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Old Apr 10, 2008 | 12:30 AM
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From: forney texas 725rwhp/768rwtq
Default steering wheel shaking

just got through doing z06 front and rear widebody conversion and putting ccw wheels on at the same time.now i noticed a shaking of the steering wheel at about 70 mph to about 80 mph.i wouldnt think that it would not be the wheels and tires because everything is brand new and ccw roadforced balanced them before shipping them to me.i did lower the rear and have it on blocks in the garage for a long time. its also got an APS turbo kit on it so it has more weight on the front.do you think i needs an alignment?its got 18x10 ccw wheels with ps2 stock 275 z06 tires on the front.thanks for any advise. shaun
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Old Apr 10, 2008 | 12:58 AM
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I'd recheck the balance. Make sure you didn't lose a weight. Inspect for shipping damage.

Had a similar issue with my dd. I took it to the shop where my brother works and he balanced the tires. Problem solved.

Last edited by MARSC6; Apr 10, 2008 at 01:47 AM.
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Old Apr 10, 2008 | 01:05 AM
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Originally Posted by MARSC6
I'd recheck the balance. Make sure you didn't lose a weight.
at this point i will do anything, i hate driving my car with my hand shaking on the wheel,it drives me crazy.....
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Old Apr 10, 2008 | 07:48 AM
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Originally Posted by atomicC6
just got through doing z06 front and rear widebody conversion and putting ccw wheels on at the same time.now i noticed a shaking of the steering wheel at about 70 mph to about 80 mph.i wouldnt think that it would not be the wheels and tires because everything is brand new and ccw roadforced balanced them before shipping them to me.i did lower the rear and have it on blocks in the garage for a long time. its also got an APS turbo kit on it so it has more weight on the front.do you think i needs an alignment?its got 18x10 ccw wheels with ps2 stock 275 z06 tires on the front.thanks for any advise. shaun
Of course, this could be a case of out of balance but it could also be a rim incorrectly mounted or out of round.

Try jacking the front end up and spinning the front tires while putting a dial indicator against various parts of the rotating rim. Per the Helm's book, the run-out should be no more than .030 inch.

Incorrectly mounted could be caused by completely torquing down one lug nut before starting the other ones. An out of round rim could be caused during mounting the tires or hitting a pot hole/curb or during the manufacturing process. Using a dial indicator on the rime while spinning the wheel will tell you if a wheel has a problem. I have seen a few bent after market rims from driving on normal roads, so these are not as strong as you would believe.
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Old Apr 10, 2008 | 02:04 PM
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One other thing to check - if the wheels are not countersinked/counterbored on the backside of the lug holes (many are not, or not as deep at least as the OEM wheels) - remove the rotor retaining clips (2x each wheel usually) from the lugs (needle nose pliers can 'unscrew' them).
- I think even some aftermarket wheel vendors note this.

Some have said removing the clips solved their aftermarket wheel shimmy at speed - at least in cases where the wheels are not counterbored enough on the lug hole backside. (i.e. the clips prevent a fully uniform contact of the wheel mtg surfaces...)

You may already have done that but just a FYI...
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Old Apr 10, 2008 | 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Xlr8yourC5
One other thing to check - if the wheels are not countersinked/counterbored on the backside of the lug holes (many are not, or not as deep at least as the OEM wheels) - remove the rotor retaining clips (2x each wheel usually) from the lugs (needle nose pliers can 'unscrew' them).
- I think even some aftermarket wheel vendors note this.

Some have said removing the clips solved their aftermarket wheel shimmy at speed - at least in cases where the wheels are not counterbored enough on the lug hole backside. (i.e. the clips prevent a fully uniform contact of the wheel mtg surfaces...)

You may already have done that but just a FYI...
it funny that you said that because CCW pm'ed me and said the same thing that you said.i did not take them off,i never thought anything about it .im going to do that right now and see if that fixes the problem.thanks alot to everyone.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by atomicC6
it funny that you said that because CCW pm'ed me and said the same thing that you said.i did not take them off,i never thought anything about it .im going to do that right now and see if that fixes the problem.thanks alot to everyone.
I would take off the retainers and start there. I would also double check tire pressure and make sure they are correct. Those are the easy checks.

If that doesnt fix your problem then if you have your old wheels around try putting those on the front and see if the vibration is gone or not. If it is gone then you know it is the new wheels. If it is still there then you need to focus your attention else where.

Personally since it happens at 70-80 mph is sounds like the balance is off, but CCW is very good so that would surprise me (I have 4 sets with no issues) although a weight could have fallen off.

good luck I know that the vibration is annoying...

Bob
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Wicked Weasel @ ECS
I would take off the retainers and start there. I would also double check tire pressure and make sure they are correct. Those are the easy checks.

If that doesnt fix your problem then if you have your old wheels around try putting those on the front and see if the vibration is gone or not. If it is gone then you know it is the new wheels. If it is still there then you need to focus your attention else where.

Personally since it happens at 70-80 mph is sounds like the balance is off, but CCW is very good so that would surprise me (I have 4 sets with no issues) although a weight could have fallen off.

good luck I know that the vibration is annoying...

Bob
last night i took off the retainers and i drove it for a short drive and it seem to fix the shaking.it was silky smooth so as long as that drive was far enough to see,im pretty sure it was the retainers like eveyone said.i hope that was it because i sold my old wheels so i couldnt swap those out like you were saying,but that have been a good idea. thanks alot to all that helped
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 09:38 AM
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Glad to hear it's fixed! Happens to more customers than you think!
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 09:59 AM
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Originally Posted by ccdan
Glad to hear it's fixed! Happens to more customers than you think!
thanks for the AWESOME CUSTOMER SERVICE and QUALITY wheels. i cant wait to go drive it this weekend with my widebody
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 02:13 PM
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Tire balance issue would be my first guess, but did you torque the lug nuts to spec? I think it's 100 ft lb.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 04:50 PM
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Rim mounted wrong or out of round, bent rim, or just improperly balanced. Not much else it could be.
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Old Apr 11, 2008 | 05:45 PM
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its fixed now,i had the retainers on the rotores still and you are suppose to take them off with these wheels.so i removed them and they are perfect now. thanks shaun
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 12:59 AM
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I'm glad I found this thread. I just installed a set of sp500 on my C5Z this morning and started to notice steering wheel shaking at high speed, very noticeable at 70+.

I do remember the two retaining clips at each front wheels. So I will remove those tomorrow.

I don't recall if the clips are present in the rear wheels too. If so, should I remove the rear ones too?
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 07:45 AM
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Originally Posted by ccdan
Glad to hear it's fixed! Happens to more customers than you think!
It happened to me last week when I mounted my new CCW's. Removing the rotor clips fixed the shimmey 100%. Dan, a brief install reminder shipped wih wheels to remove clips would save lots of headaches!
Love my new CCW Wheels!
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 10:05 AM
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Glad to hear it is fixed.
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by MSO4
I'm glad I found this thread. I just installed a set of sp500 on my C5Z this morning and started to notice steering wheel shaking at high speed, very noticeable at 70+.

I do remember the two retaining clips at each front wheels. So I will remove those tomorrow.

I don't recall if the clips are present in the rear wheels too. If so, should I remove the rear ones too?
there should be clips on the front and back,you need to remove ALL the clips(front and back).then go enjoy those silky smooth bada$$ wheels.
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 04:30 PM
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Originally Posted by atomicC6
at this point i will do anything, i hate driving my car with my hand shaking on the wheel,it drives me crazy.....
Ha, tell me about it! I had a plug put into one of my front wheels because of a nail and it shook at 70-80mph too. I tried to drive across the country like that: went from LA to Detroit then in Detroit I hit a pothole that blistered the tire prety bad. Drove back to Chicago and had all 4 replaced; now it is perfectly smooth up to 150mph and over.
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 08:45 PM
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Originally Posted by PowerLabs
Ha, tell me about it! I had a plug put into one of my front wheels because of a nail and it shook at 70-80mph too. I tried to drive across the country like that: went from LA to Detroit then in Detroit I hit a pothole that blistered the tire prety bad. Drove back to Chicago and had all 4 replaced; now it is perfectly smooth up to 150mph and over.
the money we spend on these cars ,once you start you cant stop
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Old Jun 12, 2008 | 09:57 PM
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what is the retainer?
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