so, i had a set of kosei k1's on my car and they were smooth, no shaking or wierd feeling in the steering wheel. then they got stolen so i put back on my stock ex wheels (hub caps 14 inch) and they are smooth, no problems.

well i just traded a set of enkei nt-03s to my friend for his almost new wedsport sa90's. super fresh wheels with 205 50 r15's on them. i put thease wheels on my car and the steering feels very stiff and sloppy. all the tires have the right amount of air. they all have weights on them so im assuming they are balanced properly.

not sure what the problem is. i installed them properly. am i using the stock lug nuts that the car came with. im about to take the wheels to discount tire and have them re ballanced. but before i spend 15 bucks per wheel i figured id ask for help.

thanks

 

"feels very stiff" is not a real technical description. Hard to say what your issue really is.

 

thanks for the help. it basically just shakes the steering wheel when im up to 60mph but other then that, the steering just feels sloppy.

 

Balance and alignment.

 

+1 that is what I would say

 

i had an alignment a few months ago. the problem was the wheel balance. but then the counter weights they used on the inside of the rim was a clip on weight and it was smaking my A frame on my rear suspension when i took a hard right turn. found out the rear trailing arm busings are bad... especially on the passenger side. so now i got to get them re ballanced using sticky weights

 

start by getting the new wheels re balanced. Also are the tires worn evenly. Are the new wheels hub centric or lug centric?

 

the wheels seem to be fine now that i had them rebalanced (even though i need to get them rebalanced using sticky weights) but alot of people are telling me i need hub centric rings, and ive been to discount and leschwab and they dont have any that fit the rim. but they have ones that fit my hub. my hub is a 73 and the guy at discount is guessing the rim is a 66

 

You can get hubcentric rings off of Ebay if you know the ID of your rims. 1010tires sells them.

 

does anyone know a hub centric ring size for thease rims?

 

so, the hub on my car is 56.15 and the wheel bore is 65mm. i cant find any that fit the rim though. is it possible to have them custom made?

 

I told you to go to http://www.1010tires.com/hubrings.asp
If you don't see your rings contact them. Fair warning, if you buy from them shipping is murder.

 

You did not install the wheels correctly if you are using Honda lug nuts on aftermarket wheels. The Honda lug nuts have the wrong shape for aftermarket wheels.

 

Yep, you need aftermarket lugs for aftermarket wheels

 

I wouldn't even bother with an alignment if your alignment was fine before you got the new wheels. If the problem only appears with the new wheels, the logical conclusion is that it's the new variable you introduced.

Get the Wheels/tires balanced. That will cost a lot less than an alignment and a wheel/tire balance.

 

As others have said, the problem could have been the lug-nuts.

OEM wheels are hub-centric. For this reason, they use ball-shaped lug nuts. These have good contact with the rim, but don't center the wheel. But they don't need to since the wheel is being centered via the hub.

Aftermarket wheels have an oversized center bore so they can fit many different vehicles. Since they are not located via the hub, they must be centered via the lug nuts. For this reason, the lug nuts have a conical shape that will help to center the wheel as best they can once tightened. The problem with this setup is that over time, your pressed wheel studs can shift and the wheel can move on the hub causing repeated balance issues. Usually removing and re-installing the lugs will solve this for a while until the wheel shifts again (this has been my experience).

Now if the shop installed your aftermarket wheels with ball-seat lugs, chances are they have screwed up your wheels tapered seat (soft aluminum gets gouged by the hard steel lug). This in-turn screws up the seats ability to center the wheel next time you install them. The best thing to do from here, would be to get a set of hub-rings. Tirerack usually knows all the hub diameters and wheel bores. Plus their hub-rings are made of aluminum and not plastic. I've used a set for like 7 years now and never had a balance issue afterward. This will make sure your wheels stay centered no mater what the condition of the lugs or seats. It would still be best to get a set of conical lug-nuts too for a better/proper fit.

PS: Your wheels center-bore cannot be smaller than your hub. If it was, the wheels wouldn't fit on your car.