Diagnosing :: Wheel vibration
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 524
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From: Los Angeles
2013 FIAT Abarth 500
Forgestars definitely need hub rings unless they started drilling custom hub bores in their blanks (which I doubt). FS blanks are drilled to 74.1mm and MB uses 66.56mm diameters so you'll obviously want to use the hub rings. The hub rings FS supplied me the first time around were too loose and I had to have them resend some aluminum ones that fit much better but not perfectly. You might want to look into getting some elsewhere.
I had to take them off and have been riding on the stock wheels because I needed to narrow down the cause of my vibration, but I have a feeling they're going to cause me a lot of trouble; not to worry you, just being honest as to my personal experience.
Out Of Control!!
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From: Jerzy
04 CLK 320 > CLK32K
I got my F14s through ACGSD, who is a vendor on here. Not the best vendor imo, but that's just me.
Forgestars definitely need hub rings unless they started drilling custom hub bores in their blanks (which I doubt). FS blanks are drilled to 74.1mm and MB uses 66.56mm diameters so you'll obviously want to use the hub rings. The hub rings FS supplied me the first time around were too loose and I had to have them resend some aluminum ones that fit much better but not perfectly. You might want to look into getting some elsewhere.
I had to take them off and have been riding on the stock wheels because I needed to narrow down the cause of my vibration, but I have a feeling they're going to cause me a lot of trouble; not to worry you, just being honest as to my personal experience.
Forgestars definitely need hub rings unless they started drilling custom hub bores in their blanks (which I doubt). FS blanks are drilled to 74.1mm and MB uses 66.56mm diameters so you'll obviously want to use the hub rings. The hub rings FS supplied me the first time around were too loose and I had to have them resend some aluminum ones that fit much better but not perfectly. You might want to look into getting some elsewhere.
I had to take them off and have been riding on the stock wheels because I needed to narrow down the cause of my vibration, but I have a feeling they're going to cause me a lot of trouble; not to worry you, just being honest as to my personal experience.
Wow, you are worrying me. I hope everything goes well. Fingers crossed.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Los Angeles
2013 FIAT Abarth 500
So I had it reinspected for the umpteenth time and a third shop said the same thing: nothing seems out of the ordinary except for a tranny mount that may be on it's way out, but isn't completely dead yet and I don't think my symptoms relate to an engine/tranny mount.
Could this be a center driveshaft bearing or flex disc? The vibration does occur with load and decelerating at low speeds, but if I shift into neutral and rev I can't feel anything. Also, if I shift into neutral at highway speeds I can still feel it while I coast -- so I thought doing these things eliminated the driveline. Am I missing something?
Another theory is my alignment. As the vibration feels as though it sources from the driver's front wheel, could alignment affect me by the tires slightly and constantly rubbing on suspension or the chassis? 8.5" front wheels, ET32, -2.3* camber on the driver's front, -1.8* on the passenger front, caster is 6.1 for both sides. I don't know how tight it is back there but with my specs, is it possible? I would have tried chalking the inside of the tires yesterday but it got too dark before I could try.
I'm getting the dealer to correct the alignment right now to get closer to spec to eliminate the possibility of an alignment; just wondering if it was a feasible thought.
Could this be a center driveshaft bearing or flex disc? The vibration does occur with load and decelerating at low speeds, but if I shift into neutral and rev I can't feel anything. Also, if I shift into neutral at highway speeds I can still feel it while I coast -- so I thought doing these things eliminated the driveline. Am I missing something?
Another theory is my alignment. As the vibration feels as though it sources from the driver's front wheel, could alignment affect me by the tires slightly and constantly rubbing on suspension or the chassis? 8.5" front wheels, ET32, -2.3* camber on the driver's front, -1.8* on the passenger front, caster is 6.1 for both sides. I don't know how tight it is back there but with my specs, is it possible? I would have tried chalking the inside of the tires yesterday but it got too dark before I could try.
I'm getting the dealer to correct the alignment right now to get closer to spec to eliminate the possibility of an alignment; just wondering if it was a feasible thought.
Last edited by mint; Nov 23, 2010 at 12:39 PM.
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From: Bay Area
02 clk 55, 13 GL 450
Could this be a center driveshaft bearing or flex disc? The vibration does occur with load and decelerating at low speeds, but if I shift into neutral and rev I can't feel anything. Also, if I shift into neutral at highway speeds I can still feel it while I coast -- so I thought doing these things eliminated the driveline. Am I missing something?
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 524
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From: Los Angeles
2013 FIAT Abarth 500
Well, dealer said they went through the entire front suspension, checked engine/tranny mounts, and the driveline and said they can't figure it out.
I'm a bit exhausted at this point from running around to all these shops, not knowing if I'm being overly **** or whatnot. If 4 shops that specialize in Mercedes say it's not a safety issue, then that's good enough for me. I'm taking the CLK down to Southern California from NorCal with my girlfriend tonight so I'll see what she thinks about it (hopefully nothing flies off and the vibration doesn't annoy me too much).
I'll resume diagnosing the weekend after Thanksgiving and report any updates.
I'm a bit exhausted at this point from running around to all these shops, not knowing if I'm being overly **** or whatnot. If 4 shops that specialize in Mercedes say it's not a safety issue, then that's good enough for me. I'm taking the CLK down to Southern California from NorCal with my girlfriend tonight so I'll see what she thinks about it (hopefully nothing flies off and the vibration doesn't annoy me too much).
I'll resume diagnosing the weekend after Thanksgiving and report any updates.
Last edited by mint; Nov 24, 2010 at 03:45 PM.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Los Angeles
2013 FIAT Abarth 500
Finally put the wheels back on this weekend since summer is here and lo and behold, problem is still there (pretty violent high speed shake around 65mph). Since the OEMs are pretty perfect, obviously it's something to do with the Forgestars or Nittos. Yes, I have Gorilla hub rings on (74 OD and 66.56 ID), yes I am using the proper lug bolts (my wheels came machined with a ball seat rather than cone, don't know why), and yes, I've had them road-force balanced a few times.
So either the wheels aren't straight/true, the tires are out of round/separated belt or the shops (dealer included) are incompetent at balancing. As I've yet to read of Nittos having separated belts, I'm inclined to think it's the balancing. Going to take it to a third tire shop with a Hunter to get them to check bare rim runout, then remount the tires and index until I get a lower road force reading.
Sigh.
So either the wheels aren't straight/true, the tires are out of round/separated belt or the shops (dealer included) are incompetent at balancing. As I've yet to read of Nittos having separated belts, I'm inclined to think it's the balancing. Going to take it to a third tire shop with a Hunter to get them to check bare rim runout, then remount the tires and index until I get a lower road force reading.
Sigh.
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Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2010
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From: Los Angeles
2013 FIAT Abarth 500
Yeah, I think it's more of the lack of knowledge on the shop's behalf than anything else. Dealer of course isn't very mod friendly so they blame it on the rings; I've tried the polycarb ones FS sent me initially, plastic ones off eBay, metal ones from sister co. iForged, and finally these Gorilla's. I'm pretty certain it's not a ring issue. Other shop needed me to tell them how to mount the rings so needless to say I felt defeated and as it was almost winter, put the OEMs on and figured I'd sort it when summer came.
I've yet to have a shop run the wheels naked on a Hunter to check runout (they always do it with the tire on), and want to double check the bead is sitting correctly on the wheel and that the wheels indexed to minimize the need for weights and ultimately road force, which of course is the main driver of high speed vibration.
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From: Los Angeles
CLK W208
Whatsup Twinsin, sorry to hear about your issues man, I've been chasing this steering wheel shimmy as well for the past 2 years, I just bought new wheels and tires and it was still there. Finally this past friday I took the car to EF1 Motor sports based on Alexbenz's recomendation and all i can say is WOW 
. The owners name is Fabrizio and man does he know his stuff. He took the car for one spin and told me to come back in about 2 hours, so he gave me a ride to my office and then picked me up about 2 hours later and guess what? the viberation is GONE!!! the only thing that is left is a little shimmy which based on Fabrizio's testing and reading on this fourm is the lower control arm bushings, so i ordered them from a website that chappy was nice enough to refer me to and i will be changing them next week for Poly ones. So see if you can take a drive down to southern CA EF1 is in long beach and trust me brother its is worth the drive specially because his prices are lower than any other place i have ever gone to and he does balancing, alligning and full suspension work on benz, bmw, ferrari and porsche so it's a one stop shop.
P.S. I'm not affiliated with EF1 Motor sports or Fabrizio, Just posting a great experience that I had that solved my 2 year chase of suspension problems.
. The owners name is Fabrizio and man does he know his stuff. He took the car for one spin and told me to come back in about 2 hours, so he gave me a ride to my office and then picked me up about 2 hours later and guess what? the viberation is GONE!!! the only thing that is left is a little shimmy which based on Fabrizio's testing and reading on this fourm is the lower control arm bushings, so i ordered them from a website that chappy was nice enough to refer me to and i will be changing them next week for Poly ones. So see if you can take a drive down to southern CA EF1 is in long beach and trust me brother its is worth the drive specially because his prices are lower than any other place i have ever gone to and he does balancing, alligning and full suspension work on benz, bmw, ferrari and porsche so it's a one stop shop. P.S. I'm not affiliated with EF1 Motor sports or Fabrizio, Just posting a great experience that I had that solved my 2 year chase of suspension problems.
Thread Starter
Super Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 524
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From: Los Angeles
2013 FIAT Abarth 500
Whatsup Twinsin, sorry to hear about your issues man, I've been chasing this steering wheel shimmy as well for the past 2 years, I just bought new wheels and tires and it was still there. Finally this past friday I took the car to EF1 Motor sports based on Alexbenz's recomendation and all i can say is WOW . The owners name is Fabrizio and man does he know his stuff. He took the car for one spin and told me to come back in about 2 hours, so he gave me a ride to my office and then picked me up about 2 hours later and guess what? the viberation is GONE!!! the only thing that is left is a little shimmy which based on Fabrizio's testing and reading on this fourm is the lower control arm bushings, so i ordered them from a website that chappy was nice enough to refer me to and i will be changing them next week for Poly ones. So see if you can take a drive down to southern CA EF1 is in long beach and trust me brother its is worth the drive specially because his prices are lower than any other place i have ever gone to and he does balancing, alligning and full suspension work on benz, bmw, ferrari and porsche so it's a one stop shop.
P.S. I'm not affiliated with EF1 Motor sports or Fabrizio, Just posting a great experience that I had that solved my 2 year chase of suspension problems.
. The owners name is Fabrizio and man does he know his stuff. He took the car for one spin and told me to come back in about 2 hours, so he gave me a ride to my office and then picked me up about 2 hours later and guess what? the viberation is GONE!!! the only thing that is left is a little shimmy which based on Fabrizio's testing and reading on this fourm is the lower control arm bushings, so i ordered them from a website that chappy was nice enough to refer me to and i will be changing them next week for Poly ones. So see if you can take a drive down to southern CA EF1 is in long beach and trust me brother its is worth the drive specially because his prices are lower than any other place i have ever gone to and he does balancing, alligning and full suspension work on benz, bmw, ferrari and porsche so it's a one stop shop. P.S. I'm not affiliated with EF1 Motor sports or Fabrizio, Just posting a great experience that I had that solved my 2 year chase of suspension problems.
So what did the guy do? Rebalance?
