How to test rims for out of round (1 Viewer)

[Poncherelli]

I have a mystery shake/vibration at 70-80mph. Immediately thought it was the wheel balancing/alignment so got both done to relatively new tires (15k miles) and it’s still there. The vibration is shaking the entire truck and I feel it in the seat, not the steering wheel. Tire shop told me it could be a stuck brake caliper or bad shocks so I serviced all brakes and replaced all shocks. Still there.

Then, when I got tires rotated (front to back) I noticed the vibration changed. Now I’m thinking it’s either that the tire balancing was done twice incorrectly, or that a rim is bent.

Any advice? I asked a tire shop how to test a rim but they didn’t have any obvious test method. Seems they want me to pay for a 3rd balancing within a year. Also, there are rims that I’m sure I can track down from members here but I don’t really know which tire (or two or three or four) is the problem to swap out.

 

[cmassa]

You can test one at a time by swapping in your spare.

 

[bwell]

Find another shop to balance your wheels and tires for you. When they put them on the machine, the tech who is doing the work can see if the wheel is bent as the machine rotates the tire/wheel assembly. I've dealt with this a few times on my 2000.

I would find a shop that has the elite machine from hunter and have them road force balanced.

Road Force® Elite Wheel Balancer | Hunter Engineering Company®

Hunter’s Road Force® Elite wheel balancer is the world's fastest diagnostic wheel balancer that quickly solves vibration issues. Learn how you can get more benefits in less time with a Hunter Road Force® Elite.

www.hunter.com

I've had the best experience dealing with larger dealerships with the above hunter equipment rather than "tire" shops if you will.

Since you rotated the tires and the location of the vibration moved, you are most likely on the right path.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

You can take them to a tire shop and have tires removed and the wheels spun alone. The measurement is called "run out." Did that with some steel wheels that Phrogg4evr had made at Marsh Racing Wheels for my 100 before I bought it from him. The run out was terrible. I sent them back and Marsh made them again. They were still not perfect but now can be balanced.

As an aside, I was very surprised Marsh would not have spun them before sending them out to check their work. They are out of business now (the owners passed).

 

[gatormark91]

LC wheels are not cast, if I remember right. They normally don't get bent. Suspension bits will likely bend first if you hit something hard enough to bend a rim. Loose wheel bearing and/or worn tie rod end is my bet. Both will cause that.

 

[Hugh Heifer]

LC wheels are not cast, if I remember right. They normally don't get bent. Suspension bits will likely bend first if you hit something hard enough to bend a rim. Loose wheel bearing and/or worn tie rod end is my bet. Both will cause that.

OP never said if his rims were stock LC rims. But good point. I think the stock ones break before bending

 

[Drogon]

I had two shops tell me two of my stock rims were bent. The second shop road force balanced them and there have been no vibrations.

 

[bwell]

LC wheels are not cast, if I remember right. They normally don't get bent. Suspension bits will likely bend first if you hit something hard enough to bend a rim. Loose wheel bearing and/or worn tie rod end is my bet. Both will cause that.

Not saying your not generally wrong, but I definitely bent 2 of my original OEM 16" wheels when I bought my 2000 almost 6 years ago.

They don't bend per say in the way you might be thinking, but they can become out of round so to speak. Depending on the severity, they can be balanced to seem perfect, but that won't always last.

 

[gatormark91]

Not saying your not generally wrong, but I definitely bent 2 of my original OEM 16" wheels when I bought my 2000 almost 6 years ago.

They don't bend per say in the way you might be thinking, but they can become out of round so to speak. Depending on the severity, they can be balanced to seem perfect, but that won't always last.

"Normally".. My 2000 had a wheel replaced, I'd guess about 2014 from the date on the one tire that was different from the other three tires on the truck when I got it. The damage they did hitting whatever took out the tie rod end on that side and damaged the steering rack. It'd shake pretty good at 70 mph... Once I repaired the damage (replaced the rack and ends, put new bearings in), the truck rides smooth as glass.

 

[87warrior]

I had an out of round OEM 16" wheel. It was the original spare. My tire guy found it was bent when I had fresh rubber put on all 5 wheels. He balanced it the best he could while I searched for a replacement wheel. I ended up needing to run that spare wheel/tire when on a trip 1,000 miles from home and the result was some vibration on the highway.

 

[willoCo]

Alternatively, you can get one of these.

Multi-Position Magnetic Base with Fine Adjustment

Amazing deals on this Multi-Position Magnetic Base at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Add a dial gauge like:

1 In. Travel Machinists Dial Indicator

Amazing deals on this 1In Travel Machinists Dial Indicator at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Attach the magnet base to your car, adjust the gauge to measure the edge of the wheel as you rotate it.

 

[Poncherelli]

Wheels are original LC 5 spoke.
I’m wondering if it could be bend rim vs bent CV axle. It’s a pretty constant vibration of the whole truck/seat at 70-80mph.

 

[willoCo]

Ah. When chasing wobble. Start by rotating wheels front to back.

 

[Poncherelli]

Ah. When chasing wobble. Start by rotating wheels front to back.

I did a rotation front to back and the vibration changed but did not go away.

 

[willoCo]

ok. Is your truck suspension stock or did you lift a bit? How's the alignment?

 

[aljordan]

If these are the Michelin LTX tires, they like to break belts. I could feel a wobble at low speed that I thought for sure was a bent wheel. Turned out to be a broken belt in the tire.

 

[DTCsk8er]

On the mini-truck 8in axles, it's fairly common to have flange runout; sometimes bent axle or a rear wheel bearing issue. Not sure how common it is for the cruisers..

Its fairly simple to measure if you have a dial indicator; jack up the truck using jackstands, keep the wheel's mounted, and measure the runout at each wheel.

I will say, it appears that the 100s are very finicky when it comes to balance issues.. Any minor balance issue will be amplified on a 100 series. I recommend getting a road force balance done, as the others above have also mentioned.

 

[Poncherelli]

ok. Is your truck suspension stock or did you lift a bit? How's the alignment?

stock. New shocks.

 

[Poncherelli]

If these are the Michelin LTX tires, they like to break belts. I could feel a wobble at low speed that I thought for sure was a bent wheel. Turned out to be a broken belt in the tire.

the are falken wild peaks with about 12k miles on them

 

[Poncherelli]

Update here...When I went to the Hunter website to “locate” a balancer—-Toyota dealership in my area came up, but oddly enough, the service manager said he won’t work on anything older than a 2000 because it just “opens up too many cans of worms”. Is that nuts or am I not understanding something...it’s a tire balancing ?????

So, I went to the Mazda dealership down the road who has a hunter hammerhead version balancer (and an elite) and while I thought they were road force balancing, they just did the standard balance. The techs were pretty interested in the truck and once I told them what was happening...they looked at the CV’s and also agreed it was probably a balance or out of round scenario. The techs rebalanced everything and said one wheel took more than 4oz of weight and that it would be best to get a new rim. The others were balanced again and now the vibration is nearly gone even with the out of round wheel. They also said they do the road force for no charge if it still felt bouncy.
What’s the opinion of the forum...try to get a new rim or just get the road force done? Also...if anyone has a single 5 spoke LC rim (16”) near Boston area DM me.