johnblacksox

I've had stock stainless steel rally wheels on my '86 Camaro all these years, always ran super quiet and smooth.

I just had new substantial Prime aluminum wheels put on it, and now I get a humming-like vibration on the accelerator, worst at 30-40 mph, not as bad above that. Also, the road noise seems way louder.

The wheels were balanced at a decent shop. Should I take them back to be checked?

Do aluminum wheels in general give more road noise?

Thanks,
John

Kandied91z

iTrader: (7)

road noise should come with the tires. your wheels shouldn't make noise unless there is a problem. i'd say take them back or go somewhere else for a second opinion.

i've had wheels balance out at some places only to find out they were bent at another. not to say there isn't other factors that could have a hand in it but you never know.

johnblacksox

I don't care about the noise as much as the vibration.

My car always ran super smooth, and now I feel a definite vibration on the accelerator and brake pedal.

This is my first set of aluminum wheels, do those just "feel" different than steel wheels? If the shop says the wheels are balanced properly, does that mean that this set of wheels is "bad"? I hate to go through the cost and hassle to try to exchange the wheels. But I want a smooth ride too.

John

Kandied91z

iTrader: (7)

sounds like an odd problem your having....if the wheels are balancing fine then there shouldn't be anything wrong with the rims. the tires on the other hand if worn unevenly could cause the vibration very easily.

many factors play into vibration from your front steering, brakes, rims, tires, etc.

No4NJunk

Well not to down your wheel choice but primes aren't the best quality out there. I could be wrong but most of the primes I've run across have a smooth outer lip.

This would mean that a static balance would have to be done because weights can not be mounted on the outside. The reason its a STATIC balance is because the shop you took it too is too lazy to use sticky weights. Take it back and tell them you want an alloy 2 balance (hunter) or that you would like sticky weights on the inside. If I'm wrong about the smooth outer lip then take it back anyway and tell them It needs a rebalance. Thats why its vibrating.

johnblacksox

Thanks for the info...

Here is the latest update:
These wheels do have balancing weights attached to the outside of the rim. I dunno about the Prime quality, but I really liked the look of them. I'll attach a picture of one.

I took them back to the shop, they rebalanced the wheels, said one was out of balance. Since then, I feel much less of a vibration especially at high speed. It rides good at highway speeds, 70-80 no problem, feels good, but I can still feel a slight metallic humming when going steady at 30 mph. If the wheels were bad or out of balance, wouldn't it be worst at 80 mph?

I have two wild guesses:
1) These aluminum wheels give me a different (harsher) road feel than my old steel wheels. Maybe it's my imagination, but I swear I feel bumps and road imperfections more. I'm running studded tires, but I ran these same 4 tires last winter with nothing more than the usual stud clicking noise. They didn't vibrate or hum.

2) Lug nuts? I was in Pep Boys today and saw a lug nut chart that said aluminum wheels with round recessed lug nut holes should use mag lugs with washers. I have mag lugs on one rear wheel, but the other 3 have the old stock lugnuts that came with my 1986 steel rally wheels. I don't think any of them have washers. Also, I read in a book that aluminum wheels should have lugnuts torqued to 100 ft/lbs, which is more than steel wheels. Could the lugnuts/torque make any difference in the "feel" and/or noise???

John