Stupid, stupid, stupid (botched tire rotation)
 

:doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh: :doh:

Ok I somehow managed to screw up rotating my tires. It was all my own stupidity, overconfidence, and ignorance. I'm not blaming Toyota or anyone else, but know I feel unsure if my car is safe to drive.

I didn't tighten the lug nuts enough while the tires where in the air to allow them to seat properly. So when I went to torque them down, the car shifted, and my wheel looked like it had a positive camber angle. Luckily there was no damage anything else, but the wheel.

What actually happened to the wheel is that when the car shifted, the studs managed to carve out a little piece of the corner in each of the stud holes. So when you look at the holes from the outside of the wheel, it looks like someone took a file and grinned some material on one spot on the edges of the holes.

Do you guys think it's safe to drive around a car with a damaged wheel like that? Will there be any balancing problems? Not very much material was taken off. The pieces that came off look like a toe nail clippings.

I finally did get the wheel on right, after I figured out it's best if you tighten the lug nuts, in a star pattern, with the wrench while the wheel is still in the air. Still better than letting a mechanic touch my car though. They probably would have never told me if something like this happened.

I'm no expert, but I would doubt it would cause serious balancing problems.

If the car does start to shimmy or sound funny driving it, you'd be wise to take it to a tire/wheel specialist. Stay away from general purpose mechanics, just because they probably won't have a wide selection of tires (and possibly rims) in stock. The specialists will probably just laugh, and rebalance the wheel. If they don't, ask them why they can't just rebalance the wheel.

Sorry to hear about your luck man. :doh:

I agree. If in doubt, have the shop put it on the rack and check the balance. But you're *probably* okay, especially since the mass was taken away from near the center of the wheel, and not the edge. Near the center, the rotational velocity is a lot lower and thus so is the centrifugal force (which is what causes balance issues).

I did the same thing when doing my intake. Didn't have any problems but I didn't get any shavings either. Hope your car is ok.

Drove my car at 75 MPH today, and it felt like it always had. Took some hard turns, and braked hard, and everything felt OK. For now I'm gonna keep checking the lugs to make sure they are torqued down to 76 ft-lbs, and for any cracking on the wheel. Guess the BBS wheels I wanted to buy just moved way up my mod list.

Good to hear it's okay. Hope it stays that way. What bbs' you plan on getting?

You should be just fine. It's like chamfering the edge of a hole, it acually makes it less prone to cracking. I'd be more worried about the wheel studs ie. messing up the threads or bending.

https://www.tirerack.com/images/whee...v_bs_ci3_l.jpg

They're the same wheels used in the celebrity race.

As for the studs, I did check them one by one, and all the way around. I also checked my rotors calipers, and brake lines. They all looked fine. This car is built solidly where it matters.