balancing problems with Stern's
 

has anyone that has switched to Stern ST1's had problems with getting them to balance? I just had mine mounted and balanced today, left the shop and had a horrible shimmy at around 50 mph. just wondering if anyone else had had any problems with the balancing of their stern's.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

I would take it back and tell them to re balance them.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

What he said^^^ with "Chop-Chop" at the end.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

Just like my Zenettis, Sterns have to be weighted, balanced and then aligned. Make sure they do all three. Did you affix spacers?

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

have done all, just got back from getting them rebalanced. still have a horrible shimmy at 50mph and up.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

Did you re-size your lug nuts? If the wheels are properly balanced then one or more lugs may be bad/short/too long. I hope it works out.


Suggestion:Take it to a totally different place and ask them to check balance/alignment. (Might be money well spent to check the checkers).

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

if you used spacers did you use hub centric spacers and is it sitting flush. a lady race car driver with a srt had a similar issue and they had to do some modification to make it fit right.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

As you know, I had a "Thrum" at speeds above 50 mph. I found that it was the tires (Falken FK452) that just didn't like some road surfaces.

The rim/tires balanced just fine. If you can get it up on a lift, (in neutral) spin each wheel by hand and look for any wobble or out-of-round either in the wheel or tire. I have a good eye for such things, but some may have to hold a tool (non-scratching) up against them to see any differences. Most tire shops have guys that really pay no attention to what they are doing-just opening ones eyes helps a great deal!

Even after I took mine to a "performance shop" the manager told me that short wheelbase cars like ours are more prone to be finicky. IDK

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

yep, shortened the rear lugs, opened up the front spacers. going tomorrow morning to get it rechecked at another shop.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

Remove the spacers and try it.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

went and had them checked at another shop today, both fronts were off. the right front needed .50 and the left front needed .75. went and tested it out at the speeds I was getting the shimmy, only had a mild shimmy around 60-65 mph. went home and parked the car, then drove it later and the shimmy had returned at 50 mph. next step is to try breaking them down, rotating the tires 180 degrees on the tires, then remount and balance them per Tire Rack's customer service line's suggestion. if this doesn't help, I'm sending them back for another set under warranty.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

You could try to find someone near you with a Hunter 9700 and let them take a crack at it.

Hunter GSP9700 Wheel Vibration Control System

Correcting runout and imbalance can be a lot more complicated than "breaking them down, rotating the tires 180 degrees on the tires, then remount and balance them".

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

thanks for the link, there are several places near me that have one.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

I agree with Displayname--road force balancing is THE was to go if you suspect wheel problems. I got a set of fairly expensive wheels for my other car a couple of year ago (took me 6 months to get them!). After a road force balance, I found out that the wheels were actually egg shaped and it was impossible to proper;y balance them as a result. So I had to wait another 3 months until I was able to put the wheels on the car! Grrr!!!

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

That sounds more like flat spotting of the tires, if it happening after the car sits for a while.
Crank the pressure up to 40 or 45 psi, and drive on the highway at 70 mph for about 10 to 20 miles, and see if it improves/vanishes. If it goes away after the miles at the higher pressure, its the tires flat spotting.

BC.

Re: balancing problems with Stern's
 

I ordered a set of stern st-2s. I had the dealer send them back! would not balance, and were not HUB CENTRIC. After several calls to other wheel dealers, I was told to stay away from Stern wheels!:(