I put on some new wheels (15" Group N w/ 205/50/15 tire)-same size tire as the ones I replaced. Anyways, I had to put a spacer in them to clear my calipers, but now the steering wheel shakes at 60mph+..and it seems like my steering feels alot lighter.
What would be the cause of the steering wheel shake? and what caused the lightness feel on the wheel? Will a simple alignment fix this?

 

steering wheel lightness may be due to properly inflated or over inflated tires. Are they properly balanced?

 

align car and balance the wheel, get hub centric rings too.

 

 

if that dont fix it nothing will haha

 

yeah I bought the hubcentric rings as well...so it seems like the majority is saying that the wheel is improperly balanced!!! I got it done at a local Discount Tire Center too!! Is this safe to drive?

 

it could be that your alignment is out of spec when installing tires....or your rotors getting warped...but the tire being unbalanced sounds right also....check with your discount tire store...if that doesnt solve it..go get an alignment.

 

Ok people just stop...

1st - Inflate all the tires to 35psi, and see if it still dose it.
2nd - Take car back to the place where you had your tires put on, and get them to align the bitches properly. Watch the shmo do it and make sure there is no shuttering.
Nothing is wrong bro, it happens......
Its going to be ok!

 

So nothing major is wrong...but, I wont be able to take the car back to the tire place till Tuesday next week since I have to be at work. So is this safe to drive for a week without something happening to make it worse?

 

Shake = Balance
Lightness/Pull = Alignment

BTW, who makes your spacers?

 

You may want to also consider the wheel spacers you put on. By doing so you've increased your negative offset, which is something you don't want to do with a front wheel drive car, and may account for the lightness in the steering.

 

to tell you the truth, I bought these from a local Hotrod shop and they are not even 5mm in width,but was enough to clear my caliper. Does the brand of the spacer make a difference? And is this safe to drive around for a week?

 

It's safe to drive around until you can get it back to Discount Tire. If you have the time, you might want to try putting one of the fronts in the back opposite side (ie: left front to the right rear). Sometimes tires don't come from the factory perfect (or it could be the rim itself) and switching them around and doing trial and error can fix it - if you have the time/ability/what have you. HTH.

 

I might just try that to see if makes a difference...thanks for everybodies input and suggestions, much appreciated.

 

okay guys here's what me and my friend did:

alignment: everything good
camber caster toe: everything good
wheel balance: everything good

verdict: car still shakes at 60mph+ , lightness in steering wheel still there,but, not as bad as before. as of now me and my friend are stumped as to what could cause this. we flipped the spacer around to make the flush side on the rim instead of the hub. Any help or suggestions needed.

 

spacers might be unbalanced....? or stop driving on those little bumps on sthe road might help


[Modified by romeo619romeo, 5:15 AM 2/20/2003]

 

is there anyway that somebody can F-up installing the hubcentric rings? or is it pretty fool proof? i was wondering if I actually installed them wrong or something...but, if I did wouldnt it show on my friends alignment machine?

anybody in the tire business that can help..?

 

Whats up pagong... I saw a red flag as soon as you said spacer, but the lightness in the steering sounds like you've got directional tires on backwards.

Here's the thing, if the wheel is out of balance it will show on the machine, if it's balancing good but still vibrates, your problem is it's mounting surface on the car.

Which tires did you get on there? If they're high performance they're probably directional, and the guys at discount may have made a mistake.

I still think generic spacers are dangerous, period. I'd grab some H&R Track Spacers (hubcentric) ASAP. They're cheap, in the $80-100 range I believe.

TAKE SOME PICS DUDE!

 

yup. I have that lightness feeling with my wheels to when I put them on. It almost feels as if I can turn the wheel 10x better, and it's 10x lighter. Kind of wierd, but i have everything on and aligned properly. Maybe its because the wheels are lighter but I dunno for sure.

 

hey Matt, yeah I bought some generic spacers from a local hotrod shop just to push the wheel enough to clear my wilwood calipers. anyways, we did everything that we could, lowered tire pressure, checked alignment, checked the balance of the wheel, the tires are directional brand is Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 size 205/50/15.

As far as the spacers go, I dont think Im gonna invest anymore on the rims, Im going back to Discount tire just to check if I got a "defective" tire, the rims look awesome, but it looks like im spending more than I really wanted to on a set of rims/tires. If all fails im gonna return the tires to discount and sell the rims w/ the hubcentric rings and wait for 16" to come out!
Thanks again Matt, and if the 16"s do come out you know where and who im gonna order from

 

Listen, you need to do this before you sell anything!

First, diagnose whether your problem is the wheel/tire or spacer. If you are getting vibration up front, move the front tires to the rear and the rear tires forward. If the problem persists, you've just found out its not your wheels or tires at all.

To confirm this, get ahold of some other wheels/tires from a friends car that will fi your brakes w/o a spacer, and install them with your spacers ON. If you still have vibration, remove the spacer, and reinstall the other wheels tires. IF the vibration stops, you;ve found your problem.

I think it's the spacer, have you tried returning or at least exchanging them?

 

yeah, its the spacer. I put my old gsr's on and the shaking stopped, the steering feels alot better.