tcsvx98

Hey everyone. I made the mistake of purchasing these new wheels to replace my 2002 original chrome wheels. I also put new Nittos on.
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/fin...bp=&vid=008064

I know, you get what you pay for. They look awesome on my silver sc430- see attached picture- but the steering wheel and the entire car has violent vibrations in it when I get up around 35 miles an hour and never quite but gets progressively worse the faster I go.

I have been back to discount tire 4 times and they've been nice about the whole thing. They have run every sort of diagnostic you can imagine and the wheels appear to look ok. After 2 weeks of dialog and numerous trips back there, they are under the impression that certain wheels are not really designed for this car and this may be one of them.

Anyhow, I am trying to trying to secure OEM sc430 2006 wheels, hoping this will solve the issue.

Any thoughts? Are some of the cheaper wheels just not designed for these cars?

I am at a loss.
Thanks everyone !

JCtx

That's crap buddy. If the offset is correct, as well as the bolt pattern, they should ride fine. The wheels are obviously defective.
One problem of most cheap wheels is they're not hubcentric, which means they are aligned by the bolts, rather than a 'ring' sticking out of the wheel, which perfectly matches the hub in the car. However, I've read there is some kind of 'ring' that you can buy to make any wheel hubcentric. Did you buy those rings?
Another problem with cheap wheels is hardness; some of those bend at the least provocation. On an SC, I rather ride with factory wheels than cheap ones, but that's just me. Good luck. Hopefully some of the experienced people can give you more specifics. Bump for you buddy.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

What part of texas are you from? I used to be (a month ago) in management at Discount Tire in San Antonio. I can help.

Couple things we need to know before you do anything else.

1. what wheels are they -n/m I see now...
2. did they install hubrings
3. what size tires
4. did they perform a ride match diagnostic on a hunter gsp9700 machine
5. have they tried a different set of tires...

answer those questions, and I will tell you exactly what you need to do to get your car to ride right... (I already have a good idea, but those answers will help)

tcsvx98

Mitsuguy & ELP,
Thanks for the thoughts. I checked with my local Discount Tire just now (located in McAllen TX)- these guys are so awesome. I must have 20 man hours into this project and they are ready to take on another 20 to fix the problem. Just to review your list here:
1. did they install hubring - YES
2. what size tires- SAME SIZE AS PREVIOUS, BUT THEY ARENT RUN-FLAT
3. did they perform a ride match diagnostic on a hunter gsp9700 machine-YES THEY DID PEFORM A DIAGNOSTIC ON A HUNTER GSP9700. I STOOD RIGHT THERE AND WATCHED.
4. have they tried a different set of tires-THE DISCOUNT TIRES HAVE MENTIONED TO ME NUMEROUS TIMES THAT I MAY NEED TO GO BACK TO RUN FLAT TIRES. THE NEW NITTOS THAT I PUT ON THERE ARE NOT RUN-FLATS.
ANY THOUGHTS THERE?

talwang

iTrader: (4)

Let me know as well.
I used to have the vibration issue.
I have done all of above plus a set of new tires , 3 set of hub rings and alignment.
I even had the rims check 3 times by the two different wheel repair shop.
After all that, the vibration was still there.

Finally the problem was suddently gone after the 7th road force balance.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

I would insist on different tires... not necessarily runflats, but something better than Nitto's...

to this day, i've never had good luck with the nitto stuff (except drag radials)...

Staying in the same price range you have the Kumho ASX and the BFG G-force sport, both of which I have had better luck with. If you are willing to spend a little more money (discount should give you full credit back on what you originally bought) and maybe even a deal on something better, I would spring for the BFG KDW new tread or the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Those are the two much better tires available in your size...

Also insist on doing a bare rim runout when they are changing the tires. With that wheel, there is no real outer lip, so it is impossible to use the GSP9700 to it's full potential. When they have the nitto's off, they can check the inner mounting surface to ensure it is in good condition, and true.

There is absolutely no need to go back to runflats.

Potential reasons for come backs on tires / wheels (i have over 5 years experience with this, and Mcallen was part of my region - there's a good chance I still know guys at that store even).

no hubrings
wrong lugnut application
tire turning on wheel after driving
tire fully seating on wheel after driving
imbalance
tire with high roadforce
tire/wheel not compatible

you have hubrings, and I feel pretty confident they used the right lugnuts. (if they used tuner lugs, you might insist on normal acorn lugs if they will fit - acorn lugs have more seat area than tuner lugs), imbalance should not be an issue, but here's the variable parts...

tires can turn on the wheel after mounting - especially when using tire lube liberally, which was probably done when ride matching them - the way to check - mark the valve stem on each tire, and check if it moved... another issue common with high performance tires, is the tire not fully seating on the wheel when first mounted - I had this issue with my BFG's... drove em for a week, they started shaking, rebalanced, fixed, no issues since... now, tire with high roadforce is hard to tell... 25 lbs is the limit built into the machine, anything over 20 to me is questionable, but, even if the overall roadforce is low, you still may have a tire issue... I have encountered problems with a total assembly in the low teens, but when doing a runout of tire and wheel separate, the tire showed it needed replacement, and although the total was ok, the tire issue definitely had to be resolved... same theory applies to compatability of tire and wheel...

tcsvx98

Ya'll have been a great help !
Mitsuguy, the manager I work with at the McAllen location is Jesse Cabrera. He's been quite helpful. He was only suggesting run-flats based on a customer with an SC going back to run flats and encountering success. But, that appears to be mystery I suppose. I will indeed spring for the BFG KDW new tread or the Goodyear F1 GS-D3.
Thanks.
Todd

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Tell Jesse Cody Graham said Hi...

He'll remember me

-Cody

tcsvx98

Cody,
I will let jesse know that. Take a look at my wheels and the Nittos. For cheap wheels, they look great I think. I will have my 2006 OEM's in about a week, so I let you know how things turn out.
Todd

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

i like the look of those wheels... i think they look great... no reason they shouldn't work...

martini3

did your vibration issue get resolved? What was the cause?

I hope you get this straightened out cause it's not nice driving w/ the vibrations like that even at low speeds.