd say thats your problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah I do , thanks for the response..

anyone else?

 

This would be stupid to think it's not the case, but are you sure the wheels are properly balanced?

 

I have no experience with the H&R units but had some 19mm units made for my racecar and have no trouble. Are the spacers hub centric such that they align in the hub on their back side and then into the wheel on the front? This is not mandatory but it is helpful. If not hub centric, you will need to take a bit more effort in making sure that the wheel goes on as evenly and centered as possible, by tightening the lugs pretty consistently in the X patttern and even partially turning the wheel around a bit as you do it.

Although the balance could be part of it, if you had no vibration before then the spacers or more likely your process is causing it to to be truly centered.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX Lee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have no experience with the H&R units but had some 19mm units made for my racecar and have no trouble. Are the spacers hub centric such that they align in the hub on their back side and then into the wheel on the front? This is not mandatory but it is helpful. If not hub centric, you will need to take a bit more effort in making sure that the wheel goes on as evenly and centered as possible, by tightening the lugs pretty consistently in the X patttern and even partially turning the wheel around a bit as you do it.

Although the balance could be part of it, if you had no vibration before then the spacers or more likely your process is causing it to to be truly centered.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah , these spacers are made with really good quality. they are hubcentric.
I called h&r and asked them if there was a possibility of these spacers not being balanced correctly. he told me to check the balance and rotors and get back to him..
im going to get my wheel balanced and see what happens...
if its not that, then it must be the alignment . if my wheel bearings were bad It would make a howling noise rather than a vibration, right?

Thanks for the replies gentlemen.

 

any one else?

 

It may be the technique you are using to put the tires on (just a wild guess).
I tighten each lug by hand, in the star pattern (no wrench), over the course of 2 passes, starting on the bottom first. I then tighten them again, and then finally torque to 80 lb/ft.

I am using non-hubcentric spacers which explains the drawn out process, but I've never had a problem (except when I tried to tighten them all in one pass with an air gun- then I had major wobble).

Ben

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bnjmn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It may be the technique you are using to put the tires on (just a wild guess).
I tighten each lug by hand, in the star pattern (no wrench), over the course of 2 passes, starting on the bottom first. I then tighten them again, and then finally torque to 80 lb/ft.

I am using non-hubcentric spacers which explains the drawn out process, but I've never had a problem (except when I tried to tighten them all in one pass with an air gun- then I had major wobble).

Ben</TD></TR></TABLE>

thanks for the reply ben, yeah i do that same process as well.
Im going to get my wheels balanced today, lets see what happens..

 

That`s bizarre. I would think it`s a spacer issue.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecvoodoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That`s bizarre. I would think it`s a spacer issue.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Seriously, I called H&R and the guy told me " our spacers are designed to pass tuv regulations and hold speeds up to 180 mph on the autobahn" .

My response " well I live in the states and my wheel shakes like hell going 70"

H&R " it's your car , not the spacer"

 

Germans do make mistakes

If possible, have a machine shop check them.

What car are they for? If we have a set laying around you can just try ours.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtecvoodoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Germans do make mistakes

If possible, have a machine shop check them.

What car are they for? If we have a set laying around you can just try ours. </TD></TR></TABLE>

it's for a 94 - 01 integra.

Thanks bro..


Modified by reza at 9:26 PM 5/4/2005

 

i have used spacers as large as an inch with no vibration issues. sounds like a wheel balance issue to me.

 

The spacers may be hubcentric wrt the hub but they also must be hubcentric with regards to the wheels. Are these after market wheels? If so, did they come with centering rings? If not then that's your problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 00R101 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The spacers may be hubcentric wrt the hub but they also must be hubcentric with regards to the wheels. Are these after market wheels? If so, did they come with centering rings? If not then that's your problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah my rims have rings as well , its a nice fit...

 

any more info ?

 

yea man make shure they are tightened evenly. i have 40mm spacers on mine, and i had torqed them down unevenly because i was in a ruch and above 80mph it was horrible. torque them down like 40ftlbs in a star then 60ftlbs and then 80ftlbs all around see if that helps

 

Can you run your wheels without the spacers? If the car runs fine without the spacers, at least you know it's either from the spacers or how you installed the spacers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Another Drew &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Can you run your wheels without the spacers? If the car runs fine without the spacers, at least you know it's either from the spacers or how you installed the spacers.</TD></TR></TABLE>


take the spacers off and see if it stops.

 

I would take the spacers off if i was you. I used to work at a Americas/Discount tire shop and we wouldnt work on cars with spacers because they cause such a problem. If your tires dont rub with them off then take them off. Your not getting the proper tq on the lugs when you have spacers on. Big risk of snapping a stud or even worse, having a wheel come off at 80 mph. when your putting your whees on, tighten them all by finger as tight as you can, then tq them to 80 lbs in a star then a circle. make sure you dont drop the car all the way, just so your tires touch and dont spin when your tq them. If you werent doing this before that could be your problem cause your tq wrench will click but it wont be at 80 lb/ft of tq. Let me know how it worked. Good luck.

 

I say take off the spacers. If you are trying to fit some rims, then get longer wheel studs. Thats what I had to do on my car.