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i switch my front two rims to all season/steelies today.

i was on the highway and my steering wheel started to shake at 60km/h. and it shook like crazy if i went past 80km/h

i was wondering if it's b/c the wheels arent balance?
... i honestly dont even know what that term actually means.... "wheels being balanced"

or if it's cause i didnt put the steelies on properly?? ... 'cause then if so, wouldnt my steering wheel start shaking when i step on the gas if the steelies arent on properlY?

any opinions/comments can be helpful.
thx.

 
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Could be your wheels aren't balanced, your alignment could be off, maybe tire tread is a little screwed (like if you were to store your rims/rubber sitting on the rubber and not lying flat down).
Balancing essentially ensures that the overall weight of the wheel/tire combination is equally distributed over the entire circumference of the tire. Try this for example: take a bike tire and roll it down your driveway and into traffic - pretty even right? Now take a few fishing weights you stole from Uncle Jimmy's tackle box and stick them on one of the rims with a twist tie - the wheel will rotate funny now, taking longer to turn while the weight is on the way to the TOP of the rotation, then speeding up faster when the weight is going to the BOTTOM of the rotation. It's almost a BOUNCING sensation if you were travelling with that wheel. And that sort of bouncing would be translated into vibration on your steering wheel. I hope my analogy wasn't TOTALLY off.

p.s. did you get your gauges from Dave?

 
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what he said ^

but don't over look the obvious....if they are directional tires, make sure the rotation goes the way the arrow on the side wall says. trust me i've seen people do it more than once.

 
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thx.

telly: are you Will? or was i talking to someone else via email? or is your name Telly?
i got the gauges today.... im gonna meet up with him tm again to pick up a morpher.
... when are you installing yours??




if the alignment is off, wouldnt your steering wheel just be cricked?... in other words, your steering wheel would be at an angle, other then straight.... while you are driving straight...?

the tires were flat all summer.. but took 'em out like a month ago... and i think i left one steelie on it's tire when i put it back in the garage for few days. and it's been really cold... so ya. pretty sure that's a factor...?

so if the tire is all screwy from that... does that mean it's unbalanced...? and that i should go get it balanced?
... hopefully that's the case though.

'cause at first, i thought i didnt tighten the steelies.. so i tried to tighten them all again, but they were as tight as it gets.

as for the directional tires... yes, i checked b4 i put 'em on, no arrows on them.

one tire was inflated though... i pumped air into it... but that shouldnt be the case.

 
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most probably balancing

 
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Shaking in the steering wheel usually means your wheels aren't balanced properly. It's possible that one of the weights on the wheel/tire fell off... get them rebalanced and it won't shake anymore.

 
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most likely the wheels and tires aren't balanced. but if ur using multi-fit generic steelies, it might also be the steelies aren't sitting properly on the hub. hunce if that's the case, u'll need to get hub centric rings for them. good luck.

 
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Im having the same sort of problem with my Civic Sport rims. I just put them on and Im noticing a vibrating sensation. I had the tires mounted and balanced in the spring so I dont know why this is happening. I decided to take it to the dealership and have them balanced again cause I figured they would know these rims really well and I am still having a vibration. I hope my tires or rims arent screwed up. Im supposed to go back to Honda and have a road test with the service advisor. What a pain in the ***.

 
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if u haven't already, make sure all the lugs are torqued properly.

another reason might be the rims/steelies are bent. or they might have been bent a little after the balancing from potholes and what not.

good luck guys!

 
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balanced it... all good now.

 
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also another problem for vibrations is that after a while from driving in salt and snow and sand or rain alot of SH$t gets in between the tire and the rim itself so then you see alot of white crusty stuff( thats what you call oxidized rust) now what you can do is ask a mechanic who has a tire machine to check it out and all they have to do is sand it off with regular sand paper i'm guessing grit 120 or 80 all around the rim and tire..... that happens a lot i find any ways.

another reason is that the tire or rim could be warped.. for that all you have to do is take it to a mechanic and get them to check it on a balancing machine to check the warpage (if any) of tire and or rim.. that could be the case as well.

also check if you have tightened each bolt in the correct order (suppose to do it in criss cross pattern) if not your rim will not be sitting on the hub correctly whic can cause vibration as well.

sorry i wrote so much but i'm hoping that this will help you guys out.

 
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sorry it could also be that one of your suspension specs are off or even toast like a common one the tie rod or the struts/mounts.

 
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Good Tips! Smokedcivic.