I am at my wit's end. After having outfitted all three of my cars with aftermarket wheels this year, I am ready to give up and reinstall all the stock wheels on everything. The problem is vibration. I cannot seem to get wheels balanced and it is driving me crazy. Do others have this problem or am I just too demanding and my **** and hands too sensitive? (Or is it all this plus a little bad luck?)

I just bought a set of 18" Mille Miglia Spiders with Kumho Ecsta tires. I purchased them as a mounted set from Eddie at TireRack a couple weeks ago. When they arrived, I bolted them up and took them out for a test ride. Sure enough, I had a small but noticeable vibration. No big deal, I'll just have the balance checked locally and Eddie will take care of it.

Well, just a few days later, my wife was run into a curb on a narrow strreet, which damaged two of our new wheels, so I ordered two more and had them mounted and balanced Thursday at Tire Shop X (about 45 minutes away) for $25.00.

Well, now they were REALLY out of balance, with serious vibration at any speed above 60 mph which would increase and decrease in frequency as I negotiated curves on the interstate where I live.

So, on Friday I took the car to Tire Shop Y, a national chain. They rebalanced them and charged me $29.95, telling me that the back two were "really out," but that the fronts were not too bad. Well, I should have just tossed my money out the window, because I still have a vibration at speed, albeit not quite as bad as after Tire Shop X, but still WAY more than the nice stock Audi wheels I had on it before that had absolutely NO vibration at all. The stock wheels that made me marvel at how well my Audi went down the road and how smooth and stable it was at high speeds. Well, my Spiders look awesome and garner lots of compliments, but I can't even drive at speeds over 55 mph without feeling like I am in a massage chair. The imbalance must be both in the front and the rear, because at various times I can feel a vibration thru the the steering wheel, thru the seat bottom, or both. I know it's not the car because it was rock-solid and vibration-free up until I mounted my new Spiders.

In conversations with some of the local tire shop managers and technicians, they tell me that I will have to live with imbalanced wheels as a result of using stick-on weights, that aftermarket rims are notorious for imbalance, that they cannot guarantee that the wheels will stay in balance (hence I will have to pay again if I have balance problems), that European cars have problems with aftermarket wheel balance, that stick-on weights tend to be thrown off at high speeds, et cetera, et cetera...

My questions to you all are as follow (and TIA to all of you who take the time to respond :^):

1) Those of you with aftermarket rims, do you live with wheel imbalance greater than that of the stock wheels? ANY wheel imbalance at all?

2) Those of you who have had imbalance problems, were you able to solve them? If so, what did it take? I'll take as much detail here as you want to give me.

3) Is there any truth to what I'm hearing about aftermarket wheels (especially those with outer rim lips that require the use of stick-on weights and single-plance balance) not being able to be completely balanced (i.e. vibration-free)? What is your experience?

4) Any advice/help/good luck charms greatly apprciated!!!

Thanks - Mike

PS - Just as additional background, I had upgraded to 17" wheels and tires from the TireRack on my 2000 Durango w/ 3k miles. They were imbalanced from day one. Finally, after changing out the tires (twice) and finally changing the rims (once), I got some semblance of comfort, although I still get vibration at 75+ mph. I've just about given up on these as well, and am just about ready to pull them off and put on my original OEM set, which are as smooth as a baby's butt. BTW, I've tried both stick on weights AND clamp-on-the-rim style weights on this set and neither have solved the problem. I think I achieved relative notoriety at the TireRack as an extremely unlucky customer (or an extremely hard-to-satisfy one)...In light of this, I will say that the TireRack has customer service and satisfaction as a top priority. That is why I came back again four months later.

Thanks for reading this far - Mike<p>1998 A4 2.8 QM, 18"MM Spiders
1999 Camaro SS #1411
2000 Durango R/T

 

I run S4 wheels on my A4 and they run perfect. I know a bunch of people with aftermarket wheels as well and they have ABSOLUTELY no vibration.

It's complete bull**** if someone tells you that this is typical of ALL aftermarket wheels and that you have to live with it! Whoever told you that should get a beatdown for being full of crap!

Finally, hang one of those naked troll dolls with the crazy long hair from your rearview, and your imbalance problems will all but disappear!

 

These problems can be solved - just takes a good shop to find the cause and a good one that will stand by their work. You also need to be a good negotator on your part with them - which it sounds like you are as you are not flaming Tire Rack for this whole matter - as others were quick to do.

You are unlucky to have so many problems with different sets of wheel/tires. The fact that you were happy with the orginal tires says that you are not overly sensitive.

Reggie

98.5 2.8QMS w/17"MAS MGRs (from Discount Tire, local store)

 

I ordered a set of 9.5"x17" Konig Monsoons for my wife's '99 Camaro SS in July to replace the stock ZR1s. When they came, I took them to Tire Shop N, who mounted them up and balanced them for me. To make a long story short, they badly scratched one wheel, overtorqued most of the lugnuts, to the point where three of them broke the studs when I tried to take them off, stripped three other studs, and STILL didn't get the wheels balanced.

It cost them one wheel @ $195, 20 GM studs @ $3 each, remounting one wheel and tire, and a rebalance of all four wheels at no additional cost. I knew the manager and told him how disappointed I was with the work, and he told me he knew I'd be calling, because the guy who did the work tipped him off (early warning system in effect?). He told me he would make it right whatever it cost. I could have asked for the cost of the Gorilla lug nuts his gorilla ruined, but I had another set, so I didn't.

I feel like I am getting a bad rep with the tire dealers, and trust me, I hate it every bit as bad or worse than they do. But - when you pay big dollars for wheels or wheels and tires (or service), they (or it) SHOULD be right, right out of the box.

You are correct, I HAVE had the world's worst luck with wheels and tires in the past 9 months. I am looking for it to change...I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Mike<p>1998 A4 2.8 QM, 18"MM Spiders
1999 Camaro SS #1411
2000 Durango R/T

 

About 2 hours from Pittsburgh
3.5 hours from Washington DC
3.5 hours from Columbus OH

A long way from South Bend IN or Wilmington DE, or just about anywhere else, unfortunately....

Mike<p>1998 A4 2.8 QM, 18"MM Spiders
1999 Camaro SS #1411
2000 Durango R/T

 

Go the the Hunter Engineering site from the link below. Read up on wheel balancing and vibration control. Then use the locator to find a GSP9700 in your neck of the woods.
I had $2800 worth of tires/wheels mounted and balanced for my A6 4.2 on a GSP9700 and I'm telling you from my personal experience that this machine is really something. Balance is only part of the issue. Force variance and rim run-out also plays a major part in the overall equation. There will be NO doubt about your wheel tire combo being a problem or not once the GSP9700 has taken a "look" at them.

If the OEM wheels/tires are still smooth as glass when you put them on then you are correct about the car/suspension not being the problem.<ul><li><a href="http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/technical/4426T/4426t.htm">Hunter GSP9700</a></li></ul>

 

WOW!

I found one just 3 miles from here at the Chevy dealer where I bought Penny's SS. COOL! I'm calling them Monday morning. THANKS!!!!!

Maybe this bad luck thing is coming to an end...

Mike<p>1998 A4 2.8 QM, 18"MM Spiders
1999 Camaro SS #1411
2000 Durango R/T

 

I wish I had one that close to me! Let me know how it all turns out.

 

You do have the hub centric rings installed, right?


I have a set of SSR Integrals and Michelin Pilot Sports on my A4. Stick-on weights and all. NO vibration at any speed (only been to 120). Came balanced that way from Tire Rack.<p>2001 A4 1.8TQMS
http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=4960

 

I asked Eddie about this when I placed the order and he told me that the hubcentric rings would be installed prior to shipping. To my knowledge this was done. Without looking to see for certain, I am making the assumption that they were installed. I do know that when I had them balanced two times ago, that they seemed to fit right onto the disc hubs.

Thanks -- Mike<p>1998 A4 2.8 QM, 18"MM Spiders
1999 Camaro SS #1411
2000 Durango R/T