Wheel Wobble

[Deacon]

I had my roadster lowered on TTE springs and the alignment checked (it was ok). Not long after I had some new wheels and ever since I get a very strong vibration through the steering wheel when doing 75+ (on private land of course ). The wheels have the correct spigot rings on and came balanced but I've also had them re-balanced and I'm still having the same problem. The wheels are Rota Slipstreams 16x7" front with a +45 offset and 17x7.5" rear with a +45 offset. Tyres are 195 front and 215 rear.

Anyone got any thoughts on what the problem might be or is it just wider wheels, lower profile tyres and stiffer springs making the wheels follow the ruts, etc in the road more and so leading to the wheel vibration?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Deacon

[cfc1]

1st of all.. the lower profile tyres will make your car tramline a little (follow the ruts etc) but you will get used to this in next to no time

Wheel vibration is most commonly wheel balance.. can you drive through the wobble?.. does it go away if you go a little faster?.. if so.. i would say its deffinately a balance problem, go back to the garage and ask them to recheck them.. mention that it's possible that the wheel balancer could need re-calibration, if the balancer is out.. so will every wheel they balance.

If the balance IS ok (maybe checked at 2 different garages?) then it could be that the wrong centralising rings are fitted (spigot rings) remove a wheel and check that the ring is a nice snug fit in the back of the wheel.. and, if you need to, remove the ring from the wheel and check its a nice snug fit over the hub.. if both are ok then its the correct ring.

If both of the above are fine it leaves a few other things...

Faulty/mis-shapen tyre.. get the garage to make sure the tyres are ok when they re-check the balance, anything out of the ordinary and they should spot it.

Does it shudder under breaking?.. could be a warped break disc.

Faulty drive shaft could cause a vibration too.. although very unlikely... as can a faulty engine mount.

If tyres, rings, wheels, and balance ARE all ok.. and the only other thing that has been changed is the springs.. then i would get a garage to check that they are fitted properly and that nothing is in a dangerous condition.. you never know.. its a possibilty.

Just to let you know.. I am a tyre fitter and i do this sort of stuff every day, but of course without seeing your car its difficult to make an accurate assesment.. it's really a case of ruling one possible cause out at a time... if i can think of anything else, i'll let you know.

Davy.

[Deacon]

Thanks for the comprehensive response

I'm going to take off my new wheels and put the originals back on this weekend and see if the problem is still there and then at least I'll have narrowed it down to a problem with the wheels or with the car.

Will report back on how I get on.

Deacon

[GIDDLEPIN]

I had my fourth set of alloys fitted by Mr T not so long ago and it took three attempts to get it right.

Mine was a steady vibration that increased with road speed it turned out to be the N/S/R wheel needing half a ton of lead (I know they don’t use lead now Davy :P ), once that was done it is back to the normal smooth running at *cough* all speeds ;)

[cfc1]

..... it turned out to be the N/S/R wheel needing half a ton of lead (I know they don’t use lead now Davy :P ).....

Don't kid yourself ;)

another thing to try... see if the garage has a Haweka flange plate for the balancer, these are mainly used to balance wheels with solid centres (citreon, peaguot etc) this works by useing the stud holes to mount the wheel to the balancer.. i recall another member with a similar problem and i think it solved it .

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...=3961&hl=haweka

[Deacon]

Well there was a slight delay in me doing anything as I had a bit of a freak accident and managed to cut my eyeball in two places which left me not able to see properly from one eye!

Anyway, I've swapped my original wheels back on and the vibration is almost gone at 70mph+ where it shook terribly before. However, it is still there so it makes me wonder if it is just a trait of the car being amplified by the wider wheels and lower profile tyres?

I'm going to see if I can find a tyre place somewhere round here that have a haweka adaptor and get them balanced again and see what the results of that are.

Deacon