01'IndyVette

This vibration started when I decided to put new wheels and tires on the car. I had no vibration with the worn out Goodyear F1 Run Flats and OEM wheels on the car. I bought a set of C6 (C5 sizes 17" front 18" rear) chrome reproduction wheels. On my new beautiful wheels I put a new set of Michelin tires on the car. Since this install I have had a vibration in my seat (rear) of the car. I took the car to the shop and had a 4 wheel alignment done and also had the seals replaced in the differential and drivers side axle.

Tire shop has been great they replaced the left rear tire after my 4th trip to have them road force balance the tires. That seemed to help as it now feels as though the problem is in the passenger side of the car. However just this morning they replaced the right side tire and road force balanced it and I still have a vibration. My vibration is between 58 mph and 63 mph. Below and above that the car rides very smooth and quiet. I have a feeling if I go back in and tell them that it's still not right they are going to throw a tire iron at me. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Marc

Bluefire

My issue was similar. I had a vibration at ~60 mph. My tuner found the cause on the dyno (60 MPH, in neutral, vibration still there). He suggested I have the tires re-balanced. I had bought the tires (GY GSD3's) new and had them installed at America's Tire. (I didn't want to go back there due to their dumbazz policy of opening every door, hood and trunk on a Vette before they jack the car up). So, I went to Tire Rack.

I read in the Service Manual that depending on the wheel type you have (I have thin spokes), there is a maximum amout of wheel weight you can use and, it must be placed centerline of the wheel.

Tire Rack checked them and ended up un-mounting three of the four tires, turning them tires 180 degrees on the wheels, just to get the tires to balance.
$80 later... No more vibration.

Hope that helps

01'IndyVette

Thanks.. I didn't try it in neutral but I did try it in several different gears 4th, 5th, and 6th. So now I'm going to go out and drive it and get it up to vibration speed and put it in neutral and see what happens. Thanks for the advice... They certainly aren't putting the weight on the centerline either... They are putting the weight just behind the spokes...

AU N EGL

Check for loose tie rods and ends.

memphis_vette

yup fixed my prob had a bad drivers rear outer tie rod

01'IndyVette

Well went for a drive and sure enough when the car was in neutral I still have the vibration.. I will check the tie rod ends and see what the deal is with them... I'm getting really frustrated with this problem...

Eric D

Having the 4 wheel alignment you would think the shop doing it would have checked the tie rods and ball joints before the alignment. I can understand your frustration.

Normally a wheel balance issue will peak at a given speed and will become less as the speed goes above or below the peak. Keep in mind that rotors and hubs can sometimes be out of balance too.

01'IndyVette

Just took a buddy of mine for a ride. Wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. Sure enough without telling him at around 62 mph (where vibration is the strongest) he said yep I feel something in the seat... So I'm not crazy and I'm pretty confident that this is a tire out of balance still... The boys at Discount Tire aren't going to be happy to see me when I pull up for the 7th time.... thanks for all the advice!

Bluefire

Just a reminder.... The GM Service Manual is very specific depending what type of wheels you have and, the type of and weights that can be used. They are also specific on how much weight can be used and where. Good Luck.

4SFED Z

Remove the clips that are sitting on your studs, holding your rotors on. I bet that will eliminate more vibrating.

Are you sure the Wheels arent bent? Missing wheel weights? Bad tires on other side?

00Corvette

the rotor hub wouldn't cause the vibration though unless it was severely warped. It would cause more of a shutter or pulsation in the pedal as you come to a stop.

The wheel balance is my bet, either a wheel weight just popped off which is very common or maybe you bumped a pot hole or the old lady did and that threw one off or something...either way. Alignment isn't really going to cause a "vibration"..more of a pull to the left or right, uneven tire wear, bad high speed stability etc...

Wheel balance however will cause a vibration at one speed and not another. Also, if the balance is close to spot on...other causes could be in the torque tube depending on mileage??


Do you feel the vibration in the steering wheel or floor board?

00Corvette

LOLOL. brotha...weight is weight...you use the small sticky lead weights in .25 oz increments. the factory wheels non Z06 SUCK. some forged anythings are FAR superior.
and from the factory, many different cars had many different amounts of weight on a given wheel

you must add/subtract weight due to manufacturing differences in a given tire or wheel.
usually a good balancer would put the "worst" tire on the RR, next "worst" on the LR, next FR, and finally RF..so the slightly worse balanced wheel/tire is as far away from the driver/passenger as possible.

I've balanced thousands of tires and maybe 10-20 times have 4 tires in a row taken the same amount of weight. Aston martin, bentley, chevy...whatever.

00Corvette

if it's the 7th time for tire balance, you probably have one tire that is slightly out of round edit: which by the way would be impossible to "balance" out.

Eric D

been there done that one. Real pain! Mine was very obvious on the balance machine. The guy doing the balance said he didn’t notice it at first. I’ve also had the stick on wheel weights place in line with the caliper which managed to remove them on the first wheel rotation.

01'IndyVette

Already been down that road... Had both rear tires replaced one was checked and was found out of round the other they replaced when I told them that the problem in my seat went from the drivers side to the passenger side.

They are using the stick on weights and they are right behind the spokes and they say they put a counter weight on the far inside of the wheel.. Whatever it is I didn't have the vibration before new wheels and tires and now I do..

Took a nice ride today on the Interstate and found that it's the worst around 62... Now while I typically drive faster than that put it up at 77 set the cruise and have very slight vibration in the steering wheel and just not much of a vibration in the rear... I think I've become over sensitive to the problem at this point... Have another appointment at 10:30 tomorrow morning and we will be re balancing all 4 wheels and tires and I'm going to tell them I want them to check ALL of the wheels and tires to make sure none of them are out of round... They have had about 4 different people work on this issue... Good times!!!

Bluefire

They're doing it wrong. I assume from your avatar pic you have thin spokes. The weights should be placed in the centerline of the wheel only. If they can't balance it with proper amount of weight in the proper place they need to breakdown the tire and rotate the tire on the wheel 180 degrees and try again. I don't recall now, but I will look when I get home tonight to see what the max weight is they can use on a wheel.

01'IndyVette

Sorry that pic was when I bought the car... I have since put a set of C6 chrome reproduction wheels on the car. They are however the C5 sizes 17" front and 18" rear. I think I put this in the original post but if not sorry for the confusion. Thanks for all of your help!

robsc501

Hi There,
No problem before you changed wheels & tires.Chrome repo's. Have you given any thought that it could be a wheel out of round?
robsc501

tomlor611

i am just waiting for the answer,i have the exact same problem 2001 stock wheels just got a set of nittos put on a week ago stick on weights right behind spokes and at 60 a pulsating vibration like on and off not steady,guy at discount tire told me to come back in a couple thousand miles after tires set in to rebalance but think i will go there this weekend !!!!!

00Corvette

No, you want a dynamic balance not a static...what you are describing with only one weight set in either the center, inside or outside will NOT provide as good of a balance 99 percent of the time as a dynamic.

Spinning the tire 180 is a very common "trick"...if he's had the car in there 7-8 times and had 2 tires replaced for free due to "out of round" or whatever...I'm sure they've tried that.

I'd be curious to see if a wheel is bent somehow?? If not, throw another set of wheels/tires on it at that tire shop and see if it goes away.

If it's still there with another set of wheels, start looking somewhere else. It doesn't take 4 guys and 8 trips to the tire shop to get a tire balanced. lol

After the 3rd time...they should have already done most of what has been said here. and they should have tech on the car with 5 yrs experience at least imo