I posted last week that I put my new black motorsport wheels and Toyo Proxes on. ( http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1550366766 ) Since putting them on and finally getting to drive the car, I found an intermittent front shimmy transferred through the steering wheel. It was very weird as it would come and go and different speeds didn't seem to affect it. Sometimes it would start at 55 sometimes at 70. Sometimes it didn't happen at all. Finally after not going away after 65 miles of local driving, I returned to the Goodyear dealer who mounted and balanced the wheels/tires. (Yes I checked to be sure all the lug nuts were still tight, which they were...) They pulled the left front and put it on the balancer. Took another .25. But then as the wheel was spinning , we noticed a high spot in the tire. Freaking thing ain't ROUND!!! The wheels seem fine, it's just the tire. I suggest to the guy that maybe because of the short sidewalls, they mounted up and didn't fully seat. He agrees that it's worth a try since it's off anyway. Spun the tire 180* on the wheel and remounted and balanced. Same thing. CRAP! Checked other front tire, same thing but not quite as bad. I asked him in his experience how often this occurs. He said about 1 in a 100 on Goodyears and that it's not unheard of. So I just emailed the place I bought them from and am awaiting a response. (It was www.onlinetires.com )
On a good note, the tires seem to stick at least as good as the F1's. They don't seem to grab the road ruts as bad either. They are stock Z06 sizes. I'll let you guys know the outcome and further driving impressions.

 

i have those on my car and they're great tires.ran them at the track the other day,too,and they were pretty friggin good there too!hope your problem works out.

 

I have about 6k on mine with no problems. I have 18 inch wheels all around but that shouldn't make any difference. No question that Toyo should provide you 2 new tires and pay for the mounting/balancing as well. Good luck. hope you get it worked out.

 

I just put new ZO6 wheels and the Toyo's on last week. They work great. Love the ride. I buy alot of stuff online, so I check everything from top to bottom before I use them. I got my tires from the same place as you. Good luck to you.

 

I had the same thing happen several years ago, with a set of Firestones on a Camaro. Very strange vibration - just like you describe. It was really weird the way you could actually see how the tire was out of round when it was on the balancer spinning around.

 

What you need to do is have the new tires Road Force balanced. During this process the machine can determine how much out of round the tire is and the machine can determine the best position to mount the tire on the rim to eliminate the out of round problem as much as possible. If you can't get the road force down to under 15lbs then the tires are probably defective and need to be replaced.

 

yea, what he said

 

What do you mean under 15 lbs? I did ask the Goodyear shop about the Roadforce system and he told me there is an auto repair shop in town that has it. I sort of understand the concept, but honestly I don't think it will work in this case. The tires are so out of round that it can be seen with the naked eye on the balancer.

 

The measurement of the machine is is lbs of force. As the tire rotates the uneven or out of round areas produce high and low areas. As the roller goes over these areas the tire produces pressure at these points and is reported by the machine in lbs. The higher the lbs the more out of round the tire is. It can detect variances that can not be seen by the naked eye while the tire spins. It is much more sensitive measure of the tires true roundness. HTH

Personally I would have it done just to prove to the company you purchased the tires from that they are defective and need to be replaced; if they are so bad that you can see it just by looking at them.

 

I don't want to throw any more money into these, but I'll see what the seller says. I still haven't heard from them via email yet. Go figure...

 

I run a Toyo wholesale dealership, if they have radial runout ( out of round ) Toyo will handle the problem. I run T1S on my 98 m6 cpe, they're pretty good. Call me if need some warrany help or advice @ 478-750-7605. Ask for Jay. Are you the noneck chevelle guy that had a feature car on Chevelles.com?

 

Thanks Jay. I am STILL waiting to hear from them. I'll give you a call if they don't help out and yes, that was my 72 featured on Team Chevelle a couple years ago! Are you a fellow Chevelle guy as well?