Added 1.5" Spacers now my tires need balancing... ?

[mmessier2]

I added 1.5" spacers on my ride and now there is heavy vibration in the wheels between 65-75mph and at slower speeds around sweeping turns. The tires were just balanced about a month ago and there was no vibration before the spacers. The spacers and lugs were all torqued down properly during their installation.

Any ideas of how this happened? Do the spacers just amplify any existing minute vibrations?

Would another balancing fix this? Thanks

 

[450 DUDE]

Im definitely no expert on this but you might want to re check the install.
Make sure the roter is flat and clean as well as the wheel.
Maybe pull the spacers off and re torque nice and evenly.

If that doesn't work the problem might lie in un balanced spacers.

ken

 

[mmessier2]

I'll clean the rotors up and give that a try.

 

[CruisinGA]

I would be hard for spacers to impact balancing, as their radius relative to the wheel rim and tire is quite small.

Recheck your installation, make sure there's nothing keeping the wheel and spacer from seating flat.

 

[Bob_Garrett]

It's possible that you have a slight dynamic imbalance (caused by left side of the tire being heavier than the right or vice-versa). Installing the spacers would move the tire farther from centerline and make it more noticeable.

 

[Nemo]

Not sure on your current build but you may have introduced the famous drive line problems people experience when lifting to some height. It varies I suppose but you may want to entertain the idea of removing the front drive shaft and drive it to see if the problem is still there. You may want to try the rear as well, but it sounds as if it is coming from the front of yours.

Didn't realize you may be talking about wheel spacers as well? So the driveline issue may not be of concern to you. :_0

 

[TX80Fan]

turn the radio up...Nah, I just installed 1.5" spacers a month ago using a impact wrench and everything went well. What kind of spacers? Hub or Lug centric? I got mine from Trail Gear...

 

[TEPUI]

If the wheel spacers are not properly centered they can produce a vibration that feels very similar to that of an unbalanced wheel. Hub centric spacers normally fit better than lug centric ones.

 

[Shipwreck]

Any ideas of how this happened? Do the spacers just amplify any existing minute vibrations?

Because spacers increase your scrub radius, they will amplify any existing vibrations from either unbalanced tires, worn bearings or loose tie rod ends. Slight vibrations that were previously unnoticed can make themselves apparent.

I would start by checking wheel bearings. Then I would remove the tie rod and relay rod and check for uneven wear or looseness at the rod ends. If these check out, I'd rebalance the tires to get them dialed in.

 

[mmessier2]

turn the radio up...Nah, I just installed 1.5" spacers a month ago using a impact wrench and everything went well. What kind of spacers? Hub or Lug centric? I got mine from Trail Gear...

Lug centric. Although they said they were designed for Toyotas, so maybe both? They look identical to Trail Gear's.

I have a feeling that one of the front spacers did not seat perfectly, or not perfectly centered. I will start there today. Hopefully that solves it.

 

[TX80Fan]

I dunno man...wheel spacers are just another unneeded component that weren't considered by the Toyota engineers. Mine have been trouble-free so far. Maybe try getting another set of spacers and rebalance the tires OR just don't use spacers. Great advice huh?

 

[mmessier2]

If I cant get the problem to go away I'll just toss the spacers on my 85 4runner. No big loss.

 

[mmessier2]

OK, so I took the spacers off. They were all flush against the wheels, but there was just no way to perfectly center them. They were obviously lug-centric and NOT hubcentric. They were close in size- with little play around the hub, but in order to balance they need to be perfect.

I guess I learned my lesson. At least I can try to get them on my 85Runner, or return them.

 

[Rogorn]

vibration in the wheels between 65-75mph

Hard to eliminate the vibration. My son had to abandon his wheels & low profile tires for his W8 Passat as they required a 5mm spacer.

The only way to eliminate the vibration at speed was to grossly over torque the lug nuts - never a good idea IMHO.

In the end, the conclusion was, great for driving around town impressing others, but most annoying on the interstate - so they had to go.

His spacers were not hub-centric either. Even though the width was not large, it was enough to set up the vibration at speed.

 

[mmessier2]

Exactly my thoughts.... it looked better with the spacers, but not worth the hassle.