Troubleshooting help........ possible car problem....... vibration.......

[PQ]

Well, in the end I was forced to the conclusion that Savini is just incapable of fixing these. Really am shocked that they are in business.

On top of the vibration issue the finish is coming off in sheets and they won't hold air. I've been told the chrome is flaking off so they can't get a bead to seal.

NEVER EVER buy Savnini wheels.
Talked to Blair at Pfadt and got some good advice as far as things to look at and I'm gonna make a checklist of tests and items to look at to eliminate one at a time.

Posting here will give me a chance to possibly find someone with a similar experience and maybe help me pinpoint a problem. Because there IS a problem.

My car is vibrating still. I have no choice but to assume it's not the wheels or tires. Savini has had them twice and gives them the green light. The wheel movement seen on my video is a normal movement and tribone put them on his car and didn't feel any shaking.

From 0-50 there is really no problem. Used to be a steering wheel vibration at these speeds but it's gone since they were back at Savini.

However, I get a very small vibration when accelerating hard from 0-50 mph. But when just cruising, or eccelerating softly, it's smooth with no noticeable vibration 0-50.

Once I go passed 50, the vibration gets strong when accelerating hard, and noticeable when just cruising.

From 70 to 90 mph, the vibration is easily at it's strongest when eccelerating hard and MUCH more pronounced. Also from 70 to 90 even just cruising the vibration is easily noticeable.

Vibration is NOT changed at all by braking.

So again, assuming they are not the wheels or tires, what could it be? This has been driving me crazy.

One more thing to consider. There was no vibration with my stock wheels, so I'm looking for a problem that could be not noticeable on my stock wheels that is exaserbated by my Savinis. And I have now driven a Camaro with 22 inch wheels OUTSIDE of my own. No such vibration. So it's NOT the lower profile tires I'm feeling as far as the road bumps and surface. This is a vibration that changes more the faster I go and harder I eccelerate. This is a vibration that can be felt from the passenger seat. Easily noticeable by the passenger, but the passenger may not even notice it if he or she wasn't told about it. No way could a driver not notice.

Any ideas???

Nevermind. It's the wheels.

Left Front Wheel




Right Rear Wheel

[PfadtRacing]

PQ, I hope you get it diagnosed! From reading other members similar stories, and from our conversation, my first instinct is to recommend something drivetrain related. Please let me know if there is anything else we can help with and keep us updated!

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

Lots of ideas PQ.
1: Did you run over any thing in the road?
2: How many times did you mount and remove rims on your car?
3: What mod have you done to the car?
4: There is a lot of things in my GM manual to look at for round out, but that book is at home.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

PQ, I hope you get it diagnosed! From reading other members similar stories, and from our conversation, my first instinct is to recommend something drivetrain related. Please let me know if there is anything else we can help with and keep us updated!

No problem. And thanks for your time. I'll keep you updated. Of course, I'm gonna try and nail this thing down right here. There is a problem and if it turns out to be one of those weird things that can't be fixed then so be it. But I gotta know what is causing this vibration.

Originally Posted by 2SSRS

Lots of ideas PQ.
1: Did you run over any thing in the road?
2: How many times did you mount and remove rims on your car?
3: What mod have you done to the car?
4: There is a lot of things in my GM manual to look at for round out, but that book is at home.

Never ran over anything.

Mounted and removed probably 10 to 15 times or so.

Pfadt Springs and sways.

I am gonna follow this thread very closely so ask away.

[2SSRS@Gen5diy]

To me it sounds like you may have a bad U joints/CV joint, I know that sounds weird on a one year old car, And we have a lot of them in this car.

The only way to find it is on the rack, Get it off the ground and remove the rims, have some one check for round out.

[Dr Jkel]

I had the same problem with a set of wheels I put on my truck when it was purchased new. The dealer put the wheels on before I took delivery, but after the intial test drive.

After many visits back to the dealer they agreed to replace the rims and tires and it fixed the problem. So the solution was replacement but I found out a couple of things later.

1. the rear facing of the wheel was not flat so when it was mounted it didn't fit exactly flush against the lugs, and the increase in speed caused the problem to worsen.

2. because it took 6 months to figure out, the vibration had caused the front hubs to become out of round so to speak and the front hubs had to be replaced.

Hope this helps. John


I currently have 35 x 13.5 x 20 on my truck and I have exactly no vibration at all. Gear wheels and Nitto Terra Grapplers.

[silverfox]

I had the same type of vibration increasing with speed. Thought for sure it was my drag wheels and tires and turned out it was. A m&h drag radial was out of round and the tire shop showed me on the machine it was defective. Have you tried the tires on other wheels.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by 2SSRS

To me it sounds like you may have a bad U joints/CV joint, I know that sounds weird on a one year old car, And we have a lot of them in this car.

The only way to find it is on the rack, Get it off the ground and remove the rims, have some one check for round out.

Added to the checklist. How long does this take approx. I want to schedule enough time to have ALL of it checked at one time if possible.

Originally Posted by Dr Jekel

I had the same problem with a set of wheels I put on my truck when it was purchased new. The dealer put the wheels on before I took delivery, but after the intial test drive.

After many visits back to the dealer they agreed to replace the rims and tires and it fixed the problem. So the solution was replacement but I found out a couple of things later.

1. the rear facing of the wheel was not flat so when it was mounted it didn't fit exactly flush against the lugs, and the increase in speed caused the problem to worsen.

2. because it took 6 months to figure out, the vibration had caused the front hubs to become out of round so to speak and the front hubs had to be replaced.

Hope this helps. John


I currently have 35 x 13.5 x 20 on my truck and I have exactly no vibration at all. Gear wheels and Nitto Terra Grapplers.

Did they ever check the wheels on a machine?

Originally Posted by silverfox

I had the same type of vibration increasing with speed. Thought for sure it was my drag wheels and tires and turned out it was. A m&h drag radial was out of round and the tire shop showed me on the machine it was defective. Have you tried the tires on other wheels.

Tires on other wheels? no. I haven't. But we ran the wheels on GTAs car and they shook his car. Which is the anomily in this whole thing. I may be chasing a Leperechaun so to speak.

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by PQ

Did they ever check the wheels on a machine?

They balanced them many times, even road forced balanced them. Had three different tire shops balance them and they had alot of weights but they would balance.

When you drove it vibration. They explained it to me this way. If you have a set of heads and do not have them decked when you rebuilt a motor then the heads will not sit flat on the block, thus causing poor combustion etc...
Basically the back of the wheels I had were not flat and caused the vibration.

I talked with a guy on the way home from work who owns a tire store and he said it could be three things, wheels out of round, tires or your front end could have something to do with it. He doesn't think it is the front end since it did not do it with factory wheels.

[Milk 1027]

Would it have something to do with this?
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56634

Maybe you haven't noticed till now?

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Dr Jekel

They balanced them many times, even road forced balanced them. Had three different tire shops balance them and they had alot of weights but they would balance.

When you drove it vibration. They explained it to me this way. If you have a set of heads and do not have them decked when you rebuilt a motor then the heads will not sit flat on the block, thus causing poor combustion etc...
Basically the back of the wheels I had were not flat and caused the vibration.

I talked with a guy on the way home from work who owns a tire store and he said it could be three things, wheels out of round, tires or your front end could have something to do with it. He doesn't think it is the front end since it did not do it with factory wheels.

Damn. I wonder how to check for this. The wheels were road force balanced a number of times. AND they have a flat out TON of weights on them.

But, tribone didn't notice a vibration when they put them on his car. So I gotta explore another possible option. If it's the wheels at this point, I'm screwed. I can't send them back again. They were tested on a car.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Would it have something to do with this?
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56634

Maybe you haven't noticed till now?

I'm sure it's possible. But my stock wheels never vibrated.

Now, if it caused the hidden problem I'm looking for, I still have to find it.

[Dr Jkel]

Originally Posted by PQ

Damn. I wonder how to check for this. The wheels were road force balanced a number of times. AND they have a flat out TON of weights on them.

But, tribone didn't notice a vibration when they put them on his car. So I gotta explore another possible option. If it's the wheels at this point, I'm screwed. I can't send them back again. They were tested on a car.

From what I was told by my tire guy when you have to put alot of weight on a wheel to get it to balance then the wheel or tire is the problem. You are not screwed. They should replace the wheels because they are deffective.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Dr Jekel

From what I was told by my tire guy when you have to put alot of weight on a wheel to get it to balance then the wheel or tire is the problem. You are not screwed. They should replace the wheels because they are deffective.

But if they weren't vibrating on the Camaro that they tested them on, it would put it back on my car, right?