SneakyFast Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Who wants to share their infinite wisdom with a wheel/tire noob? I just had my local tire shop mount and balance a wheel/tire combo that I bought off of a member here. My steering wheel now shakes when I'm driving between 60 and 75 and the car pulls slightly to the right now. It also feels like the steering wheel is not as responsive but that could be my head messing with me. I took the car back to the shop and a tech told me that the wheels were out of balance. He told me that they balanced them as well as they could, but because of the style of the wheels they could not be balanced properly. He told me that he could balance them properly but he would have to put the weights in a visible area and that it would ruin the surface of my wheels. (FWIW This was not the same tech that balanced the tires) The wheels are Motegi Racing US7's and the tires are Falken 512's. Both are nearly new. There is no unusual wear on the tires and there are no flaws in the wheels. What do you all think is the problem here? It seems to me that Motegi would not make a wheel that could not be properly balanced. Are there any special adapters that need to be used when mounting aftermarket wheels? Do I need to get an alignment? I don't know where to start. Any help would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levish Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 maybe the wheel weights fell off? have to use the tape'd on variety for those wheels I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanger Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Is your car lowered? but if your car pulls to one direction, you should get an alignment ○ ○ ○ Instagram: itshangertime :spin: ○ ○ ○ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 The car is on stock suspension. All of these symptoms appeared after the new wheels were put on. Literally on the drive home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTTuner Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 You may have excessive "road force variation". You need a DSP9700 Hunter wheel balancer to measure this. Anything above 12-15lbs will give you problems. Are your wheels hub or lug centric? As for the pull, one or more tires may have a "conicity" problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 I believe the wheels are lug centric but they came with adaptor rings. The original tech did say he had a difficult time torqing down the lugs. The lugs sit very deep in the wheel and the hex style key that I got with the lugs was not very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTTuner Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 That may be your problem. I would not purchase wheels that need adapter rings to keep them hub centric. Your OE wheels are hub centric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 ^Well it's a little late for that peice of advice. Thanks for your input though. Anyone have any other ideas? Anyone have a take on the wheel balancing issue? I find it hard to believe that Motegi would make wheels that don't balance right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoWagon Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Where is this place you got your alignment? Do they know what they are doing or did they just "get it to spec"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostsr20 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 That may be your problem. I would not purchase wheels that need adapter rings to keep them hub centric. Your OE wheels are hub centric. I've owned all sorts of wheels on all sorts of cars and never had a problem with that.... Most Discount tire stores have the Hunter Roadforce balancing machines. Thats what I'd do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 Where is this place you got your alignment? Do they know what they are doing or did they just "get it to spec"? I haven't gotten an alignment done. Is is standard practice to have your car aligned after you change wheels? The tire place I took it to is considered one of the more reputable places in town. Thats what I'd do. What would you do booster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qikslvr Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Definatly get it alligned. If the rims are wider than stock and the tires are a different size it will throw your geometry off. I know when I put the Fuzion ZRi's in my car it messed the allignment up because the tires were wider and had a flatter, harder sidewall. You should always get the car alligned after a wheel/tire change Just my .02 . Let's kick this pig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted October 24, 2007 Author Share Posted October 24, 2007 It was a balancing issue. I took them to a different shop and had them balanced. All four wheels were out of balance. One of the rear wheels didn't have any weights in it at all. They were off by a total of 4.5 oz. It drives perfectly now. F#&*@!% morons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dergara Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 I just got a letter on my 05 XT and it mentioned an open recall on the wheel bearings. It said they will be replaced at anytime they fail. That will do me good on vacation. “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” -Dante Alighieri http://youtu.be/lLFunBPgPOo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EL PAALO Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 That may be your problem. I would not purchase wheels that need adapter rings to keep them hub centric. Your OE wheels are hub centric. almost no aftermarket wheels are hubcentric. I like sti wheels and rota, but there are plenty of great choices that use rings ........... 99% of the choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBT Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 If this is a hub-centric issues, Lugnuts won't fix this. You have to figure out how much bigger the bore is on the Motegi wheels over the Subaru 56.1mm, then buy hub-center rings that are specific to Subarus and that have the outside diameter that you need for the Motegis. This is the only way that non-hubcentric wheels will fit properly and they will 1) wear the tires quickly, but 2) and more importantly, ARE A SAFETY ISSUE:eek:. If you have to stop quickly, those wheels could shift and cause you to skid/slide/crash. AND, you have the secondary unpleasant benefit of them shaking. SBT - Pro amore Dei et patriam et populum - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azca Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 go to a DIFFERENT SHOP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azca Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 YES, you do all 4 wheels alignment when you change tires. I haven't gotten an alignment done. Is is standard practice to have your car aligned after you change wheels? The tire place I took it to is considered one of the more reputable places in town. What would you do booster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dergara Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 First, take your car to a Subaru dealer that you like and get them balanced and your car re aligned. That should take care of any off camber caused by the new wheels and tires and also the pulling to one side. Double check the tire preasure also. An over inflated on one side will cause it to pull to one side also. If you bought the tire/wheel package from some company an over inflated tire might be there. (it happened to me, the tire had 60 psi in it and was hopping all over the place) So here try this: 1. Subaru manufacturers tire presure 2. Alignment 3. Good balancing with weights inside. Remember a lot of people claim to do good balancing just to get your money. “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” -Dante Alighieri http://youtu.be/lLFunBPgPOo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyFast Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 It was a balancing issue. I took them to a different shop and had them balanced. All four wheels were out of balance. One of the rear wheels didn't have any weights in it at all. They were off by a total of 4.5 oz. It drives perfectly now. F#&*@!% morons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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