I just bought a nex xb and I installed my old cars rims and tires on it recently. the rims are 15*7 but they look much nicer than the stock hub caps. The problem i'm having is when I reach 60 my steering wheel shakes a lot. It's quite wierd cause it will do it on and of ane minute it's fine the next it's fighting me . I've had the tires balanced twice and I have hub centric rings installed. Any sujestions or recomendations as to anywhere in the area who could solve this for me. I'm in Germantown, MD. Thanx.

 

I would say do a dynamic wheel balance. Also have the tires looked at to see if they could be out of round. The last thing I could think of is maybe your lug nuts aint torqued down right. Other then that I cant think of much, what type of tire are you running? Like what size & is it uni directional?

 

the tires are nitto 450's. 195/50. i asked them to check if the tires were out of round and they said if they were they would not bother balancing them. I spoke to the guy at discount tire direct and he said since the wheels/tires were on a different car previously they might need time to adjust. He said due to the weight and suspension differences they might have worn differently on the hyundai and should evem out after a couple of thousand miles. Also the guy at NTB told me to drive the car at 65 and shift the car intu neutal and see if the shakes stop. is this safe? i never owned an auto so i don't know if this is safe or not?

 

Shifting from drive to neutral in an auto while at that high of a speed, or any speed for that matter shouldn't harm the car at all...I've accidentally hit the shifter a few times over the years and knocked it up into neutral...Nothing happened, just a loss of acceleration, but once you get back into gear you'll be fine...In fact, at freeway speeds, you shouldn't even notice the grab when the transmission slips back into gear...

I'd say it was fine to try it out...

As for your tire situation and what's causing it??? I think it is the fact that wheels were wearing on a different car...The weight and suspension can effect the way the tires will sit once they were put on your xB...If and when you take it into the Tires Direct place again, ask them if they have all of the balancing specs for the xB...If they don't currently have those specs, they might be balancing your tires according to another vehicle thats close to the xB...I'm assuming that the work they did is under warranty so asking them to doublecheck the balancing shouldn't cost you anything...

Best of luck to you...Keep us posted on what's going on :D

DAN

 

If I was in your case & I had a little $$ to get new tires I would. The ones your running right now are a little small for the box. The stock JDM tire size for the box is 185/65R15. Thats a 24.5" Tire while your current one is only around 22.6" .

 

balance your wheels, it happened to me on my old car or if you have a flat spot on your tire, you need new tires mounted and balanced. This will get rid of the problem.

 

i do realize the tires i have on right now have a lower load capacity than the stock ones. I'm only planing on riding these until Nov. when i switch to the stock rims w/ winter tires. my other car is a 93 BMW 318is and i ain't going nowhere in the snow, so as a precaution i'm installing the winter tires on the xb. I was hoping to not have to buy a new set of all-season tires until after winter, but i might have to. I don't want the vibration causing any unnesesary strain on my suspension. i guess i have some thinking to do. thanks for the advice though fellas. Also I will let you all know when I put the winter tires on cause i'm gonna have a brand new set of stock tires for sale...mad cheap.

 

Do you have Hub centric rings? XB requires these on some wheels.

 

tires arent balanced based on a specific vehicle they are based on the rim size and tire themselves

 

Did you keep the wheels/tires oriented the same way when you put them on your new car? Your two driver's side wheels should go on the driver's side of your new car, same with the passenger side. If you switched the way they spin, I think it could cause the vibration you're describing.

 

I agree with Spider 13 on this one. If the wheels didn't shake on your old car, they shouldn't shake on the new one. What car was your old one? It sounds to me like it is most likely not hubcentric.

 

the tires were on a hyundai accent before which explains different load capacity. also when i bought the tire/rim combo i did not get the hub centric rings. they were not offered to me so i did not know i needed them. i noticed vibration but only when i reached 60 mph and above. the faster i went the more it vibrated. i rarely drove this fast as i used the car primarily for city driving. this time however, i did install the hub centric rings and i still get vibrations at 60 but they come and go. it's quite wierd really. i might just buy new all season tires now or hold of and buy the winter tires in nov. i have not decided yet but we will see. Let me know if any one wants to buy a set of stock tires. i'll sell them for $120 for all four. thanks agian for all your imput and advice. :D

 

Hyundai Accents and Scion xB's both have a centerbore of 54.1mm. If the wheels you transfered over were the original factory wheels, no center ring should be necessary. If they were aftermarket wheels, then rings may be required. If you pull one of the wheels off and measure the hole in the middle, it should be at 54.1mm (2.13"). If it is larger, then you will need a ring with an outer diameter matching the hole in the wheel, and an inner diameter of 54.1mm. If it is smaller than 54.1mm, then the centerbore needs to be opened up.

 

I dont think the wheels could be stock from the hyundai they come with 13" wheels. 14" are on the GT model though so those might fit.