HELP! Just got new wheels mounted and I have severe shaking at highway speeds!

[34dean]

So, I just got a new set of wheels mounted and balanced at my local shop and now once I am at 55 mph+, I get fairly excessive shaking in the steering wheel, gad pedal, seat etc. It goes from minor to major as I am driving at highway speeds. Took it back to the shop and had them rebalance and check the centering rings and clips and they were fine. Took it back on the highway and it was WORSE than before!

I spoke with Tirerack.com and they suggested I have my shop swap the drivers front and rear wheels and see if that helps. I guess I will try this next. It's not the tires as they are brand new and the car was smooth as silk with the old OEM Audi wheels on the tires.

I am frustrated as hell, especially since 80% of my driving is highway miles! Any input or suggestions??


Thank you in advance.

[Black64]

1. Get them rebalanced somewhere else first, not everyplace does it right.

2.Are you using the correct Centre Hubs?

3.What kind of tires are you using?

[34dean]

1. Get them rebalanced somewhere else first, not everyplace does it right.

2.Are you using the correct Centre Hubs?

3.What kind of tires are you using?

I agree with #1 and that was my first thought. Tirerack thoguht otherwise and thought that most likely this wasn't the issue. I am using the center hubs that came with the wheels. The tires are brand new Continental Pro Contacts.

[pDubs]

We need more background info here. What year is the car? What are the wheel specs? Are you running spacers? Are the wheels brand new? Are you sure the hub centric rings are the right sizes? If the wheels are used they could be bent.

[34dean]

We need more background info here. What year is the car? What are the wheel specs? Are you running spacers? Are the wheels brand new? Are you sure the hub centric rings are the right sizes? If the wheels are used they could be bent.

2009 A4 2.0TQ
Wheels are 17 X 7.5, 45mm offset, Brand new
Tires are 245/45/17's
Hub centric rings are the ones that came with the wheels direct from Tirerack.com

[34dean]

Well.... I had another tire shop balance the wheels and tires and then jumped on the highway. Hit 50 or so and the shaking began again. Got bad at 65 or so to the point that it was actually making me queasy. The steering wheel and gas pedal vibrated excessively and the drivers seat felt like a massage chair, minus the massage.

Needless to say, I am very frustrated. Lance from Tirerack, to his credit, is working on this for me and is discussing with his team to try and resolve.

[pDubs]

So the tires are obviously balanced good. Maybe you have the wrong sized hub centric rings. You have a b8 a4 which I think the center bore changed from the previous years from a 57.1 to a 67.1 (don't quote me on that). Are the tires brand new as well. When was the last time the vehicle got an alignment? Also what wheels did you order and why did you get 17s aftermarket? I would try putting the stock wheels back on and see if everything clears up.

[Doc@tirerack]

Well.... I had another tire shop balance the wheels and tires and then jumped on the highway. Hit 50 or so and the shaking began again. Got bad at 65 or so to the point that it was actually making me queasy. The steering wheel and gas pedal vibrated excessively and the drivers seat felt like a massage chair, minus the massage.

Needless to say, I am very frustrated. Lance from Tirerack, to his credit, is working on this for me and is discussing with his team to try and resolve.

I'm hoping that the rings are incorrect/missing/ or otherwise affecting the fitment. Hopefully whomever did the last mounting and balancing used a Roadforce machine to check the tires for any "out of round" issues and also checked the wheels to make sure they are strait. If not, that's the only other thing that could be causing the issue.

Lance may have already offered to send another set of rings down, but if not let me know.

[34dean]

I'm hoping that the rings are incorrect/missing/ or otherwise affecting the fitment. Hopefully whomever did the last mounting and balancing used a Roadforce machine to check the tires for any "out of round" issues and also checked the wheels to make sure they are strait. If not, that's the only other thing that could be causing the issue.

Lance may have already offered to send another set of rings down, but if not let me know.

Thanks, Doc. The tire shop was specifically recommended by Lance and they did have a Roadforce machine. They said everything looked fine and the tires are brand new. I'm really at a loss. The car actually doesn't even feel "right" just bumping around town either.

The OEM Audi wheels that came with the car and that were on the new tires were smooth as silk and the car felt much better. The last thing I want to do is have to go back to those wheels as I do not like them... at all... but.......... I will need to unless I can solve this major annoyance immediately. 80%+ of my driving is highway and the car is nearly undrive-able at speeds over 60.

[34dean]

So the tires are obviously balanced good. Maybe you have the wrong sized hub centric rings. You have a b8 a4 which I think the center bore changed from the previous years from a 57.1 to a 67.1 (don't quote me on that). Are the tires brand new as well. When was the last time the vehicle got an alignment? Also what wheels did you order and why did you get 17s aftermarket? I would try putting the stock wheels back on and see if everything clears up.

I would assume that Lance knew the correct center bore size when he recommended my wheels. I will check on this though... thank you! :)

The car was certified by Audi just 3 weeks ago and the alignment was perfect. I bought a set of Elbrus I06 wheels which I read excellent reviews about. They look great on the car. I will probably need to put the OEM wheels back on which will suck. :(

[pDubs]

The only thing I can think of at this point then are the hubcentric rings aren't the right size or the wheels somehow are bent, which I doubt being brand new and having the tires balanced that many times someone would have noticed. I'm willing to bet it's the rings. The shops are mounting these wheels back on the car as well, correct? If not you are mounting the wheels right and doing a star pattern? Hope it works out for you!

[34dean]

OK, so Lance at TireRack.com has sent me a set of piloted hub centric rings that his team claims will fix my problem. I hope to have them tomorrow so I can have my local shop install them before the holiday weekend. I will update the thread after this has occured.

Here's hoping this smoothes things out!

[EURO_DOLL]

I wish you the BEST of luck with fixing your problem. I sadly went through the same exact thing with my previous 2003 Audi A4 3.0L Quattro. I purchased brand new 18" wheels, bought brand new low profile Kumho ECSTA (ASX I believe?) tires (forgive me, I don't remember the exact style), and had them mounted. I wasn't able to go anything over 50 mph - just as you stated. The shop I brought them to to mount and balance them didn't tell me ANYTHING about the vibrating or them not fitting correctly. Then within an hour I drove back there frustrated that I couldn't even drive my car on the expressway, and then rebalanced them (Supposedly) - but it didn't help at all. Then for the third time in less than 24 hours I went back because of the excessive shaking and only THEN did they tell me that I needed hub centric spacers. His reasoning for not telling me about the size issue was "that sometimes it doesn't matter and some cars don't end up needing them at all." I obviously never went back to that place again after my horrific experience. I bought hub centric spacers right away and had them put on, but I still experienced a horrible ride in my car. While the spacers helped them a little bit, the ride was never smooth for the entire time I had them on there. The shop that originally mounted & balanced them for me told me that I was going to have to find a shop with a machine to make sure there wasn't a problem with the actual wheels and tires themselves. I ended up selling the car recently so that headache's gone, but it's beyond frustrating feeling like you're in an airplane when trying to accelerate at highway speeds - especially in a luxury car.

I wish you the best of luck in correcting your wheel issue. I honestly hope you don't have to to experience it for even a quarter of the time that I did. What a headache! Keep us updated & again, good luck :)

[34dean]

Thank you Euro. You couldn't be more accurate. The frustration is enfuriating! :(

If these piloted hubcentric rings do not fix the problem completely, I will be putting the old OEM Audi wheels back on and start my quest for new wheels again... which I do NOT want to do.

[34dean]

Well.... I had the new centering rings installed and the wheels remounted. The vibration is better but not gone. There is still minimal to moderate vibration at speeds of 65+. It seems to vary in intensity and come and go but there is almost always some vibration through the steering wheel, gas pedal and seat. :(

I will be ensuring the tires are correctly inflated and have an alignment done to see if that makes any difference. After that, I'm not sure how much more I can endure if the vibration isn't completely gone. This has been a very frustrating experience for me.

[pDubs]

That sucks! How long ago did you buy the tires? Maybe there is a warranty on them?

[34dean]

That sucks! How long ago did you buy the tires? Maybe there is a warranty on them?

The dealer installed them when the car was certified a month ago.

[Doc@tirerack]

We may have to get you over to an installer with a Hunter Road Force balancing machine to give us the roadforce specs on the tires as a double check to make sure something else isn't going on with the wheels.......

[pDubs]

In post #9 he said they did use a roadforce machine.

[34dean]

We may have to get you over to an installer with a Hunter Road Force balancing machine to give us the roadforce specs on the tires as a double check to make sure something else isn't going on with the wheels.......

I will be going back to the TireRack recommended installer over the weekend to get the RF spec numbers.

[34dean]

Unfortunately, I needed to re-install the OEM Audi wheels this morning due to not being able to get rid of the excessive vibrating and shaking. Both immediately went away now that my OEM Audi wheels are back on the car.
I really liked the look of the Elbrus wheels but after weeks of trying to make them work, I just couldn't deal with the issues any longer as 80% of my driving is on the highway the vibration and shaking was driving me nuts.

I will say that TireRack.com tried to help fix things and were responsive. I have purchased tires from them in the past and have always been pleased with their service. I have no doubts that this will be the case again with my return/credit.

[pDubs]

I would try a different set of wheels, maybe someone more reputable, I've never even heard of elbrus before. I have ordered many different sets of tires brand new from tire rack and have been nothing but satisfied. Shows up to my house within 2 days every time as well. I would look into a different set of wheels in maybe 18" or 19" with different tires.

[pDubs]

I'm going to go ahead and guess it was the elbrus wheels that you could put the blame on. They are only $126 a piece and that just seems like way too cheap of a wheel to be running on cars our nice as ours. I would look into spending a little more money and getting something a hell of a lot better than those.

[34dean]

I'm going to go ahead and guess it was the elbrus wheels that you could put the blame on. They are only $126 a piece and that just seems like way too cheap of a wheel to be running on cars our nice as ours. I would look into spending a little more money and getting something a hell of a lot better than those.

Might be. I had read good things about them though.

The new search begins. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. My one constraint is that the dealer just put brand spanking new 17" tires on the car so I need to stick with those for a while.

[Skyler@Achtuning]

Sorry to hear about all of your troubles. We have some 17" Hartmann wheels that will fit your A4 perfectly. We have not had any problems with fitment or vibration with our Hartmann wheels, I am sure that you would be very pleased with them if you decide to purchase a set.

http://shop.achtuning.com/Hartmann-B...r-Audi-A4.aspx


http://shop.achtuning.com/Hartmann-H...eels-Audi.aspx


These wheels are designed with the 66.56mm Audi centerbore so no hubcentric rings will be needed with your 09 A4. These are also designed to use the OEM Audi lug bolts so no extra bolts are required, they can use OEM Audi #4B0 601 170 7ZJ centercaps as well. These wheels are also TPMS compatible.

[V1Rotate]

Might be. I had read good things about them though.

Told ya so...(in your first thread in the b8 section). Youre so much better off going with site sponsors and reputable companies and brands so issues like this dont occur on your expensive car.

[cam]

my bet was the lugs caused the vibration.

[peleke12]

Hello! I'm having the same problem, although not as bad, on a 2009 A4 Avant. I purchased winter tires/wheels from Tirerack last November, 17x7.5 Elbrus 106 with Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3's, mounted and balanced with TPMS, really to go. Had them installed in December for a trip and there was slight vibration front and rear. Not bad, just enough to be annoying at 55+ mph. Smooth at slower speeds. As soon as we got back home, I had the wheels & tires balanced on a road force machine at Big Brands in Atascadero. Didn't help. I'm thinking it is the wheels and I should simply buy something better, but wonder how the 'lugs caused the vibration'. I haven't yet complained to Tirerack, thinking there wouldn't be anything they could do, but I'm ready too. I also haven't had the alignment checked, not sure how that would cause it either. I'm ready to put the summer tires back on. Any tips/suggestions on what to try would be appreciated.

-Fred

[EURO_DOLL]

Hello! I'm having the same problem, although not as bad, on a 2009 A4 Avant. I purchased winter tires/wheels from Tirerack last November, 17x7.5 Elbrus 106 with Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3's, mounted and balanced with TPMS, really to go. Had them installed in December for a trip and there was slight vibration front and rear. Not bad, just enough to be annoying at 55+ mph. Smooth at slower speeds. As soon as we got back home, I had the wheels & tires balanced on a road force machine at Big Brands in Atascadero. Didn't help. I'm thinking it is the wheels and I should simply buy something better, but wonder how the 'lugs caused the vibration'. I haven't yet complained to Tirerack, thinking there wouldn't be anything they could do, but I'm ready too. I also haven't had the alignment checked, not sure how that would cause it either. I'm ready to put the summer tires back on. Any tips/suggestions on what to try would be appreciated.

-Fred

You didn't mention this in your post, but are you actually using hub centric rings? Also, what's the hub bore size on those wheels?

It doesn't necessarily mean anything if you've gotten the wheels mounted and balanced and you're not using hub centric rings if they're needed. Every set of wheels I've run so far have needed them.

[peleke12]

They were mounted with the hub centric rings that came with the wheels/tires from Tirerack. The same store (Big Brands) originally mounted them and then did the road force balance. Would it be worth having someone else try?

[grekoff]

I'm in the same boat.

I bought a set of Elbrus wheels from Tire Rack for my winter set 2 years ago and have been putting up with this ever since. After having vibrations out of the gate, I had them rebalanced 3 times, and ordered a second set of hub centric centering rings after complaining to Tire Rack. My car shudders above >60mph with a harmonic vibration that comes and goes. To me, that's indicative that the vibration is happening on multiple wheels (e.g. not just one out-of-balance).

So this morning after having my winters on for a week this season, I decided enough is enough. I got my calipers out and measured the hub-centric rings. My belief is that the rings that Tire Rack provides are the wrong size, measuring ~79.5mm on the outside--consistent with that the Tire Rack specialist told me the Elbrus outer bore size is. However, on the inside, I measure a whopping loose 68mm on the centering rings. Knowing the Audi B8 hub size is 66.6mm, this 1.5mm gap could explain why subtle levels of centrepital force applied to a 24 pound wheel at 65mph create noticeable vibrations.

Bottom line my hypothesis is that the Tire Rack centering rings are the culprit. Unfortuantely I can't find any 79.5mm -> 66.6mm centering rings. Looks like custom is the only solution here.

My research turned up a couple of shops (here and here and here) that sell custom spacers. I spent $100 ordering a 79.5mm to 66.6mm metal spacer set...I'll keep the board posted on how this goes.

[grekoff]

Update to previous thread -- installed the new spacers and the vibration is considerably reduced. I can now hit 65-75mph without the horrific shaking, though there is still a hint of a residual harmonic vibration.

Overall, I still believe these Elbrus wheels are junk (which is probably why they're on clearance at the Tire Rack right now), but a $35 set of eBay wheel centering rings makes them much more bearable, as least as partial winter season wheels.

[Gurltech]

Just saw this post...thought I would chime in.

I went through this last year with my BMW, every winter I would have my summers taken off and my winter tires put on.
Last year I figured I would have the wheels road force balanced when I got them mounted (saw the nephew just letting them bounce down the stairs when we were storing them)
So instead of going to my regular mounting place, I search out a place with a hunter road force machine.
Took the car in and specifically gave them new hubcentric rings to replace the old ones from last year.

Long story short, I got the car back started driving got to around 50 mph and the shaking was crazy. Took the car back twice and they still could not fix the issue.
Finally took it to my regular tire mounting guy and he pulled all 4 wheels off and guess what we found???
The dummies doing the road force balancing had let remnants from the old hubcentric rings on the hub thin slivers but this prevented the new rings from seating properly and thus I had the shaking.
Once we cleaned the old hubcentric ring remnants off, and put the new rings on mounted the tires they rode smooth as butter.

So visually check yourself , something so small was a big headache.