Would love some help with my Ichiba spacer problem!

[infinitipearl]

Any help would be greatly appreciated. A little background: my car is a 2007 G35S with the factory staggered 18" wheels. It is currently running Blizzak LM25 snows all around (factory sizes), b/c I have moved to Texas for at least the next 4 years and have no plans to use them any longer for the purpose for which they were intended - thus, they are getting burned up and used. The car was running just fine and smoothly on these tires - no shimmy, shake or vibration.

About a month ago I had a local shop install Ichiba version II spacers all the way around - 20mm on the fronts, 15mm on the rears. They installed the Impul springs at the same time (20mm drop F, 5mm drop R). The car looks great. Unfortunately --- it shakes like its coming apart at about 50-70mph, worst at about 57mph. The steering wheel shakes terribly, as does the whole car. I had National Tire and Battery do a full 4 wheel alignment AND balance on all four wheels, but with little effect (if any). They say the right rear wheel might be a little bent (which is possible, my wife dropped one of my snow wheels on its side a couple seasons ago), but he doesn't think that is the main culprit b/c a lot of the shimmy is coming from the front (the steering wheel shake), plus the car was perfectly smooth prior to the spring/spacer install. He thinks it is likely the spacers.

Any suggestions? Could the spacers have been installed incorrectly? Is it more likely the spacers were delivered "out of balance?" Might they be the wrong size (they are 5X114.3/12X1.25 20mm Front, and 5X114.3/12X1.25 15mm Rear)? I plan on calling the local shop who installed the spacer/spring combo tomorrow, but any thoughts and input from you lovely ladies and gentlemen would be greatly appreciated.

Please note, though this is my "first" post under this username, I have another name on here that I cannot get to work, and have emailed the site to no avail. In other words, I am not a troll, or a total newbie. Thanks again.

2007 G35S 6MT
IP/graphite
Impul springs
Ichiba spacers 20mm F, 15mm R
Stillen intakes
Stillen exhaust
Integrated Bel radar/laser
JL audio custom sub, amp, box
Custom hidden removable hitch (thanks altered atmosphere!)
Sirius sat radio (no roof fin - antenna hidden on dash)
No sunroof
No tech
No premium
No nav
etc...

[Triton3.5]

Well, i just installed 15mm spacers on my car about 2 months ago,, Installed them myself,, very easy! they are just an aluminum/magnesium billet. they can only go on one way i think,, at least it appeared to me... my car is an X and even though i took before and after pics,, ( i still have not posted em ) It looks very nice, even with stock ride height,, ( which is fairly high ) however, rite up to 130 mph,, No vibrations,, or wobbles or anything... I do notice that with the increased track , the car is VERY slightly sensitive to tracks, or rutted roadway... but still tracks straight!! hope this helps some....

[elayman]

it could be you didn't reinstall hubcentric rings (if you had any to begin w/) and this is causing some vibrations. Or, have you taken your wheels off to see if the spacers were torqued down correctly?

[cmo23]

interesting- i feel a similar vibration around 57mph as well. i only have the spacers installed on the rear (suppose to go back and get the front done this week) so therefore i only feel the vibration coming from the rear. however mine is pretty minute- which caused me to think it was just the car accelerating bc i ONLY feel it around 57mph and ONLY when accelerating. ill have the mechanics chk things out when i go back for the fronts and post if i find a solution.

[AesonVirus]

Take the snows off and try your OEM wheels.
If the vibe continues, remove the spacers.
Process of elimination.

[CalsonicVQ]

Originally Posted by elayman

it could be you didn't reinstall hubcentric rings (if you had any to begin w/) and this is causing some vibrations. Or, have you taken your wheels off to see if the spacers were torqued down correctly?

+1000000000....I'm leaning towards a missing hub ring...since OP describes a pretty good vibration. The problem happened immediately after the spacer/spring installation, right OP?

Pretty difficult to mess up a bolt-on spacer install. Make sure the hub rings are on and all nuts are bolted down.

[AesonVirus]

This is all good advice, for someone who understands these installation techniques.
I think the one thing we're all forgetting is that the OP doesn't know how to do this stuff.

I don't know of anyone who would pay to have spacers installed unless they were unfamiliar with the process.

Where's the OP located?
Maybe one of us who are local can help.

[infinitipearl]

Originally Posted by AesonVirus

This is all good advice, for someone who understands these installation techniques.
I think the one thing we're all forgetting is that the OP doesn't know how to do this stuff.

I don't know of anyone who would pay to have spacers installed unless they were unfamiliar with the process.

Where's the OP located?
Maybe one of us who are local can help.

Thanks all for your prompt replies. I think this response really epitomizes why I love this g35 site over all the rest. "Maybe one of us who are local can help." Really a genuine site where ppl sharing a common interest do give a hoot. I bought my Impul springs off a guy named Hans off of here a long time ago, and when we "talked business" on the phone, we ended up talking for about an hour and a half about all of our mods, future mods, etc.

Anyway, I am in the DFW area. And Aesonvirus, you are correct, I am embarassed to admit, but as much of a car-lover and fanatic as I am, I have never learned to do many mechanicals that would probably be considered "simple" by most gearheads, like a spacer install (the springs sound a bit more involved, but compared to some of the things y'all are doing on here, maybe not so much). I called the local shop today asking about the hubcentrinc rings thing, and the guy asked me if my wheels were the stock rims. I replied yes, and he mentioned that it would not likely be rings then b/c stock rims wouldn't have these hub rings. Is he feeding me a line of BS you think? Might he just not know? I'm supposed to bring the car over to the shop in a little over a week to have them take a look. In the meantime I'm here on the driver, b/c the knowledge base is so G-specific here. I wish I still lived up in Philly, I would have have this stuff done at Altered Atmosphere and I don't think there would have been any issue (I highly recommend this shop).

Enough pontificating. Thanks in advance everybody for your help.

Edit: ps if anyone actually is local and is willing to help, I could throw in some gas money, beer, chicken wings, whatever lol

[elayman]

could you link us to the spacers you bought? they might not have hub rings with them to begin with.

[elayman]

Now this may sound stupid but is it possible your shop switched your front two wheels and the tires are directional and therefore ar backwards?

[CalsonicVQ]

OP said Ichiba v2 spacers. Those definitely come with detachable hub rings, unless OP bought an incomplete used (or perhaps even new) set. I was under the impression that OP got his springs installed and then simply, conveniently had the spacers put on at the same time. Nevertheless, I hope OP figures out his problem soon. =)

[infinitipearl]

Hi all, so I am the OP, but Ian read my post and kindly fixed my old account, so this is me "Infinitipearl." It was a new set of V2 Ichiba spacers from Option Imports. I think it had all the parts, but who knows at this point. CalsonicVQ, are you suggesting that perhaps the local shop did not install all the detachable hub rings that came with the spacers? And what do these hub rings look like? Thanks in advance!!!

[CalsonicVQ]

See the thin ring in the center of the spacer that sticks out? That's the hubcentric ring and it can be detached from the spacer.

[turbocad6]

I'm willing to bet your problem is that the original studs are too long & the wheel is contacting the studs before it sits flat on the hub itself... many mechanics even will install the wheel & not even realize this... if you pull a wheel & check in the recesses where the studs will sit into the wheel & look for contact... if the wheel is bottoming on the studs it's no good & will never sit flat, not to mention at that point, just tightening the lugs is going to warp the spacer itself ... you'll either need to cut your studs down a bit or swap out to the v1's or go with a thicker v2 to clear the studs...

had this problem on a few fx's... the minimum spacer to fit without contacting the studs is 25mm... 15's & even 20's will contact the studs on the fx & the wheel will not sit flush to the spacer...

[elayman]

^+1 take 1 wheel off and see if they have recesses similar to this picture

also make sure there is no huge crack like seen in the picture (the recesses are in between the stud holes)