I recently had TSW thruxtons put on my 04. I drove it to work the next day and boy was the balancing off, at 65-70 it shook like mad. I brought it back and left it most of the day so they could take their time this time, and do it right.

Well its better but I swear the whole car seems to still shudder at 65+mph. Im supposed to bring it back in for a re tourque but it seems like something is still off. How hard is it to balance new rims? I asked them if the alingment might be off now and they said no (they did install spacers)

Any suggestions? Im getting the vibe that I'm "that" pain in the *** customer but I just want it done right for all the money I threw their way

BTW the same shop aligned all 4 last summer, it's town fair tire and they have several shops out this way

 

You might need a set of hub centric rings.

 

^^^^^ that was my first thought when he said spacers... are they 'hub centric' spacers or generic? You should ONLY use HUB CENTRIC spacers on the Crossfire to ensure that they are centered and not throwing your front end out of balance...

Balancing the wheels should be a no brainer for them.. put it on the machine, spin it and then put the weights it tells them to where it tells them to....(I did say 'should be'....)

 

I called them today and the manager answered the phone, Yup, he remembered me quick. Asked him if they used hub centric rings? No, he quickly replied and said he'd order them...no cost incidently.

This is odd because I remember the day they installed the rims, one tech asked the other if they had hub centric rings with the rims and the guy told him yes. Do shops just pull this tactic thinking customers wont notice their cars shaking

 

Ive been doing research on spacers and am only getting more confused!

Whats the difference between hub centric spacers and hub centric rings? I took a front rim off and didnt see any sort of spacer or shim but on the back wheel I can see a spacer between the rim and hub.

Also, when this shop first installed the rims the tech started to bring my car around front but stopped because the lug nuts they installed where a bit to long so they used a shorter set in (which they had also ordered for just this situation). I read that this sometimes can cause damage to the parking brake. Is there a way to check this out for myself? Im at the point where I dont trust this shop for much anymore but still have to have them install hub centric rings (on order) that they admitted not using in the first place. Do these rings make a standard spacer fit correctly?

Really sucks as Ive been wanting rims for years and now its turning out to be a crappy situation

Any help would be cool as I feel the next time i go in there its going to get heated

 

Just another reason I do as much of the job as possible myself. I would have had the tires mounted on the rims, balanced, then brought them home and researched exactly what I needed to install them myself PROPERLY. You can find all the answers here on this forum. It does sound like a spacer problem to me.

James

 

i could be wrong but i believe the terms are the same. hubcentric rings = hubcentric spacers.
your posts are a bit confusing. you are saying you have no spacers on the front and spacers on the rear? there are usually 2 reasons for using spacers. to set the wheel and tire combo closer to the outside edge of the fender for looks or to allow a rim that sits too close to the suspension or brake parts to be spaced away for clearance. did you order the proper offsets for your wheels? and did the shop suggest spacers from the beginning to allow a rim they have to fit your model of car?

 

Hub centric rings are manufactured so that when they are installed on a vehicle, the wheels are located directly off of the center flange of the brake drum or rotor. If the center bore of the aftermarket rim has a wider bore than the stock, this will assist with aligning the wheel properly prior to installing the wheel bolts. Hub centric spacers are designed to push the wheels out further from the rotor.


This is a ring:



This is a spacer:

 

Not correct my friend.

 

Ok so this is what I think Ive got on my hands....Generic spacers on the back because they needed the clearence from the back rotors, No spacers on the front because ?????, I dont know why.

So now do I need hubcentric rings on all 4 wheels; to align the spacers on the back and to align the (spacerless) front rim to hub? Or must there be spacers up front too?

Thanks for your help guys

 

I can only make an educated guess here, but it would seem that your aftermarket rims have a larger diameter bore than stock rims. That is the reason for needing the hub centric rings. So, you would need them on the front and back. Depending on the offset of the wheels, this will dictate whether you need spacers on just the back, or the front also. The rings will align the wheels on the hub. The spacers will do 2 things, provide clearance from mechanical parts and/or give you the physical appearance that you desire. So, the short answer is that it sounds like you need the 4 hub centric rings, and the rear spacers.

Question..... Are you happy with the stance/profile with the way the wheels look now? In other words, when you look at the car from a side profile, do the front or back wheels look like they are inset into the fender wells too far?

Here are a couple pics to illustrate this: Sorry for the crappy quality of the pics

No spacers:


10MM spacers on front and 15MM spacers on back. No rings required as they are stock rims.


Notice how the spacers allow the wheels to provide a more streamlined look from the side profile? I hope this makes sense. I know it can be a bit confusing.

 

Yes, it makes sense, seems the rings will resolve the issues. I do like the way the wheels sit on the car. Heres some pics



rear wheel spacer...


front wheel no spacer...

 

Those are some small spacers on the back. Probably 5MM. It must have had a clearance issue. Is that a gun metal finish on the wheels? They look very nice. I noticed how the wheel finish really coordinates well with your slasher stripes. Very nice.

 

I'm guessing that those wheels, while they may be 5x112 actually have a centerbore larger than the 66.56mm that Mercedes uses. It could be as large as 74mm as that is what the new Audi's have. If you just purchased them, I'd recommend having them look into getting you the correct wheels because from what i can find, they do come with the correct offset and centerbore for our cars. If that's not an option, have them find a hub centric ADAPTER that is a perfect fit for the wheels and the hub. Since I don't know exactly what the CB is on your rims, you should measure them so I can see if I can find something that will get everything trued up. Something look at as well is if the fronts are actually piloting on the hub or if they just used the bolts to pull it in center. If you're having these issues in the back, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case up front as well. I personally wouldn't use a spacer AND a ring in between the wheel and the hub, the chance for something to loosen up is a lot greater than with just a spacer alone. That and the ring may not have anything to really seat on anything as you obviously have to install the spacer first. Sorry to be the bearer of not so enjoyable news. Worst case, if you can't find anything that will work, get me all the dimensions and I can machine up a set in the correct width, hub centric with the I.D. for the rear hubs and the O.D. for the wheels but this is not the cheapest route to take.

Good luck with everything and take care

 

Exactly the point I was trying to make Rudy. But, as usual, your explanation is better articulated and more concise.

 

thanx for the clarification bob. i never use spacers or rings so i was sorta guessing!
i would think rudy has the answer for you regarding the proper fitment and i would take him up on his offer!

ot rudy i have some dataloggs coming your way!

 

Well, I managed to get you on one thing, but in the grand scheme of things, you have probably forgotten more than I will ever hope to learn about these cars.

 

Afaik there are 3 systems for spacers available

Spacers without centric ring - which i never would recommend - but afaik there are no 5 mm, or 10 mm spacers with centric ring on the market - o.k. german market



Spacers with centric ring - up from 15 mm.



Spacers with centric ring and a so called DRA system. With this system you can use the stock wheel bolts. The DRA system comes with his own wheel bolts.



But as said before, centric rings won't help if the bore radius is bigger than 66.5 mm.

 

First of all, THANKS for all the help guys! Just brings testiment to how I brag to others of the level of cooperation this forum has for each other.

OK, just pulled rear wheel off and the center bore of the rim is indeed 74mm. here's a pic of the 5mm wide spacer they put on thats just floating in place by the lugnuts. I can see the problem now.


here's how it looks inside the rim

 

Yep, those would definitely be a problem. Loose those quick.