Interesting vibration

[FreedS4]

I've got a set of 15" D-Force wheels on my car and have had a vibration issue with them pretty much from the get-go. I've had them balanced 4 times, with no luck. Here's the interesting part. The vibration is in the steering wheel, at speeds above 65. It gets worse with continued acceleration to about 80 and then the vibration stays the same at any speed above 80. The vibration remains in the steering wheel no matter where the wheels are on the car (i.e. the vibration doesn't change place with a tire rotation). With my stockers (bottlecaps) on the car, the vibration is gone, with the exception of a slight vibration in the seat (which I've blamed on a bad/going bad guibo). So my question is, what could be causing the vibration with the D-Force wheels? Your responses are appreciated.

Chris

[FreedS4]

Maybe rotors?

Chris

[flash 23]

this is easy. the culprit are/is the tires if the wheels are true, balanced and unbent. gl

[Blackout]

Are you running spacers? Just wondering,...

[FreedS4]

this is easy. the culprit are/is the tires if the wheels are true, balanced and unbent. gl

I'm beginning to think this as well. Looks like it's time to get another set!

Are you running spacers? Just wondering,...

Nope, no spacers. I've had bad luck with them in the past.

[FreedS4]

this is easy. the culprit are/is the tires if the wheels are true, balanced and unbent. gl

Do you think it's just an uneven wear that would cause this vibration or something else? Just trying to nail down the cause of the vibration so I don't inadvertently spend money replacing things that don't need replacing.

Chris

[FreedS4]

Tires are Kumho ASXs, by the way.

Chris

[Farwest92]

Steering rack, I recently installed an e36 rack and finally am rid of the last of the vibrations I've been chasing.

[russhixmo]

Road test balance the wheels on the machine otherwise I'm going with steering rack as well.

[FreedS4]

Steering rack, I recently installed an e36 rack and finally am rid of the last of the vibrations I've been chasing.

Road test balance the wheels on the machine otherwise I'm going with steering rack as well.

Interesting...I had never thought that it could be my steering rack. And to put more validity into it being my steering rack, it's a power rack, with plugged holes (i.e. a "manual" rack). I had already planned on replacing this rack with a z3 rack while I was doing my engine swap, so hopefully in the coming weeks I'll know for sure whether it was, or wasn't, the steering rack. Thanks

Chris

[FreedS4]

I was just thinking about my issues being steering rack related. If it was the steering rack, I'd have the same vibrations going on regardless of what wheels were on the car. With my stocker bottlecaps on the car, the vibrations are gone. So now I'm beginning to think that the steering rack has nothing/little to do with it...

[flash 23]

Do you think it's just an uneven wear that would cause this vibration or something else? Just trying to nail down the cause of the vibration so I don't inadvertently spend money replacing things that don't need replacing.

Chris

like is said initially, this is 99.9% tires being the culprit if your wheels are true and straight with no bends anywhere.

sh!tty tires perform very poorly and vibration is often noticed during freeway speeds (i'm not saying all, but some).

gl and keep us updated

[FreedS4]

like is said initially, this is 99.9% tires being the culprit if your wheels are true and straight with no bends anywhere.

sh!tty tires perform very poorly and vibration is often noticed during freeway speeds (i'm not saying all, but some).

gl and keep us updated

Roger, wilco. I'm about to pull the trigger on a set of Direzza DZ101s, they seem to get pretty good reviews from the e30 community. Thanks again.

Chris

[oxymoron]

i had dz101s on my last car, a cobalt. they were worth every penny and my friend has them on his saturn sl that we outran a crazy guy and a cop on a windy mountain road. so theyre pretty good in my experience

[bmwstudent]

Rolling vibrations transmitted through the steering wheel usually turn out to be a problem with the tires. Not just on e30's either. This is true for most vehicles. Jack the wheel of the ground just a few millimeters and spin the tire. Using the ground or any stationary object placed next to the tire, spin the wheel and check for any out roundness or up and down(lopsidedness) in the tire. You'd be surprised how many tires aren't perfectly round, especially when cold. I use this trick to check tractor trailer tires all the time, cheap, quick, and effective.