change2E85

A few years back I bought 17" wheels from OEwheels. ET40 so I'm running it with 20mm spacers and winter tires. I always have shaking in the steering wheels. We have tried balancing the tires, rotating them, torquing the lugs but I always have a little bit of steering shake. Then when spring comes, I put on the OEM 18" wheel and it is nice and smooth. Any ideas as to what could be a factor in the shaking with my winter wheel set?

SeeksAR

Same. Bought my 17" winters from Ronal. Spacers were included. The first winter ran fine. But then I goofed around with the spacers (took them out to look at them) and must not have put them back exactly at the same orientation and messed with the runnout a little bit. There is a slight wobble now, regardless of which wheels I put up front.

I got sick of monkeying around trying to match them any more. I just drive.

AutohausAZ-Mike

Has the problem been going on since you got the spacers or has it just recently started?

change2E85

Always. I bought the spacers and bolts from ECS.

AutohausAZ-Mike

Have you tried running the wheels without the spacers? If you are not getting the shake without spacers then your wheels are good.

I used to have 20mm spacers on my M3 and if the wheels weren't seating perfectly on the hub then they would shake. I think you should take the spacers off make sure they are perfectly aligned and then make sure there is nothing in between the spacers and the hub.

Most of the time it's just the instillation.

change2E85

I'm sure the spacers are the problem. When I have them rotated mid winter, sometimes they are better and other times worse. I'm not physically capable of doing my own tires so I have to rely on the tire store. Are there any tips I can give the installers so the spacers are perfectly aligned?

Old_School_Audi

Good spacers should provide the alignment. Maybe your spacers are out of spec.

Clean ALL the mating surfaces. Remove any corrosion where center bore in the wheel fits over the hubs. Tighten the wheel bolts in proper sequence and to the correct torque.

This information should be known by the techs, but in practice it's not always followed.