CJITTY

I am pretty sure that Vossen can't guarantee they won't get bent on the road while driving. Rule number one when buying new wheels is always test fit the wheel to ensure your bolt pattern is correct and then have the wheel spun by a professional without the tire mounted on the balancer to check for defects. That way, it clearly shows a defect was there prior to being driven on. Take a video of it showing the imbalance or dead spot because you should be able to see it while it is on the balancer in most cases. But again, you have been driving on it. You could of hit a concrete/blacktop joint hard enough with possibly being low on tire pressure and created a dead spot. It is not hard to do with any wheel running a tire that is less than 3 inches thick and a car weighing as much as our LS's do.

Wheel balancing is a skill that many tire shops quite frankly can't get right all the time. I had to take my wheels to place that deals with 20"+ wheels all the time to finally get a good balance. I love Discount Tire, but they just couldn't get it right. The place I went to (Butler Tire) balanced them up perfectly and that balance is still about 90% good for almost 1.5 years now.

Also, many of these places selling heavily discounted tires are usually two to three years old before you even get them. Yes, it is true. Look at the sidewall, it will give you the manufacture date. Tires have a shelf life. Some cheaper tires are often blems, meaning they are not 100% perfect and may require more weight to balance out. I have been through this over my past 22 years of having wheels and tires on various cars.

one more thing, there are some LS's out there that have the driveline vibration issue, do a search..there were some TSBs out for this issue and involved all kinds of repairs including a fix involving the shark fin antenna and some other stuff causing vibration in the rear of the car. You could have control arms, or bad bushings that get amplified with low profile tires that don't absorb vibration as much as the spongy 18 inch tires.

I suspect you have a bad balance, so I am interested to see what comes out of this

silver305

iTrader: (1)

Well, the bottom line, either Vossen or the shop will eat the cost if the rims are not perfectly round. I left the shop and came back the very next day to get the wheels balanced correctly because i was unhappy so there is a history of me coming back for that issue. However, if this persists, i will have them either try another set of rims from another brand or used wheels to see if my car is at fault or not. My IS250 rode PERFECTLY on 20s, or stock wheels or probably if i had doughtnuts on all 4 corners. Right now, i feel like i am driving a damn 1999 ford festiva when i am going 70 miles per hour and to me that is damn unacceptable.

CJITTY

I guess you missed all of the other things I mentioned about the LS vibration issues that occurred in many other LS's even with stock wheels...the issue you will have is there is no way to prove that you didn't bend those wheels (if they are bent). Those tires have been mounted, you have been driving on them. There is nothing in Vossen's warranty that states they will replace your wheel if you caused them to bend either intentionally or unintentionally. http://www.vossenwheels.com/Warranty/

Other things to consider

* When where the tires made? Do you have blems?
* What lugnuts are you using?
* Correct hub centrinc rings in?
* Wheel bearings and control arm bushings good to go?
* What type of balancer is the shop doing? Road force? Straight up Static? there are a few methods
* Have you gone to another shop, perhaps same shop different location?

I can't see that shop eating the costs for your wheels..maybe the tires if they can determine they are not good, they should do that..but not the wheels.

On my old LS460, I took it to 3 different Discount Tire stores before I had a "good" balance on both my Lumarai wheels and my Vossens. I finally took each of them to Butler and had them re-do them and they nailed it first time...the wheels and tires may not be your issue...your patience and the shop you are dealing with may be the bigger problem. I know you are frustrated, many of us have been in your shoes.

sydtoosic

hopefully it's not your wheels. as Cjitty stated... who's to say how the wheels were damaged, if in fact it is the wheels? warranties are only as good as the fine print which we all know ain't ****. i check everything, i read the box or package before it's opened, i check the merchandise when the box is opened, i watch everything and i know how everything should be done, from start to finish. hopefully the tires are the culprit. keep us posted.

silver305

iTrader: (1)

I am using the lugnuts that you recommened for wheels (gorilla lock and the spinning lock too). The hub centric rings are installed ( think they are orange), they used road force twice. I have yet to go to another shop to get it done. As far as the tires, the shop told me i need to bring the car in so they can send the tires in and get 2 new tires put on later. My problem is that it woul be a huge hassle for me to go find the stock wheels/tires so i can put them in the front and give them my front wheels/tires so they can send in the front tires and get replacements put on. I wonder if i should just go to another tire place to get these tires balanced before i go through the hassle of getting the other ones installed?
ugh....

CJITTY

Ok, based on that..you need to go to a different shop...go in the FL forums and ask who other people use to balance..that could help narrow your frustration and zero in on who can do good balance work