Problems after lowering car

[ray]

Heres the situation i had the car lowered with eibach springs, custom shocks, PHR, LCA, and relocation bracks... everything was fine. Then i put the new wheels on 17x9.5" with some new tires and then the problems starts. For some reason once i hit 60mph or above my steering wheel starts shakin really bad and gets worse the faster i go...i already took the car back and they re-balanced the tires, but the problem still continues. Im takin it back tomorrow morning to have them look at it again and maybe see whats up, but i was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem and what they had to do to fix it?

[ntimid8r]

When you bolt your wheels on, are you using acorn style lug nuts or flat based ones? If you have the wrong style lug nuts for your wheel design, then the wheel won't sit flush on the spindle/hub--causing a wheel imbalance. Just a thought.

[ray]

idk i just used the factory ones, im sure the people at the tire place would have said something if the bolts wouldnt work, also the car drives fine its just the steering wheel that shakes....i would imagine with the wheel not sitting flush the whole car would have an odd vibration maybe, but i guess ill just see what they say tomorrow

[MadSeason]

When you lower you car you need an adjustable pan hard rod to recenter the rear, this could be causing your vibrations

[VChula]

Did you have your wheels aligned after the suspension install, but not after adding the wider rims/tires?

It sounds like you are experiencing excessive front end "toe-out".

After I lowered my RS, I asked if I could get the car aligned with the stock rim/tire combo, as I didn't want the "look at me, I just got my car aligned" white stripe on my new wider rims/tires. I was told by the alignment shop that the car should be aligned with the wider rim/tire combo. They said that if I got the car aligned with the stock combo, and installed the wider tire combo afterwards, I would most likely experience excessive wheel "shimmy" at freeway speeds. Wider rims/tires result in a wider track, which I was told, would increase the "toe out" on the front end, causing the car to vibrate and dart side to side - especially at speed and under heavy braking.

I'd have them check your alignment..

[keliente]

When you lower you car you need an adjustable pan hard rod to recenter the rear, this could be causing your vibrations

He said he had a new panhard rod, and even if he didn't, it wouldn't cause a horrible vibration up front.

Ray it has to be the wheels, you said everything was fine with the suspension. One of them may be damaged from the factory, or balanced incorrectly (which doesn't surprise me since most tire shops mess stuff up).

[ray]

yeah, its got to be either the tires or the wheels cause everything when i initially got it lowered on the factory wheels / tires everything was fine. I have an adj.PHR , but i believe they just set it to factory length cause i had it installed before i had it lowered and i mentioned it to the shop doing the alighnment and puttin the new wheels and tires on after i had it lowered, and they didnt seem to take much intrest in it and said everything looked ok and they balanced and alighned the car . the only thing done after the alighnment was puttin in the rear shocks, but that wouldnt be the problem cause theres nothin to that.

So heres the UPDATE after i took it to the shop ...they said it might need some sort of spacer since the wheels are aftermarket they might not be sitthing just right and the only thing holding them centered are the lugs, but they did a "special" alighnment or so they told me and it seems as though that might have fixed the problem...i have just been drivin around town and havnt gotten a chance to really run the car at higher speeds but on the few quick passes i did do, it seemed as though the problem was fixed. Ill know for sure after i drive to orlando tomorrow. and i will keep yall posted

[ray]

on a side note how do i check to see if my rear is centered or if i need to adjust the pan hard rod, since the tires store didnt really want to deal with it i guess....anyone got a link?