D-MAN63

Hey guys, a few weeks ago, I just got my 4 wheel alignments done. On the highway I am still getting vibration at 55+ MPH and I don't know whats the cause. I went back to the shop and everything seems fine. I went to my brother's BMW shop and they took a look at it manually and everything checks out.

Now, my alignment guy told me that I need "speeding sensing" wheel alignment where my car would be put on a roller and weights would be added to my rims for even weight distribution. Though the thing that I find funny is that when I bought my 20's, weights were already added on by the wheel company so I wouldn't need any wheel balancing. Before I lowered my car, I could go 100+ MPH with no vibration at all and when I suddenly lower my car, the vibration is there even after my alignment


Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated.

salimshah

Vibration at certain speed has to do with imbalance of rotating wheels. Alignment will cause other problems, and can cause irregular tire wear (unlikely for you as the wear takes time) which then will give you the bad vibes.

There is a possibility that you might have lost the balancing weight on one of your tires.

Quick check would be to rotate front to back.
or
just get the tires balanced again.

With Dunlops sport 9000, I get some vibration which goes away after the tires warm up a bit.

Hope it helps

Salim

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Salim is right - you have a balance problem, not an alignment one. Believe me, I know all about balancing problems. I was all set to upgrade the fronts to Toyos today but found out my front right rim is bent so I had the Nittos put back on and now I have to try to get the rim fixed before trying again to get a smooth ride.

I too experienced glass smooth ride with the stock rims... oh well.

One other thing - are your rims hubcentric or do they have centering rings? If neither, that's another factor.

And last, one of your tires or even your rims might not be perfectly round. Good balancing places can try to match the tire shape to the rim shape for the best outcome.

RealMarty

Damn bit,

Are the right front tire and wheel both damaged or is the rim the cause of what you thought was the flat spot on the Nitto?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Thanks for asking. Answer: Don't know, but I've got to get the rim fixed first. Then if it isn't smooth, I'll swap out the tires. Then if that doesn't work, I'll get new rims and tires! What can ya do!?

lexguynj

Hey guys, even with the stock 17" rims and balancing of the wheels, I still feel the vibration in the steering wheel off and on. Since the steering is fairly loose, maybe it just picks up any irregularities/bumps on the road. A lot of members also say it's the stock Potenza 17" Tires too.

This is the most annoying problem I have and just wish the steering could be tightened, which may fix this problem a little.

I was just driving my parent's BMW 530 and the steering is so tight that it's even hard to turn at times, but that makes it also feel very solid and no vibration at all. That BMW is built like a tank, too bad it's not as reliable as a Lexus.

The steering issue continues.

GS4Will

D,

vibration if def a wheel/tyre balncing problem, esp you have the 20s. even though wheels from the factory are supposed to be balanced, you will be surprised to see how many brand new rism are not.

often big name quality wheel co rims require fewer ounces on lead weight to pass the balncing machine. this because their quality is better, more truly "round".
also nyc's bad roads will also make your tyre+wheel out of wack. some car dudes i know balance they car shoes every 3k miles/3 month to keep everything in check. low profile tyres are more $$$ if you do not pay attention .

william

D-MAN63

Thanks for all your responses. I hope (god forbid) that I didn't bent a rim. I closely inspect my rims yesterday and I didn't see any bent but it could be on the inner part of the rim. Also a good point was made that maybe one of the original weights fell off.

My wheels was a direct bolt on to my car with no adjustments needed and it rode very smooth before I lowered it. I will take it back to my bro's store and have him do a balancing.

I'm getting tired of always driving carefully, maybe I should just get some smaller wheels.

tmasta

hey DIESELMAN,

well if u have the same problem i did it sounds like its because the tires arent matching the correct part of the rim ( like bitkahuna said ) ask your balancing guy if they do road forace analysis, thats what the guy at my shop told me its called when the move your tires around the rim according to where the rim is not perfectly round.. this worked for me after 4 balancings and much money wasted.
and hey i read in one of the past forums u r a bouncer?? for real?? what club? maybe i can get a hook up if i ever get up there hehe hope this helped

Tmasta

THE OUTLAWS

Tmasta, D-Man used to work for me at a lounge/club that I had in the city. It closed down because I had some issues going with the city. He worked at the door where all the ladies were at . As for now he and I are in a partnership trying to open a nice place but we got some problems we have to take care of first.

tmasta

Outlaw and dman,

good look on your new place, and maybe when it opens we can get a big club lexus party goin there!!!

Tmasta

gain

If your vibration is at all speeds above 55 MPH I'd say you probably have a problem with your wheel, but if it only vibrates from about 55 to 65 you might want to look into Technical Service Bulletin:

ST003R-98 JUN 98 Steering - Vibration/Flutter

D-MAN63

Tmasta, sure it would be a good idea for fellow NY/NJ/CT or whoever wants to stop by when the place opens up in which I'm afraid we don't have a set date. (keeps fingers crossed) I hope it won't take too long.

Gain, thanks for the info. I'm a newbie when it comes to TSB issues. Let me get this straight, if I find something wrong with the car and its in the TSB, I can go to the dealer and have him fix/replace the problem free of charge if I am not mistaken?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Yes, I remember hitting one bad pothole - that must have done it. But I had balance problems before that.

Anyway, today I took off the bad rim, put the stock 17 spare on (my 18 profile is almost identical size to stock 17, which is one good thing about havin 235/40-18 instead of 245).

The car drove slightly smoother (good) - and I took the bent rim into Wheel Wizard. 1SICK - did you just buy new rims!?

For the record, I'll say that despite the looks of my rims (which I love, and I get many compliments on), doing a 'hasty' purchase of rims/tires was the biggest mistake I've made with this car. Fortunately it didn't cost a whole lot since I sold my stock rims/tires, but if I had to do it over, I'd either not change rims (I didn't do it for handling anyway, just looks), or I'd buy something like HREs (they basically custom make them for whatever car they're going to go on).

Just thought I'd pass along my thoughts to others thinking about upgrading.

Right now, I'm hoping the straightened rim will run a bit smoother, then I'll probably try the front tire upgrade. If that goes well, I'll replace the rear tires too.

GS3-Kid858

What is the difference between a 245/40 18's and a 235/40 18's? thanks in advance