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Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:15 pm
by ZeroK66
Hello all,

Well I got my 19" BBS CH's and had them on for a while. Am suffering from wheel wobble/vibration both from the rear of the car and through steeringwheel. Assumed the wheels needed balancing.

Audi did this for me on my last visit, but its no better. I tried removing my locking nuts and this did make things a lot better, but I am still getting wobble between 60 & 80, right where I dont need it!!

Now I have spacers fitted, so one of these, or all could be outa balance I suppose... I could have a buckled wheel, who knows??

I guess I could start by putting the old wheels back on, getting those balanced and taking it for a spin.

Any other suggestions?

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:19 pm
by david7m
Back wheels to front ? Remove spacers? Move spacers around? Check torque settings on wheel nuts?

Dave

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:15 pm
by DavidT
Are the spacers hub centric Leon ?

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:38 pm
by ZeroK66
Hi David, yeah they are. They are Eibach ones, cost me 160, so not cheap. Wheels were last fittted again by Audi after balancing so I assume are going to be torqued correct.

I will try stick my standard alloys on, just not sure how balanced they are... so may have to pay to have them balanced just to try. Can then fit my spacers to them to see if they are the cause.

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 6:44 pm
by simple1
Are the spacers a tapered fit? I had the same problem with my MTM wheels until I got the proper spacers....... I was trying to 'centre' the wheel using the bolts rather than a correctly fitted a spacer which fitted the hub and then located the wheel in the correct position before using the bolts........
Hope you understand, about as clear as mud when reading it back..... :bash:

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:28 pm
by ZeroK66
yeah the spacers exacrly replicate the hub. The BBS wheels have the correct bit on the inside to match the spacers so the wheels sit perfectly centered before I put the bolts in. :S

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:21 pm
by simple1
At a loss then unless you have a deformed tyre. Mine usally woble a bit after its parked up, quick blast gets a bit of heat in them and they return to being round quite quickly.

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:26 pm
by ZeroK66
Nah its certainly had its fair share of quick blasts :P

I will try the original wheels on, get them balanced (If needed) if it goes all smooth, then put the spacers on the original wheels, see if I get the wobble. If not then I know its the wheels... its just a pain taking 4 wheels off and on over and over :(

Watch this space.

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 8:59 am
by philipwalker
I would first check the wheels to check is they are running true, free from any runout/deformation less than 2/3mm, then have them re-balanced at a different tyre center. If the tyre fitter does not set the machine to say "static" or the inncorrect size it will give an inncorrect reading. Some tyres are also hard to balance the cheaper tyres requiring lots of weight this will be highlighted by a poor/lazy tyre fitter.

If the spacers are fitted correctly i.e. to a clean disc face they should be fine. If you suspect the spacers are differing thickness, measure the thickness around the spacer with a micrometer to confirm uniformity.

If they are not centered or differing thickness (unlikely) they will give a clear low speed "wobble" noticeable at sub 10mph as well as a high speed shudder.

An easy method to check this is to jack the car up and spin the wheel, measuring the run out to a fixed point.

RE: Wheel Vibration... But Balanced??

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:16 pm
by ZeroK66
Thanks Phil,

MRC checked over the car and the spacers appear to not be a true fit to the hub and inturn to the wheel - showing about .5mm play on each side of the spacer. This means the wheels will be able to un-centre & re-centre themselves causing the vibration.

Can you give me a ring to see if you can swap these spacers as they cant be the right ones? I will e-mail you with the part code on the box you sent me. See if we can get to the bottom of this.

Cheers,