cereal83

Hey all,

Well i have been driving for like a month now with my new car. I got winters installed and I noticed that there was steering wheel vibration on my car. I had the tire shop where I got my winters rebalanced the wheels as I thought that was the issue but it still vibrated. I then found out I never had hub rings with my winter rims so I went back and they put them on and rebalanced the wheels again but its still happening.

Anybody know what could cause this? Is it maybe because I have winter tires on?

Thanks

give_it_all_

Maybe a flat spot on one of the tires, but that usually goes away pretty quickly...

cereal83

Yeah I have been about 4000 km on these tires so I don't think its a flat spot. Is there some recall or something for the rotors which causes vibration?

bumpity

Pyros777

iTrader: (4)

I had this same issue when my car was new. Really bad vibration between 65--75mph. Had to have the wheels balanced twice because they did a crappy job the first time (kept adding weights instead of adding/removing as necessary).

I would get them balanced again and while you're at it have them check the alignment.

kylewalton2007

sounds like they need to be balanced or you have bad tires. you didnt hit any pot holes or anything did you?

Nymostwanted187

iTrader: (1)

If it was the rotors then you would probably feel the vibration when braking.

umrdyldo

iTrader: (1)

Yep it's not brake issue.

It's an alignment/ Tire type problem. How violent is the shaking?

john_boy1987

Is one of the tire treads lower than the other? I was a tire tech for a while and we always had that problem. And With the rotors as what nymostewanted said it would only happen when you were braking.

cereal83

I noticed it right away as soon as I got on the highway and it shakes the wheel a bit. It used to be alot worse before I got the hub rings. I mean they have been balanced 3 times and the last time I watched them at the tire machine as saw it was fine as per the machine. I also saw them hand tighten the lugs and then torque them down too in a star direction.

It could be an alignment but what do I do? Like if I complain to the dealer, they will blame it on the winters will they not?

No I did not ruin the rims yet and I dunno if the tires are the same depth. I checked the serial and they were all from the same month/year

john_boy1987

they could did it happen when you put the tires on?

cereal83

Did what happen?

I drove to the tire place with my summers and no vibration, I drove away and I felt vibration in the wheels. I also have spacers, could that be an issue?

john_boy1987

it maybe. cause as you know it sets the wheel farther out. if it the vib happened after the winter wheels are on then gm may say something. how does an alignment cost where you are?

TrevMo

Sounds like you just learned your lesson about running spacers...

cereal83

An alignment is like $100 I think with taxes and stuff. They are 3mm spacers.

Umm actually no, find me a rim that fits without spacers

john_boy1987

try taking the spacers off and see what happens.

what kind of rim do you have? I know what you mean My buddy has a tc and it seems like nothing will fit in there.

TrevMo

The stock wheels...this is why all of the smart people didn't put aftermarket wheels on...just because there are not any wheels available that fit without spacers doesn't make spacers a good idea...

Force

Hey Cereal, I can't comment too much on this since I didn't actually have Steelcase install my wheels (I took them home loose). I do, however, remember the dealership having trouble getting the spacers to sit just right before bolting up the wheel. Think it could be an issue with that?

As for the dealer, I strongly doubt they'll fault you for running the winters. My dealership was completely unable to find a set of wheels for me, and actually encouraged me to head to Steelcase.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble with your set.

TrevMo

I can't imagine any dealer would be happy to hear you are running spacers. In fact, I wouldn't count on them giving a crap about your vibration since you are running spacers and wheels that are not OEM.

Force

I had the dealership install and balance my wheels, and they were happy to do so.

A 3mm spacer has almost zero effect on anything. In addition, this is Canada: NO ONE intelligent runs OEM wheels in the winter, almost everyone has a second set for the winter (usually steelies).

cereal83

Winters for a 18" are $500 a piece which is way way way too much money, plus if I scratch a curb, a new rim is like $1000 for OEM rims, If I scrape my aftermarket rim, its $200 to replace.

Hey, yeah I remember the dudes at steelcase playing with the spacers and they called one of the front guys to come back and he showed them how to put it on properly. The vibration isn't major and I can live with it but I was seeing if maybe it is normal with Cobalt because I have winters on. The tire place said the hub rings should fix it and it did cut the vibration in half but there is stil some vibration, if I let go of the steering wheel, you can really see it then.

I could go to the dealer and have them re-balance all of them but thats like $50 out of pocket if that's not the issue.

Motorway Justice

Most shops will do the traditional dynamic balancing, place the wheel weights, and then call it a day. Would it be possible to get a Roadforce balance? A number of vibration issues / pulling issues can be solved with a Roadforce balance machine.

25bduse

Get your tires balanced NOW!!!!

cereal83

Whats a road force balance machine and I can see who in the area has one!

CatchMeIFyouCAN

I have black with red lip MSR 45s.. and they dont need spacers.. just hub rings.. BOOM i found a rim that you dont need spacers for

SSlobalt

And a year and a half later, too.