Ok so here's the deal,

Last summer I decided to get some new rims which I ordered via a package to upgrade to 18" chrome. The rims looked great, but i could not for anything figure out how to get rid of the vibrating in high speeds (65+mph). I chalked it up to some possibly crappy tires or somethin after i had them regular balanced, hunter road forced balanced (twice), had an alignment, etc. Nothin seemed to help. The rims were perfectly round, no problems there - the hunter road stress balance machine made sure of that. So I just figured i had to live with it and hopefully invest in some better tires next time. They were low end Sumitomo tires...(came with the package)

Anyway, its winter now, and so i put my other 17" OEM rims back on with 4 new snow tires from tire rack. As soon as I had them put on, the vibrating was similar to what i had before with the 18's! I couldnt believe it, so i had them balance my tires once more and still it vibrates while riding 65+mph. The steering wheel shakes and its not all the time. It comes and goes very often. Sometimes, it'll ride great for a while, then it'll just start vibrating again for no reason. Its not the road either because I'll be on the highway at the same spots. Sometimes it vibrates, other times no.

Before I got the rims in the summer, this ride of mine was smooth as glass. I loved the ride quality of the 17's. Now it sucks again.

my question is could buying heavier chrome rims like that screw up somethin else in the car? Is there somethin else that I am not thinking of to have checked out? I've gone thru balances like crazy and an alignment. Is there anything else on a car that would cause vibrating in high speeds other than those two things???

 

sry not to answer, but, so what your saying is you just ignored the extreem vibrations this whole time???? are you crazy???? thats how you make your car fall apart.

 

No the other wheels wouldnt have screwed anything up. What kind of balancer are you using?

 

BTW it really shocks me these days how people are so quick to give up on their cars. Something so simple.

 

Try having the wheels balanced while still on the car. That way you'll get all rotating masses balanced too.
G/L
C.

 

get the suspension checked out

 

wheel bearings.. other G's have needed replacement, should be under warranty

 

Well, I'm not giving up on my car. If you do a search under my name, you'll see there's a ton of vibrating threads- I just thought it would go away when I changed my rims back to OEM...I love my car, i'm not giving up on it. I'm just frustrated like anyone else would be ya know?

TIMW, Can i just have them inspect them for free and tell them my symptoms? I dont want to mention i switched to after market rims tho because will it void any warranty, right??

 

Since you checked the alignment and balance with the chromies, my guess would be the heavier rims changed the resonant frequency of your car (whether it be in the suspension, frame, wherever) by just enough to make it act up at 65mph. Over time, that could have screwed up your shocks/struts a little bit as well. It's just a guess, but, if I'm right, the vibration should go away at higher speeds, say 75-80. Have you tried that? Let me know if you see any difference. If that's true, you might be able to get your original ride feel back by replacing the springs, but, I'm not making any guarantees. Sorry I'm not quite the right kind of engineer to give you a more exact answer...

 

Exactly the same problem I had on my '01 Maxima. I went from 17s to 18s and the vibration never went away no matter how many times I balanced the wheels. I also went back to 17s which but that ended up vibrating also. After all the balancing I suspected the vibration to be caused by warped rotors, but by the time I got to changing my rotors I sold the car. Sometimes balancing is not done right or the machine is no good. I had my mother's wheels balanced in sears once and they started vibrating, went back to balance again, and still vibrated, but then my brother took it to Connecticut to his shop, and came back balanced perfectly.
One other thing that helped me, was when I came home and took the wheels off and put them back on again, making sure they are flush and lug nuts are tightened in the cross pattern order, and using a torque wrench to make sure it's up to specs. Sometimes mechanics tighten the wheel on the hub crooked. So check that, and I would check the rotors.
Good luck man, I know how you feel.

 

Has this car been in a wreck before?

 

I have seen more than one car in my lifetime that had a rotor wrap because the wheels were not torqued properly when put on. It the shop that put the aftermarket wheels on in the first place did not properly torque the wheels it can easily warp a rotor and cause all kinds of vibration problems. Over torqueing a wheel can really mess up the rotors.

 

interesting.....i'm having the same problem as Tha_kid...i went from 19" volks to stock 18"s and i have this vibration from the front (passenger) wheel...i balanced my tires and it did not go away....and it appears at +50mph and when i hold the wheel to the right....i have not tried an alignment yet.....well get back to everyone once that is done....

also, my steering wheel DOES NOT shake, and the vibration comes and goes when its present ....high and low...high and then low....could be the tire..but they are new, and the sound wasn't there when i took the stocks off!

 

Misleading post. This has nothing to do with your coupe, but your choice in aftermarket wheels.

 

How many Cleveland potholes have you hit with your car? I know NEOhio...get your suspension checked out kiddo.