New winter tires - steering wheel vibration

[Sochi]

Hi guys, need some advice here.
I installed brand new winter tires on steel wheels a week ago from one of the sponsors here. Now my steering wheel vibrates when speed above 110kmh. Not much but pretty annoying :(
Is this normal? Should I go back to the shop?
Thanks.

[bluemazda3]

as long as the wheel is balanced and nothing else is wrong with the car (bent rims, warped rotors etc..) it shouldnt vibrate.. what tires r u running?

[Sochi]

The car is new - under 10K and all was perfect with stock rims.... My winters are I-Pikes

[hincapie]

i had the same thing with my wife's Volvo XC70....summer tires were a-ok. Soon as we threw on the IPikes they vibrated over 100kmh. Took it back and had them rebalance. It took away most of the vibration but still has some (slight)....I spent ALL DAY at the shop waiting for them to rebalance....anyways...i figure i could live with a tiny bit of vibration...most likely its a balance issue....as my Volvo was perfect before the winters went on.

[pnoy_vokal]

also check the steel rims if they are hub centric.....

[bluewhitefatwhale]

I'd take it in. I'm having the same probs. I've done a rebalance already and another one will commence later today.

[aris]

Who ever balanced them did not balance them right. Take it back and tell them to rebalance


The car is new - under 10K and all was perfect with stock rims.... My winters are I-Pikes


also check the steel rims if they are hub centric.....

He is running stock rims

[bluewhitefatwhale]

I'd take it in. I'm having the same probs. I've done a rebalance already and another one will commence later today.

They'ved decided to order new OEM steel rims and rebalance. We'll see if this solves the problem. *Crossing my fingers.*

[mazdathree3]

I have the same problem, same steel wheels and ipikes from GoForTires.

[E-POTS]

i haven't tested mine much yet, but so far i did go 120km/h with ipike w409's and didn't feel a thing and i hope it stays that way *crosses fingers*

[mazdilla]

Did you install a winter steering wheel as well?

That might be your problem!

:chuckle

[Zoom Zoom Boy]

Assuming hub-centric steelies, the tire balancing is off. Have them rebalanced until they get them right.

[Sochi]

They'ved decided to order new OEM steel rims and rebalance. We'll see if this solves the problem. *Crossing my fingers.*

That was the case - bad steel rims, I am having my set replaced Monday.
Thank you for all your replies.

[GadgetAddicted]

Same problem with mine...took it out on the highway yesterday and at speeds over 70kph, the car vibrates...it's quite scary actually. I fear a wheel might pop off lol. Got it installed from one of our sponsors here. Running semperits on Steelies. What do you guys recommend I do?

[midnightfxgt]

The wheels are improperly balanced. Take it back where you bought it, and make them do it right :)

[GadgetAddicted]

Is it completely save to drive when the wheels are not balanced?

[J_man]

I doubt it was the steel wheels.... I had michlen winters and aftermarket rims put on my brand new 3 and also had steering wheel shake over 80kpm. I brought it back to QEW Mazda and they rebalanced them. So I'm pretty sure its not the wheels that are causing your problem.

[Kappa]

not going to lie i had the same problem last year and had them try and fix the wheels 3423232 times... and no one could get them right... it was because i had shitty tires.. dunno if you got cheap winters but i bet thats the reason your having problems..

[kiloaway]

My set is Micheline AP2 (tirerack) with regular steelies (Canadiantire). All wheels were balanced several times but still had vibration issue over 100kph. The last try with the famous road force balancer - Hunter GSP9700 took away most of the vibration and stabilized the steering wheel but still has slight bumpy feeling somehow. I could even "hear" the wheels spinning "unevenly". eventhough the mechanic told me nothing wrong with the tires and rims but it still bugs me a lot as my OEM all season tires with alloy rims were running super smooth on the road. Tomorrow I'll bring my ride back in and see what exactly the issue was. I might replace the rims if it's necessary.

however, ppl said slight vibration is normal with snow tires because of the design. nobody is gonna drive over 100 in snowing icy winter so just bear with it. what do yo guys think?

[Sochi]

I started this one and here is my update: after they replaced aftermarket steelies with Mazda OEM ones - no problems at all - ride nice and smooth at any highway speed!
So in MY CASE wheels were the issue.
It's true there are other possibilities:
- bad tires; improper balancing, etc. - investigate your own case.
Just my 0.02...

[kiloaway]

yap, I was thinking the same way - bad RIMs. I'll go check out the Mazda OEM steelies. thank you for the update. have a good one, bro

[GadgetAddicted]

Got my tires rebalanced yesterday. Apparently they accidentally put twice the weight onto one side and no weight on the other which caused a double imbalance lol. Haven't taken it to the hwy just yet but will post here on the results

[midnightfxgt]

Got my tires rebalanced yesterday. Apparently they accidentally put twice the weight onto one side and no weight on the other which caused a double imbalance lol. Haven't taken it to the hwy just yet but will post here on the results

OUCH! Thats a pretty hard thing to miss for the guy balancing it! lol

[bluemazda3]

were the rims hubcentric? or universal?

[baymoe]

Did the guys actually pay any attention to balancing? Machine checks the balance and advises where to put the weights. Once weights are on, wheel is then spun again to check for proper balance. How can that get missed? Blame it on the lazy douches.