I have a 2003 ZO6 with 1600 miles and two days ago I had a local Chevy dealership mount a brand new set ZO6 chrome reproduction wheels that purchased from a reputable online company. With the original wheels on the car it tracked completely smooth up to any speed to which I was willing to drive. After the new wheels were installed the car began to noticeably vibrate at 60 mph and with speed the vibration continued to escalate until becoming unbearable at 85 mph.

The dealership said the wheels were balanced using road force on a Hunter 9700 and 2 oz the most weight they had to use and maybe the problem was most likely caused by the extra 1-2lbs of the repros. Also the vibration seems to come mostly from the rear and only slightly from the steering wheel.

 

See if the vibration changes when the tires are cold/hot. If the vibration is reduced when the tires are warm/hot, then the problem may be run-out (slightly non-round wheel(s)) and not balance. Perhaps have a Discount Tire check out your wheels and balance job.

 

Still sounds like a balance problem to me. I had to have all four tires force balanced on my Z06. Without it, the viabration was terrible. Rather than spend more money, go back to the shop and ask them to check the balance again.

In an ideal world, the dealer should have considered the fact that maybe they did not do a good job of balancing the tires. It happens or maybe you lost a weight.

 

Try removing the lock rings from the studs of each wheel (only 2 or 3 per axle). Some of the aftermarket wheels do not have releif cut in the back aide which stops the rim from fitting flush with the brake hat. This could be causing your vibration if you wheel balance issue checks out.
Good Luck

 

Well If you sk me, this is just another aftermarket wheel horror story.

 

ok here is my story. I had chrome repro wheels on my car that i sold and got the same set of wheels again bec the i did not like the way the others looked.
Well i bought my new wheels from corvettes of houston. They look real nice they are stock Z size (atleast that is wot i ordered). Now i was there at NTB shop when they were mounting and balancing these wheels and well the fronts were not 9.5. I told the guy to check 3 diffrent times from three diffrent places on the wheel and they were 10.2. So he put that info in the machine and did the balance. Rares were 10.5 right on the spot. I took te car out and driving back home 80+ the car started to vibrate. Took it back and had him re balance the wheels. This time it ran fine uptill 100MPH and i could still feel a little vibration but not too much so i did not take it back. If it starts to bother me too much then i will.

 

Hi RacerXq -

I have the exact same problem - Chrome aftermarket Z06 replacements.

I have had them balanced and re-balanced (7 times!!) and I still get the vibration at speeds over 75 or so.

I most recently had the wheels/tires balnaced on a GSP9700 (this is the Road Force Balanace) and this machine measures both axial and radial runout - all checked out fine.

After the Road Force Balance I did notice an improvement, but still not like it was with the factory balance.

I have made a deal to buy a set of 100-mile 03 Z06 rims/tires with factory balance still intact. I am going to install these and see if the problem is fixed - if it fixes the problem then I have a problem with a wheel, and I will swap until I can determine which wheel it is. My vendor has been good about it and says if I identify it as a wheel they will take care of me.

If the problem still exists when I get the factory wheels/tires on it, I guess it will be back to the dealership to have them find the problem.

best regards -


mqqn

 

I had no idea there were that many problems with aftermarket wheels. I was looking into chrome Z06 replacements. I think I'll stay with what I have.

 

Thanks for all the input. Based on everybody’s comments it seems the most reasonable course of action would be to,

1. Give the dealer a second shot at balancing the wheels.
2. Have another qualified shop balance the wheels.
3. Determine the problem wheel/s and have the vendor replace the wheel/s.
4. Go back to the stock wheels.

Maybe we should conduct a poll to determine the best wheel shop in the each metropolitan area. We could start by conducting a poll for the Washington, DC area.

 

It's hard to beat OEM wheels for obtaining expected results and being dependable.

The OEM manufacturer for the Z06 since '02 is Speedline. I'm a strong believer in Speedline or OZ when it comes to reliable and round wheels... aftermarket is all too often a crapshoot.

 

I just spoke to the online wheel vender and they suggested it was possible that a properly balanced wheel could be over torqued when being mounted thereby causing the vibration when driving, especially in the case when air ratchets are used. The proper torque setting is 85 ft-lb.

 

Hi RacerXq -

Proper final torque value = 100ft-lbs -

I use a clicker torque wrench for this - three steps to final torque -

Many people get a ood wheel balance with aftermarket wheels - and you will eventually have to get new tires anyway, so I am definitely not in the "never get aftermarket wheels" category - but this sure has not been fun...

Perhaps the best idea is plated OEM wheels...

I got my wheel/tire package today, so they will go on this week - then I will know for sure one way or the other - I will post that info.

best regards -

mqqn

 

The reproduction wheels are probably not hub centric. Hub centric means that when mounting the wheel to the hub, the center of the wheel is machined to fit exactly on the hub so that before tightening the lugs the wheel is perfectly centered. If the hole in the center of the wheel is not perfectly matched, it is virtually impossible to get the lugs to center the wheel perfectly. If the wheel is not centered perfectly, you will have perfectly balanced wheels that vibrate. This is a common problem when going with aftermarket wheels. Every car made today comes with hub centric wheels from the factory. If you purchase aftermarket wheels, you should make sure they are hub centric, or that there is an adapter called a hub ring available to match the wheel to your hub. If this is the case, and your wheels are not hub centric, you will never get rid of the vibration, unless you get hub centric wheels, or a hub ring that works.

What kind of tires are you running? It is possible that some less expensive tires, even though balanced, will get slightly out of round and cause a vibration, even though they are balanced.

Check to see if your wheels are hub centric by removing the lugs. Then see if you can move the wheel up and down on the hub of the car. Even a very small amount of movement can cause a lot of vibration.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

 

Me too
:eek: :eek:

 

I will check the centricity of the wheels and keep everyone posted.

 

Ok all, here’s were we are…
The dealership was very cool about rebalancing the wheels. The mechanic said he the first time he may have mounted the wheels “lug centric” on the Hunter 9700. This time he mounted the wheels “hub centric” and we found that the front wheels were still dead on but the rear wheels were out. We also noticed a slight hop in both rear wheels and on one of them just behind the spokes some brass was showing thru. The wheels ride much smother now but still not perfect.
I’m at a cross road now…should I have the online vender send me two new rear wheels and risk receiving wheels of the same inferior quality or should I just send all four back and get my OEM’s dipped?

 

I just went through all of this. First bought new tires on oem wagon wheels. had a vibration which we got most of it out but not all. Spun the wheels on the rims. Turns out a front tire was to blame.
Got new Z06 chromies, vibration came back worse then ever. Figured had to be tire acting up again. Tires road forced and balanced out perfect everytime. However on wheel had a noticable defect when spun on the balancer looking at it side ways. Replace the one tire, car now rides smooth as silk.

Either way you have a tire wheel issue. My new wheels brought out the worst out of that one tire. You may have the same issue.

Good luck, later Keith

 

Knkayotte, it seems like the bottom line is to do a simple visual check after everything is balanced out.
Did you see the defect on the outside diameter of the tire or the inside diameter of the wheel. Was it a hop, if not could explain in more detail?

 

I used to race Radio controlled cars and built, trued and balanced my tires. I shot for less than 10 milligrams of imballance which was about what my low friction bearings would allow. I balanced over 1000 tires like this.

One thing this episode taught me was that at this level of precision, anything that was not perfectly round would not be able to achieve perfect balance. You could get close

At the high speeds we run our cars at (no nmbers please) balance is critical and that if it is not easily achieved, start looking for causes other than the balance machine or operator.

 

Mitch I wonder how GM achieves such a good balance on a high volume scale?