weird vibe at 60

[kevinatfms]

ok here, got some steeda 18x9.5 pentars and 275/40R18's to replace my gt500 take offs for summer. got them mounted and now have a horrible vibration at 60mph. before you yell at me about getting the tires balanced i have had them balanced 6 times and had the front end aligned twice. i am stumped as is every shop tech at my dealership. they have been roadforce balanced twice also and everything zeroed out but still have it.

has anyone seen a balljoint or wheel bearing that does not make noise cause this? or any suggestions as to where to start looking?

car has FRPP K springs and sways/GT500 front control arms/Steeda bumpsteer kit...aligned perfect but has slight balljoint play.

Kevin

 

[Hockeyman82]

im in the same boat as you and i need an answer too so im sub'd

 

[Tre06GTP1SC]

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31427

Really??? try the search function, or better yet scroll down

 

[rojizostang]

did you take those little keepers off that hold the disc brakes on? if the wheels aren't recessed for those keepers, i'll bet that's your problem

 

[kevinatfms]

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31427

Really??? try the search function, or better yet scroll down

this has nothing to do with my problem. his is mainly at high speeds while mine is at 60mph and goes away at higher speeds.

and the clips on the rotors have been long gone.

 

[kevinatfms]

ok so 800$ later and new BFG's and its still there...goodness this is starting to suck...

going to replace the lower control arms and see if the balljoint play is my problem.

 

[rojizostang]

this is getting expensive. i hope you get it figured out soon. there's a local shop that specializes in drivetrain vibrations....however i know it won't do you any good since it's down here, but could there possibly be anything like that in your neck of the woods?

one of the things they do is the balance the wheels, rotors, and axles as an assembly while still mounted on the car. i've never actually seen this done before, but they claim it's the only way to eliminate wheel-rim-rotor-axle vibrations...by balancing the whole assembly as a unit. so they say

they don't have a web page, but maybe you can call them and see what they say

Southwest Brake and Alignment
3930 N Panam Expy
San Antonio, TX 78219
(210) 225-5577

 

[LuckyH]

Make sure all bolts are present in the driveshaft assembly. Sounds stupid, but a friend of mine had one bolt make it's way(different make/model, but used a two peice driveshaft) out of his and cause a nasty vibration at certain speeds.

 

[kevinatfms]

^^ the driveshaft is back to the oem one since my one piece needs new u joints at the moment. and its only in the steering wheel, not the entire car. im going to replace the lower control arms tomorrow with another set of gt500's and see if they correct the issue...

 

[Sinotis]

Before you go throwing your money away have you tried using a known good set of stock tires and wheels with stock lug nuts? If it doens't vibrate with a stock set then the vibration is being caused by your aftermarket wheels and tires. You said they checked the road force but did they tell you what it was? Has to be under 25lbs of assembled road force or it will vibrate the steering wheel no matter if its "zero balanced" or not. So if all that is good you now have hub to bore centering issues or you are using the wrong lug nuts.

You can also cheat high road force by loosening the lug nuts and put the highest spot of the tire facing down and let some of the weight of the car rest on the loose wheel assembly. Then retighten the lugs. This sometimes helps with hub to bore spacing issues with high road force tires.

 

[smoken1986]

has slight balljoint play.

Kevin

How much is slight? Also what size tire were you running in the front before? the same size? There shouldnt be any play in the ball joints and if you are running a larger tire in the front that will make it ten times worse..

 

[kevinatfms]

im running 275/40R18, have been for a while...tire size hasnt changed...it feels like a wear issue...control arms were cheap enough and im just going to install them and see how it goes...

the roadforce balance has not changed anything on two different tire sets so i know it isnt the tires...its a suspension issue

 

[Royski]

Did this vibration happen as soon as you put the pentars on? Did you feel it with the gt500 rims?

 

[bullitt boy]

If you are getting vibration in the steering wheel IMHO you should be looking at the front end of the car for your problem.

 

[kevinatfms]

been looking at the front end of the car for the past two weeks...
installed f control arms and seems the right front balljoint was shot. going to roadtest it in a min and see if its the remedy

 

[kevinatfms]

ok i cant run stock wheels and tire due to a big brake kit. also changed the front control arms and still no fix.

for now its not as bad as it was, i can deal but i will be looking for another fix. also checking out the internet seems this is a common problem with the 05+ cars but no one has posted what fixed it.

if anyone has any other suggestions please message on here so i can maybe try it.

 

[Sinotis]

You seem convinced its a suspension issue. Just because you tried 2 different sets of tires doesn't mean anything. You said the road force was fine but never said what it was. Your rim runout could be bad. That would explain why the different tires didn't help. I'm just trying to help. I deal with these issues all the time and 99% of the time its assembled road force issues and hub to bore clearance issues. If you don't want anymore feedback from me about the wheel and tire causing your vibration then I will drop it.

 

[kevinatfms]

did a hub runout check and it was 0.08 out which is beyond the limit. replaced both front hubs and still there...did a wheel runout test with them mounted on the car, and it seems the wheels maybe the culprit.

 

[rojizostang]

hope you get it figured out...and let us know also what it is

 

[mustangdave]

Have you considered using steedas x5 ball joints? The gt 500arms have a tsb for ball joints just like the gt. Probably the wheels causing the vibration as you suspect.