New wheels and tires. Now it vibrates

[Zrxpilot]

Just installed new 18" bullits on my 05 GT. 10's in the back and 8's in the front. Car drove fine with my old wheels and tires and now there is a vibration that I feel in the steering wheel. It gets better as the tires get warm but it never totally goes away.

Its beyond a nuisance when cold. Wifey doesnt like driving it anymore. I can live with it but would like to do something about it.

Wondering if there is some allignment remedy for this. Perhaps less toe-in, camber/caster adjustment.

Car is undamaged with low miles. Sumitomo whatever tires from AM.

I read somewhere that some tires "track" grooves in the road for whatever reason. I think thats what its doing. Tried to find the thread and now I cant find it

 

[mfergel]

I think you'd know the difference if it were tracking. First, I've seen some shops balance wheels and they WEREN'T balanced, so I'd take it to a different shop just to confirm. Second, without knowing if these are Mustang specific wheels, if the hub bore is different from the factory hub bore it is possible one of them isn't properly seated. Factory hub bore is 70.5. You could try reseating the front wheels if it is the same bore. If not, you can get hub centric rings. - http://www.1010tires.com/store/p-9383-hub-centric-rings-set-of-4.aspx

Also, I've had this happen, but I had a bent lip on the backside of a wheel once and depending on the speed I was driving, it would cause vibrations. It would also cause problems with balancing.

That's just a couple of things off the top of my head.

 

[46Tbird]

Take the wheels off and remove the clip that Ford puts over one stud per corner to keep the brake rotor in place during assembly.

OEM wheels have a small machined-out spot around the lug holes to account for these, but most aftermarket wheels don't.

 

[stkjock]

/\ this


if the clips are not there, then Road Force balance is needed IMO

 

[19COBRA93]

What tires are you running?

My Hoosiers flat spot real bad when they sit for more than about 8 hours. It takes about 5 miles of driving for them to smooth out. It drives me crazy.

 

[DDTCM]

Take the wheels off and remove the clip that Ford puts over one stud per corner to keep the brake rotor in place during assembly.

OEM wheels have a small machined-out spot around the lug holes to account for these, but most aftermarket wheels don't.

We have a winner!!!! My 07 did this also. I pulled the clip and it fixed the issue.

 

[TGR96]

/\ this


if the clips are not there, then Road Force balance is needed IMO

+1.

 

[Scott_0]

I had a slight vibration with my AM wheels, stumbled unto a thread about the little lock washers Ford used, removed mine and the vibe went away

 

[J.Kidd]

Holy crap!!!

If you guys are right about that stupid little clip...I don't know what I'm going to do!

Got some AM wheels and had tires put on locally and had a slight vibration but only at highway speeds - couldn't notice it around town. Brought them back and had them rebalanced and it improved "most" of the time. Doesn't feel so out of whack that there is something substantially off...but occasionally I do feel a slight vibration. Sometimes I feel it, sometimes I don't and I continually have the discussion with myself whether or not it is something I can live with. Sometimes yes and other times not so much. I am definitely going to look into this this weekend!

 

[Fosters]

Take the wheels off and remove the clip that Ford puts over one stud per corner to keep the brake rotor in place during assembly.

OEM wheels have a small machined-out spot around the lug holes to account for these, but most aftermarket wheels don't.

Oh my god I've been chasing this stupid vibration since March... I love this post, and love my car again.

This is what they should look like...

 

[MADGT]

Gotta love the forums...

 

[Boaisy]

I removed those as soon as I read people were tossing them.

 

[stkjock]

Oh my god I've been chasing this stupid vibration since March... I love this post, and love my car again.

This is what they should look like...

LOL, glad you got it solved, a quick search would have saved you some aggravation.

Gotta love the search function...

FTFY

 

[Fosters]

LOL, glad you got it solved, a quick search would have saved you some aggravation.



FTFY

I've searched for and read about every topic on those damn wheels, thinking it had to do with not being centered right because of the goofy lugnut/washer deal... Yesterday I searched vibration for the first time...

 

[stkjock]

sometimes a few search stings need to be used to get your answer.