I have a 2005 honda civic dx. I recently got new rims and new tires.
Hero HR 558: I know they are really cheap.
14" Kosei alloys

I first bought the tires and had them put on the stock steel rims. Right after, I drove on the highway and got a shimmy in the front end. Steering wheel shakes between 60 and 70mph.
Goes away till 80mph. When I let the load off, no braking, it shimmies a little.
So I went back to the tire shop and they said that my steel rims were bent.
So I bought the Kosei rims and had them put on. But there is still a shimmy.
Went back to the tire shop and they rebalanced them. Put weights on the outside instead of the sticky inside ones. Still shimmies.

I drove the new tires on the bent steel rims for about two hundred miles, before I got the new rims.
1) Would this have warped the tire or tires?
2) Are the crappy cheap Sigma's the culprit cuz they aren't the best tire?
3) What's up with hubcentric rings?
4) If I drive enough with the new tires and rims, will they eventually break in and the shimmies will go away?

I've had the ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings, and the struts checked out and they are all tight.
I am certainly not an expert of any kind so any advice and solutions would help.
Thanks.

 

First things first. Are you still using your stock lug nuts with aftermarket wheels? If you are, you'll need to get a set of lug nuts with a conical/tapered seating area to match the seating area on the aftermarket wheels. Then see if the shimmy/vibration is still there. You're going to need to do this, regardless, so you may as well do this first, to rule out the lug nuts as the cause of the vibration. And if the vibration is gone, you're done.

Other than the wrong lug nuts, most of the time a shimmy/vibration is caused by an imbalance in the wheels/tires. It can also be caused by a lack of hubcentric rings with aftermarket rims.

If you have more than one set of wheels and tires, it's relatively easy to tell whether it's the wheels and tires; just swap from one set to another. It's unlikely that two different sets are both unbalanced.

If you have a friend with a Civic or Integra and who has an extra set of wheels and tires that are known to be properly balanced, you can try swapping them onto your car to see if it still shimmies/vibrates (even if the tire size isn't exactly what you would buy for your own car).

However, correct me if I'm wrong, but in your case it sounds like they removed the tires from your old steel wheels and mounted them on your aftermarket wheels. You can often figure out which wheel/tire is not balanced by moving them around from one corner of the car to another. That's what I would do, to try to isolate which wheel/tire is causing the problem. In your case, it's quite possible that you have a defective tire, whose weight can be balanced but which still shimmies. And if a tire is causing the vibration, that means it's defective and should be replaced under warranty, no questions asked. (It's also quite possible that your steel wheels weren't bent in the first place, but that's a separate issue.)

Any reputable wheel shop where you bought wheels new should include a set of hubcentric rings if the centerbore on the wheels is not the same as the hub size. If they didn't give them to you, demand it, or demand a refund. Then after you put on the hubcentric rings, see if the vibration is still there.

 

Hi thanks for the response.
Well, the wheels I bought came with wheel locks. But I guess that still doesn't mean that they didn't put them on wrong.
So what your saying is if I rotate the tires, essentially I will be able to tell which wheel could possibly be defective. But there is know way for me to balance the wheel to that side of the car so...how does this work? Excuse my confusion...

 

i mean it doesnt mean that they put them on right

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hundo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So what your saying is if I rotate the tires, essentially I will be able to tell which wheel could possibly be defective. But there is know way for me to balance the wheel to that side of the car so...how does this work? Excuse my confusion...</TD></TR></TABLE>

You said that there is a shimmy in the front end. Switch the front tires with the rear tires. If the shimmy moves to the rear (or goes away), then the problem is with one of the tires that's now in the rear. You can switch them back, one at a time, and try it to see which side has the shimmy move back to the front.

 

o i see, thanks for the tip. i'll try that and let you know.