2nd set of tires and still vvvv vibrating

mayhawboy's LS

mayhawboy's LS

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I've got an '01 Premium with chrome 17'' wheels. When i bought the car i noticed after a few days just a slight steering wheel vibration at speed (70mph to 80mph). Took the car to a dealer to have them balance and rotate the tires, but when i left i still had a vibration, even worse after. Well, i then take it to a tire center to have them look at it. Figured the dealership wasn't competent enough to balance tires (already had some issues with them). The tire center balanced the tires once to no avail, then the second time they try they notice that one of the tires is out of round, say they can't do anything with it, so i say o.k.. I finally get tired of it all and go and buy a brand new set of tires. Still a vibration, it just comes and goes now.

Said all that to ask this. Has anyone else had a problem like this before with these wheels? Could me wheel be out of round? :Bang
 
My guess is its the rims. I have the same problem. Dealer told me all 4 of my rims are 'slightly' bent. Have the chrome ones like you and 3 out of the 4 are less than 8 months old. Comsmetically there are perfect, but drives me nuts when I get on the highway.
 
yeah, i do more driving on the interstate than any where else. 5 to 6 hours of my body slightly shaking drives me crazy. like operating a small jackhammer. sit down in my office after traveling and my watch band is still rattling.
 
Two things come to mind:

1. Slightly warped rotors
2. The wheels are not centered on the hub.

You can buy hub centric rings for your wheels. Just do a Google search on Hub Centric Rings. Most wheel and tire places just slap the wheel on there and start tightening down the nuts. That will cause the wheel to be off center and cause vibration. You can "lug" centric the wheel. You can do this yourself. Just put the wheel on, start the lugs and push up from the bottom of the wheel as you tighten the lugs.

As for the warped rotors, I noticed this when I replaced my rotors with the new StopTech Big Brake kit. I was running cross-drilled/slotted rotors that I got off of eBay. I had them for over a year and after some pretty hard braking they were slightly warped.
 
GrayGhost1 said:
Two things come to mind:

1. Slightly warped rotors
2. The wheels are not centered on the hub.

You can buy hub centric rings for your wheels. Just do a Google search on Hub Centric Rings. Most wheel and tire places just slap the wheel on there and start tightening down the nuts. That will cause the wheel to be off center and cause vibration. You can "lug" centric the wheel. You can do this yourself. Just put the wheel on, start the lugs and push up from the bottom of the wheel as you tighten the lugs.

As for the warped rotors, I noticed this when I replaced my rotors with the new StopTech Big Brake kit. I was running cross-drilled/slotted rotors that I got off of eBay. I had them for over a year and after some pretty hard braking they were slightly warped.
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aren't these wheels "lug" centric anyhow? i'll check for the hub centric rings for the wheels. thanks for the advice. Could the rotors be warped even though i don't feel any vibration under braking?
 
Been through this with 8 brand new Michelins and still not resolved. There is actually a letter out from Lincoln on this. I don't know if it is a TSB though. But it deals with what they call tire "nibble". I swear...I don't think they are ever going to get it fixed on my son's car. We did have everything road force balanced and that really helped...buy it sure didn't cure it.
 
2001LS8Sport said:
Been through this with 8 brand new Michelins and still not resolved. There is actually a letter out from Lincoln on this. I don't know if it is a TSB though. But it deals with what they call tire "nibble". I swear...I don't think they are ever going to get it fixed on my son's car. We did have everything road force balanced and that really helped...buy it sure didn't cure it.
Click to expand...

This maybe a stupid question but what is road force balanced?
 
too indepth to describe here. Google for "road force balance", it's pretty interesting. I'm ordering some "hub" centric rings for my wheels also as advised by GreyGhost1. We'll see how they work out. I'll post my findings.
 
guys, guys, guys, Apparently none of you have gotten the recall. There were a few batches of 17" chrome rims that cause this problem. There was a defect in the rim around the lugnuts. You will probably see a crack in the rims if you look close enough. Take it Lincoln and they should replace it.
 
LSDMAN said:
guys, guys, guys, Apparently none of you have gotten the recall. There were a few batches of 17" chrome rims that cause this problem. There was a defect in the rim around the lugnuts. You will probably see a crack in the rims if you look close enough. Take it Lincoln and they should replace it.
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I don't know about that. I went through all recalls for the LS and did not see one about wheels. There are three recalls on the LS since it's debut in 2000. They are:

1. Faulty rear seat latch
2. Faulty lower ball joints
3. Faulty ball joint stud (fractures)

There is one TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) and it is 02-1-6. It just states that customers complaining about vibration to use the Hunter Road Force equipment to balance the wheels/tires.

The problem you described sounds like someone over torqued the lugs over 100 ft-lbs. The owners manual states not to torque the wheels over 100 ft-lbs.
 
It is funny that the recall you reference doesn't show up on earlier model LS's prior to 2003. That's why I didn't show it. It only applies to 2003 and up LS's with certain 17" wheels. There was only 1,736 affected units. If your LS didn't have those wheels then you didn't get a recall notice. They don't send recalls to every LS owner for every year if it is not affected.

I doubt highly that mayhawboy's 2001 LS is affected unless he put 2003 and up 17" wheels on.
 
The recall doesn't apply. It's for 2003 V6's only with chrome 17" wheels as an option. Ours are earlier than that. But there is some Ford produced literature about this exact problem.
 
2001LS8Sport said:
The recall doesn't apply. It's for 2003 V6's only with chrome 17" wheels as an option. Ours are earlier than that. But there is some Ford produced literature about this exact problem.
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Very interesting! where pretell can i find this literature? I'm really not in the mood to buy a new set of rims right now to remedy the problem. :Bang
 
hey.. if u want to fix your steering wheel nibble at highway speeds.. get your local alignment shop to toe out ur front end. the nibble is most likely caused by your front tires being toe'd in a lil too much. check it out.. bet it fixes it ;]
 
joedirt said:
hey.. if u want to fix your steering wheel nibble at highway speeds.. get your local alignment shop to toe out ur front end. the nibble is most likely caused by your front tires being toe'd in a lil too much. check it out.. bet it fixes it ;]
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That is VERY interesting! Ford calls it "nibble", but it really feels like a balance problem. But it wasn't there with the factory original tires. It only showed up when the new tires were installed. It's driving us...and the dealer...nuts.
 
i am havign the same problem with my 17" CHROMES... figured i got a lemon or it needs an alignment, cause i had all my tires balanced.
 
allkesh said:
i am havign the same problem with my 17" CHROMES... figured i got a lemon or it needs an alignment, cause i had all my tires balanced.
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Are you guys using aftermarket lug nuts?
 
Nope, all my lugs are factory, those cheesy tin covered nuts called lugs. In fact i want to buy some solid aftermarket chrome lugs.
 
This issue started with mine AFTER i had the dealership rotate the tires... Started pulling left a bit and after 65mph getting bad vibration.. Had my brother who works for a tire shop that has been in business for over 50 years and has a lot of experienced guys do a balance and it only made it worse.. I bought that 5 year unlimited mile tire/wheel warranty when I go tmy car.. Would tires out of round be covered?
 
Go to www.hunter.com and find a dealership or shop with a hunter gsp 9700 road force balancer, have them road force all four tires and see what they come up with.

It could be a bad tire or a bad rim, it could be warped rotors, could be a bad wheel bearing, how many miles are on your car?
 
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