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Steering Wheel Shake with Larger Front Tires

t8fanning

t8fanning

8v are still cool, right?
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Location
Vancouver, WA
I have a vibration in the front end that is stumping me so far. It starts around 50 mph and seems to vary in intensity. Here's a video of it happening on the freeway:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bcypk5aAMkk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My front wheels are 17x8 et 35 with 225/45r17 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and 35 mm wheel and hub centric adapters from Motorsports Tech. The tires are only a month or so old. I've had the wheels and tires balanced three times at two different shops, and both places say the wheels aren't bent, and the tires are round. I also got an alignment, and the tech said all my tie rods and ball joints were in good shape.

Has anyone else had issues with large spacers and vibrations on the front end? Could it be something else causing this that I'm missing?
 
t8fanning said:
I have a vibration in the front end that is stumping me so far. It starts around 50 mph and seems to vary in intensity. Here's a video of it happening on the freeway:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bcypk5aAMkk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My front wheels are 17x8 et 35 with 225/45r17 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and 35 mm wheel and hub centric adapters from Motorsports Tech. The tires are only a month or so old. I've had the wheels and tires balanced three times at two different shops, and both places say the wheels aren't bent, and the tires are round. I also got an alignment, and the tech said all my tie rods and ball joints were in good shape.

Has anyone else had issues with large spacers and vibrations on the front end? Could it be something else causing this that I'm missing?
Click to expand...

What is your toe set too? Check the steering rack u+bolts for for tightness as well.
 
The tires are new - are the wheels new too? Or was it fine before with different tires on the same setup?
 
mopar318 said:
What is your toe set too? Check the steering rack u+bolts for for tightness as well.
Click to expand...

I'll check the sheet after work, but I'm sure it's close to whatever the stock alignments specs are. Good idea for the u bolts.

JohnMc said:
The tires are new - are the wheels new too? Or was it fine before with different tires on the same setup?
Click to expand...

Wheels are new too. I replaced a bunch of stuff at once, which wasn't the best idea. RX7 brakes, spacers, wheels and tires all at once. It was fine before on my smaller MSWs.

VB242 said:
How much air pressure are you running? Maybe reduce it some and see if that helps
Click to expand...

35 psi. Won't reducing it much cause abnormal tire wear?
 
t8fanning said:
I have a vibration in the front end that is stumping me so far. It starts around 50 mph and seems to vary in intensity. Here's a video of it happening on the freeway:


My front wheels are 17x8 et 35 with 225/45r17 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires and 35 mm wheel and hub centric adapters from Motorsports Tech. The tires are only a month or so old. I've had the wheels and tires balanced three times at two different shops, and both places say the wheels aren't bent, and the tires are round. I also got an alignment, and the tech said all my tie rods and ball joints were in good shape.

Has anyone else had issues with large spacers and vibrations on the front end? Could it be something else causing this that I'm missing?
Click to expand...

ET zero, steamroller tires, and you wonder?
 
Rack bushings can wear out and create a shake just like a bad tie rod. Spacers would be my first guess.

We had a bud hub on Hackster's v8 242 that took us a long time to figure out. The mounting surface was ground wrong from the factory.
 
Tuff240 said:
Rack bushings can wear out and create a shake just like a bad tie rod. Spacers would be my first guess.

We had a bud hub on Hackster's v8 242 that took us a long time to figure out. The mounting surface was ground wrong from the factory.
Click to expand...

I also think it's the spacers, because it didn't shake on my old wheels that bolted straight to the hub. I'll swap spacer sides and see if that changes anything.
 
VB242 said:
Try 30psi and see how that feels, I think you only have to worry if you go under 25psi
Click to expand...

It really depends on a couple of things- weight being carried vs rating being one of them (think Explorer and Firestone). If you really want to see what the air pressure to wear will be without experimenting with time and wear, chaulk a nice wide mark from side wall to side wall. It will take a very short distance to show exactly where it will wear, and adjust accordingly. Worn off on edges- air up. Worn off in the middle -air down. All slight adjustments, then chaulk and repeat.
My thought is if there is full contact to the road across the tire, it would have the potential to induce more tramlining. And tread and carcass design has a lot of affect on this as well- meaning one 225 width tire may behave different from one 225 of another manufacturer.
 
t8fanning said:
I also think it's the spacers, because it didn't shake on my old wheels that bolted straight to the hub. I'll swap spacer sides and see if that changes anything.
Click to expand...

Spacers would be my guess. I had a similar issue where the hub centric spacers weren't cut right and ended up being the issue. Can you run different spacers as a quick test ?
 
matt b said:
Spacers would be my guess. I had a similar issue where the hub centric spacers weren't cut right and ended up being the issue. Can you run different spacers as a quick test ?
Click to expand...

I wish. I don't have any or know anyone with some that will work. I'm going to try and put my old wheels on and test if it still vibrates. If it doesn't then I'll know it the spacers and contact Motorsports Tech, as they have a lifetime warranty.
 
Had exactly same ****, brought wheels back and make the shop rebalance twice and change bushings in front A-arm cups. In your case might be worth looking into spacers.
 
smeha said:
Had exactly same ****, brought wheels back and make the shop rebalance twice and change bushings in front A-arm cups. In your case might be worth looking into spacers.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's my wheels. They've been balanced three times by two different shops. I will check my bushings though.
 
Bend Virgos 205/60 r15 just checked the size.
I rebalanced twice and put bend ones in the back and found that one of a-arm cup bushings was trashed.
 
Last edited:
I have the same issue currently with 17x8 215/45. No spacers, almost new everything less the control stay bushings which are pretty much shot. Guess I should check my rack bolts too.
 
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