Have others had wobble problems with aftermarket wheels and tires

G

Gary McCormick

True Classic
I have been in communications with Tony Natoli and found that I am not the only one that has experienced the problem listed below. Tony made some suggestions for me to try, but before I start trying those, I am throwing this question out to the Xweb to find out whether lots others have experienced chronic problems with aftermarket wheels (all types that require hubcentric spacer rings to reduce to 58.1 mm hub), and have not been able to find a permanent fix for this problem:

I have a used set of 13" wheels that I have seen described as both American Racing Spectre wheels and as Ansens and have had new Sumitomo 185/60R13 HTR200’s mounted and balanced on the wheels., and recently installed them.

I used hubcentric wheel adapters from Mad Matt, and carefully torqued nuts to 55 ft-lbs trying to equalize tightening all around, but car shakes very badly at speed.
 
Only One Solution...

I have owned Fiats since 1972 and had all sorts of after market wheels. None rode to my satisfaction.

On my current car, the PO had installed American Racing wheels that were by far the worst I ever encountered. 98mm pattern with lugs, but not hub-centric. Nothing I did got rid of the shakes until I found a beat up set of CD-91's and had them straitened & reconditioned. That was 15 years ago and no problems since.

Good Luck.
 
Say Joe... did you ever try...

having any of the other aftermarket wheels "trued" or straightened?

If so... then why can't the Ansens be done as well? Costs?

Thanks...
 
Hmm!

You can easily check at home for how round they are, jack one corner or end up at a time and spin the wheel, watch the tire tread surface for bumps or other problems.

Other things that can cause a vibration at speed are tie rod ends (inner and outer (but inners usually outlast outers), radius rod bushings, inner (plastic) and outer (rubber) rack bushings, and even bearings. Alignment is also very important.

Does the whole car shake or just the steering wheel? Try rotating front to back to see if the problem is just one or two wheels.

FWIW, the only time I had a similar problem was on my 850 Spider with AR webbed wheels and shouldered lug bolts, and new 205 series tires. They tested them for runout and found they were within reason, but the car was a bear to control. Probably too wide. I ended up much happier with stock steel wheels and normal tires.
 
my x has am racing wheels. I allways had to torque them while the car was in the air. and they would still wobble a bit.
I recently measured the wheel bore and hub and noted a 2mm difference. ordered some hub centric rings from summit to the exact measurements. The wobble is gone,, I have a spare set of the rings in my trunk.. they are plastic so I suspect after repeated wheel mountings they are likely to start to have issues. I had replaced lots of things before getting to this, bearings tie rod ends shocks, 4 wheel allignment, e.t.c.
 
All of the above...

With the American Racing wheels, I kept rotating until I got the minimum wheel shake. Tightening the lug nuts with the wheel off the ground definitly gave the best results and I had a makeshift hub ring made in my machine shop on the front wheels that were a pain, but improved things to almost tolerable. But new tires or a flat (seemed to get a lot more of them back when...) would start the process all over again.

Tony, back in 1995 I had four CD-91's repaired and resurfaced in siver alloy and then polycoated for $75 each at a shop in Cambridge, Mass. They then mounted and balanced a set of terriffic Yokohama 185's, and I had 10 years of blissful smoothness all the way to 90 mph.

I never considered reconditioning the American Racing wheels because I had my sights on the 91's from the go, but I'm sure a reputable wheel shop can make a wheel true, but converting a non-hub-centric wheel to a hub-centric would be a task and probably very exspensive.

They still look great with normal cleaning:

 
Thanks for all the insights

Saw Matt has reconditioned set of CD-91's for $1K, but that is probably not in my future, unless I hit the Lottery.

I guess the guy I bought these from, was aware of PT Barnum's slogan
 
If you take the wheel/tire to a shop that has a Hunter GSP9700 wheel balancer (trade name Hunter Road Force Balancer http://www.gsp9700.com/), they can use the capabilities of the balancer (which runs the wheels against a roller to simulate it on the road with the car's weight) to find out if one, some or all wheels are out of true. The balancer can tell the technician to install each wheel/tire on the specific corner of the car so that vibrations are minimized.

If you need a Penna company to evaluate and straighten the wheels, I can personally recommend Wheel Collision Center http://www.wheelcollision.com/ in Bath, PA (just North of Allentown).

Of course, the most meticulously balanced wheel/tire combo is still gonna shake your fillings out of your teeth if they are not properly installed on the car:lol:
 
FYI Ive had numerous lesser expensive tires, hankook, sumitomo, kumho and every one has had balance issues. You can spin the rim on a balancer no tire to see how far off it is...but from experience its not the rim. I dont know why but certain tires are prone to balance issues. Some especially if the car sits for a few days at a time, i had one set that would vibrate after sitting, then go away...some that will vibrate on certain roads, never consistently, its annoying as all hell.

Mark
 
aftermarket and oem wheels 4x98

hi,
just adding my 2cents worth... the new fiat 500 wheels are in the 4x98 bolt pattern and i've seen some pop up on craigslist for 350 a set with tires. just wondering how a set of the new fiat 500 abarth rims would look on an x or a scorpion. if someone does actually put them on please post pictures. just dying to see how they would look... they do come in 16" and 17" varieties... even the steelies are 15"... my .02
 
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