My Mr2 Is Vibrating At Speed...

[alex_93gtuk]

Hi guys,

Last week I picked up my new MR2 - a 1996 uk gt and i'm really enjoying it. The car is fitted with 17" rims which suit it well but the car has a problem. When I'm travelling above about 60mph im feeling a vibration though the floor and seats that is intermittent. When I say that I mean it's a fast vibration that lasts 2 seconds then goes for a second-comes back for two seconds etc etc. It only get worse with speed after that.

I took the car to my local garage and had all the wheels off and balanced. At the same time the wheel bearings were checked and the suspension was checked for play. The one thing we did notice was that the rear left had a few bad knocks to the edge of the rim and that it didn't run completely true. The balancing didn't help but i'm guessing the slightly wonky rim may be causing this intermittent vibration.

The reason I'm posting is to see if anyone had suffered this problem or heard of it before. I have the original 15" rims in the shed and once I get my hands on some standard wheel nuts will put them on the car to see if that cures my problem.

If I am barking up the wrong tree can anyone suggest another reason for intermittent vibration through the floor of the car? All suggestions are very welcome. Sorry for the length of the thread! If anyone had any standard Mk2 mr2 wheel nuts for sale let me know! moir_alex@hotmail.com

Thanks

[JappyBeast]

I would try your 15's as it sound like the bent rim is causing the problems, cant you use your existing wheels nuts?

[alex_93gtuk]

Yes im working on getting some standard wheel nuts. The ones on my 17's are tapered and the standard ones are flat where they clamp against the rim

[Bobby-H]

Yes im working on getting some standard wheel nuts. The ones on my 17's are tapered and the standard ones are flat where they clamp against the rim

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the standard ones are tapered too.

[JappyBeast]

I still use my stock ones with my 17's.

Think they are all the same shape!

[cfc1]

From what I have experianced at work with all MK2's the standard wheel nuts are flat where they meet the wheel, (and If i recall correctle the nuts on the rear wheels are longer.. the hex part.. so that they sit level with the face of the wheel)a bit like some Peugot ones with the flat washer type, fitting the tapered nuts onto standard wheels wouldn't be a good idea.

Jappy, IF you do have the standard flat style nuts holding on your wheels where a tapered nut should be.. then it may only be a matter of time before you run into serious problems... the flat edge of the nut won't be making full contact with the tapered edge of the wheel... and those problems i mention don't bear thinking about.

[JappyBeast]

From what I have experianced at work with all MK2's the standard wheel nuts are flat where they meet the wheel, (and If i recall correctle the nuts on the rear wheels are longer.. the hex part.. so that they sit level with the face of the wheel)a bit like some Peugot ones with the flat washer type, fitting the tapered nuts onto standard wheels wouldn't be a good idea.

Jappy, IF you do have the standard flat style nuts holding on your wheels where a tapered nut should be.. then it may only be a matter of time before you run into serious problems... the flat edge of the nut won't be making full contact with the tapered edge of the wheel... and those problems i mention don't bear thinking about.

My standard nuts aint flat tho!

Thought they were all tapered.

[Guest MrMojo]

umm What Davey said i think. lol

mo.

[cfc1]

The standard wheel nuts (as I know them) look something like these locking nuts.....

Now.. the VERY BOTTOM bit is tapered.. but if you look just below the hex it is flat.. like there is a washer on it.. this is the part that makes contact with the wheels, if your wheels are tapered.. like 99% of all aftermarket alloys.. the above wheel nuts are not suitable....

It is this type of wheel nut that are most commonly found on aftermarket alloy wheels... notice the taper is right after the hex?

EDIT: not quite MR2 nuts, but.......

There ARE toyota wheel nuts, IF they were from an MR2 the longer ones would be on the back and the shorter ones on the front... these aren't compatable with 99% of aftermarket wheels.

Another Edit: the picture above was stolen from another forum... my desk is a lot cleaner than that :lol:

[JappyBeast]

I'm confuzed, I dont really know what I have now.

[cfc1]

Take a nut off and take a photo of the nut and the hole in the wheel.. if the photo's are clear enough I should hopefully be able to tell you if you are OK.

[JappyBeast]

I'm gonna have a look tomoz, had the alloys for 2 years now tho and not one of them has come off!

[cfc1]

Only takes it to happen once ;)

At work we see it every day.. some can be ok for years others fall off.

Think we hi-jacked a thread?

[JustJJ]

There ARE toyota wheel nuts, IF they were from an MR2 the longer ones would be on the back and the shorter ones on the front... these aren't compatable with 99% of aftermarket wheels.

Another Edit: the picture above was stolen from another forum... my desk is a lot cleaner than that :lol:

Davy.. what do you mean the shorter on the front and longer on the back? All my standard nuts are the same size...

[cfc1]

The rear wheels on the MK2 are normally wider if I am right.. but the mounting face is in the same place for front and rear (thats the point where the wheel touches the hub) so this equates to the rear wheels sticking out further than the front wheels on the offset, the result of this is that the recess that the wjheel nuts sits in is deeper. To make the nuts look the same as the front in relation to the head of the stud sitting flush with the face of the wheel.. the rear studs need to be longer.

[JappyBeast]

I thought all the rims were the same size but have bigger tyres on?

[samsite999]

I thought all the rims were the same size but have bigger tyres on?

nop, I lernt the hard way, the alloys on the front are skinner than on the back. The alloys i have will fit on the back of the car fine but will not fit on the front :(

[JappyBeast]

Well I never knew that!