Ok, so here is my issue. At speeds roughly 60mph and below, my steering wheel is rock solid. At speeds roughly 65mph and above, I get a vibration in my steering wheel. However, here is the kicker, it will only last around 5~10 seconds or so before slowly going away. Then after around 5 or 10 seconds of a rock solid steering wheel and no vibration, the vibration will slowly come back again. It continually cycles like this at these speeds. I just drove 2hrs and it did it the whole time.

A litte back ground. I purchased some CCW 505a wheels used and put the tires off of my stock wheels on them. One of the wheels was slightly bent. I had it sent off to be fixed. Upon recieving it back, it balanced perfectly. According to my tire shop, all of my wheels balanced perfectly.

I thought it may have been the alignment as I lowered the car before putting the new wheels on. I went and had it aligned about a week ago. The alignment did nothing to fix the vibration and neither did fixing the slightly bent wheel.

What could cause a vibration at only 65mph+ that cycles "on" and "off" every ~10 seconds?

 

I was going to say bad wheel/tire or both,but you said they check out good.Check them again.Maybe one of the weights fell of or something.

 

If it were wheel imbalance the shake would gradually increase as you approach around 80 mph and would lessen as you go below or above that speed. You said it just happens above 65 mph. Try to explain in a little more detail about how the shake responds as you gradually increase above 65 mph. Is there a speed/intensity relationship?

 

The faster I go, the more violent it seems to get above 65mph. However, there seems to be a cap on the shake. At 80mph and above, it does not increase in intensity. It seems like there is some kind of harmonics issue with the wheel. Also of interesting note, my TPS monitor went off during my 2hr trip today. I checked the DIC and the front left tire pressure was not registering. I continued on to the next exit so could stop and see what was going on. I may also remind you that these wheels accept the stock TPM sensors, so I would assume the only way for me to lose one would be for the valve stem cap to fail somehow? As I continued on to the next exit, the front left tire pressure all of a suddon started registering again. I pulled off and everything look good, including tire pressure. I really am at a loss.

 

It sounds like your front wheels are setting up a vibration that goes in and out of phase as their relative position changes. I'll bet that you can advance or retard the cycle by doing lane changes.

I think you have one or more bad tires or wheels.

 

You shouldn't have the problem below with CCW's, because they countersink the area inside the wheel in the same manner as OE wheels.

However, it's something to check out.

The rotor is held on by the brake caliper and the wheel. When the car comes down the assembly line, they stick a rotor on the hub and it would fall right off until they mount a caliper and finally a wheel. Take a look at the picture below (I lifted it from sperkins cracked rotor thread in another section):




In the picture above you can see 2 "Tinnerman Nuts" on 2 of the lugs - those are put on when the rotor is installed on the assembly line and they hold the rotor on until more parts get installed.

Some aftermarket wheels do not have countersunk areas around the holes for the lugs and the Tinnerman Nuts will not allow the inside face of the wheel to mount flush and flat with the hub.

What you are experiencing sounds similar to the vibrations that people get when they put aftermarket wheels on without removing those nuts.

Those Tinnerman Nuts are not needed at all. I recommend you remove them to make sure they aren't interfering with a flush fit of your wheels on the hub. I'd also take a wire brush to the hub and clean off any corrosion that might be messing up a flush fit. Check the inside of your wheels for any corrosion as well.

So....the CCW's should have countersunk areas for the Tinnermans, but I'd remove those nuts anyway and clean up the whole area for a nice flush/flat/square fit of wheels against the hubs.

Good luck!

Bob

 

Bob, excellent recommendation! I did not know that and will take the route you have suggested. I hope it works

 

It would seem most likely related to the damaged and 'repaired' wheel but vibrations can result from many different things. The dealership could measure the on-vehicle and off-vehicle runout of the tire and wheel assemblies...measure the runout of the hub/axle flanges and the wheel studs. A brake rotor could be damaged or out of balance.

The dealership could use the electronic vibration analyzer (EVA) tool to help isolate the cause of the vibration.

The alignment is still a remote possibility. I had an alignment not too long ago but after cording my front tires on the track, some knowledgeable racers I know suggested I go to my local Volvo dealer for an alignment. Evidently, Volvo just got new, high-tech laser alignment equipment that is supposedly the best going. I don't know much about it yet but I'm going there next week after I change my suspension. You might want to verify your alignment. Good luck!

 

with Wayne

I threw out the sheet-metal rotor retention nut thingy as one of the possibilities. It's pretty easy to check, and it would be nice if were something nice and easy like that!!!

Let us know what you find out.

Bob

 

Either a brake rotor rentention clip is still on the car or one or both of your front wheels are out of balance.
/thread

 

Guys, I don't believe it is a brake rotor. The car was rock solid with the stock wheels and the vibration has just started with the aftermarket ones. I think maybe one of the tires isn't balanced very well or the maybe the other rim may need to be checked.

 

Take your wheels off and make sure there are not any retaining clips on the lugs. These are used at the factory during assembly and the stock wheels have pockets on the surface where they mate to the rotor that allows their use without issue. the CCW have a smooth surface and if the retaining clips are still there it will create issues. If there are not any retaining clips there, I agree that it is wheel balance.

 

The retaining clips are still there. I am home now and will be removing them to see if it makes a difference.

 

Take a look at your motor mounts and make sure there ok... a broken one can cause bad vibes at different times like you saying

 

shake in the steering wheel = front tire area,, take your hands off the wheel and feel the shake in your *** its in the rear.
a tire can balance but still be seperated and give you a shimmy. You need to check the front tire and rims not only for balance but for lateral runnout,,,if you throw a tire on a balancer its usually pretty easy to look at it spin and see whats causing the vibration. More then likely i would say you have a bad tire either sperated, out of balance, or wearing funny causing your shimmy. look there before looking into wheels, bearings, mounts etc.. good luck paul

 

Bet thats the problem.

 

I really appreciate all of the help guys. I have a lot of data that I can use to figure out whats going on now. Gotta love the vette community

 

WOOOHOOOO!!! This is what it was everyone . The wheel is absolutely rock solid now. I took those little suckers off of all the hubs. I admit, I was skeptical, but it completely fixed the issue.

Thanks again for the help everyone

 

OUTSTANDING!!!!

I was skeptical too. I was hoping it might be something simple like that, but I really thought it might be that wheel that had been repaired.

Glad we could help!!

Bob

 

I tell you, its things like this that make this forum so valuable. Thank you for your insight Bob.....and everyone else for that matter. I am tickled pink right now it was something so minor