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Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? #722453 05/10/06 04:16 PM
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 63
Texas, USA
M
MarkD Offline OP
Getting the Wheeling Fever
Steering wheel shimmy - the usual culprit is a wheel out of balance. I have aftermarket rims (American Racing - they came with the truck). I have had them balanced multiple times and each time the tech tells me they were out of balance. I had two different businesses (Sam's Club and Sears Auto Center) tell me that aftermarket rims can be very difficult to successfully balance. Has anyone heard this before? The rims are in good condition (no flat spots, etc). Is my only recourse, in order to get rid of steering wheels shimmy (it only happens between 45 and 55 mph), to get OEM wheels?

To note, I've just replaced the steering stabilizer (MOOG Super Trail Boss) and that helped a little. Also replaced my OEM shocks with a set of heavy duty Bilsteins (I love them, wow). All other steering and suspension components are okay.

So, do American Racing wheels not balance well and I need OEM replacements or am I being fed a line?

'93 Pickup | 22R-E | 2WD| Yeah...it's my daily ride.
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? [Re: MarkD] #722454 05/10/06 04:25 PM
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 408
SA/Texas
MnMsToY Offline
Mudrunner
can't help you in that part....but, if you chalk a line in a few place from tire to rim. to see if the rim is slipping inside the tire. I'm sure any tire shop can let you use their tire marker to make a few lines on each rim/tire. drive for a few days and see. I have some cheby style rims that use stick on weights on the inside. sense then a few has fallen off. I get some vibration around 45 50...BUt sense I drive 40 most of the time I live with it.
Mike
just my two pennies.

1980 Toy, Dovetail, Chevy 60/14, 5.13 gears "Wheeling isn't cheap anymore"
http://www.texas4x4.org/gallery/MikesToyota
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? [Re: MarkD] #722455 05/10/06 04:40 PM
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 12,153
N. California. USA
4Crawler Offline
Web Wheeler
*****

r.c.brown@ieee.org
TruckEditor@tlca.org
Project: 4Crawler
4Crawler OffRoad - 4x4Wire discount code
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? [Re: 4Crawler] #722456 05/10/06 05:25 PM
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 63
Texas, USA
M
MarkD Offline OP
Getting the Wheeling Fever
Cool...I'll check that out!

'93 Pickup | 22R-E | 2WD| Yeah...it's my daily ride.
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? [Re: MarkD] #722457 05/10/06 05:43 PM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 232
everett washington
lethe Offline
Wheeler
what kind of tires do you have? sometimes its a combination of the tire and wheel that make balancing the assembly difficult. im also guessing that your wheels are static balance with tape weight right?? if they are then even when there are balanced out they wont ride as well as a dynamic balance.

87' ext cab toy
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? [Re: lethe] #722458 05/10/06 06:59 PM
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 63
Texas, USA
M
MarkD Offline OP
Getting the Wheeling Fever
Quote
what kind of tires do you have? sometimes its a combination of the tire and wheel that make balancing the assembly difficult. im also guessing that your wheels are static balance with tape weight right?? if they are then even when there are balanced out they wont ride as well as a dynamic balance.


The tires I am using are BFGoodrich Radial Long Trail T/A P215/70R14. And yes, I think it is a tape weight that is being used; it uses adhesive that sticks to the rim. In reference to the site that 4Crawler pointed me to, I'm not certain if my aftermarket rims are hub-centric or lug-centric. I guess I need to get a hold of some specs for my wheels and figure it out...

'93 Pickup | 22R-E | 2WD| Yeah...it's my daily ride.
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? [Re: MarkD] #722459 05/10/06 07:36 PM
Anonymous
Unregistered
Quote
Steering wheel shimmy - the usual culprit is a wheel out of balance. I have aftermarket rims (American Racing - they came with the truck). I have had them balanced multiple times and each time the tech tells me they were out of balance. I had two different businesses (Sam's Club and Sears Auto Center) tell me that aftermarket rims can be very difficult to successfully balance. Has anyone heard this before? The rims are in good condition (no flat spots, etc). Is my only recourse, in order to get rid of steering wheels shimmy (it only happens between 45 and 55 mph), to get OEM wheels?

To note, I've just replaced the steering stabilizer (MOOG Super Trail Boss) and that helped a little. Also replaced my OEM shocks with a set of heavy duty Bilsteins (I love them, wow). All other steering and suspension components are okay.

So, do American Racing wheels not balance well and I need OEM replacements or am I being fed a line?


Wheel shimmy can be caused by a number of things. First, the wheels can be 1) out of round, 2) out of concentric, 3) out of balance, 4) bent. The tires may be out of round. You can balance a tire the shape of a football perfectly on a spin balancer... but obviously it won't go down the road smoothly. Any good tire shop should be able to identify if there is a problem with the tire or the rim. Shimmy is often caused by large tires on stock front steering systems, but you say you've got that taken care of.
Gnarls.
Re: Wheel balancing issues or a problem with my wheels? #722460 05/10/06 10:22 PM
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 232
everett washington
lethe Offline
Wheeler
BFG long trails are pretty good tires. if you havent already go to a discount/ americas tire co. ( if you live in dallas there should be one on almost every corner). ask them to use road force on your tires and they can also check your rim run out to see if its out of round or bent anywhere. road forcing also shows you where the heavy spot on your tire is, as well as your wheel. an acceptable amount for truck/ SUV tires is up to 31 lbs. if its anywhere over that the machine will tell you where to mark the tire and wheel. you break down the tire and line up the marks and try rebalancing them. most of the time this will get rid of some of the vibration. but like i said earlier if your wheels are static balanced ( it sounds like they are) then you wont have as good of a balance no matter what.

87' ext cab toy

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