psychen6

I just finished replacing my stock V6 rims with GT takeoffs (stock silver Bullits) I bought from another member. The bullits were in perfect shape, and the tires only had 500 miles or so on them. I drove it on the highway up to 80mph, and everything seems fine. Now, keeping in mind that these tires & rims were in someone else's car for 500 miles, should I need to take the car in to get the wheels balanced, or is that independent from the car? Should the car need to be re-aligned? Is the recommended psi pressure gonna be the same as the ones I had before (35psi, i believe?) One last thing, I ended up using the tire iron that comes from the factory to tighten the nuts on the rims. I'm quite certain that I tightened them strongly; just in case, should I worry about how tight they are? Thanks in advance

classix_stang289

ok lets start as far as your concern for your wheel balance. when you took your car up to 80mph on the high way did you notice any shimmy or vibrations through the steering wheel? if not, theres no need to balance your tires. As far as your alignment concern, whenever you put "all" four new rim/tires on your car you should have your car aligned. The recommend pressure i believe should be the same, i think the door sticker says 32 or 34, not 35 but i could be wrong. i always have mine set at 32. As far as your concern with your wheels being tight, its important that your wheels are properly torqued so yes you should take it to a shop so they can loosen the wheels then properly torque them. They can be over tightened right now but you wouldnt know if you dont check. Overtighened lug nut can cause your brake rotors to warp and then you could get brake pulsation in the future, so yes torquing is important. Also by over tightening your wheels you are slowly ruining the lug nuts and the studs.

classix_stang289

always go by what the door sticker says as far as (cold tire)psi, not whats printed on the tire but you probably knew that already.

psychen6

Thanks! I'll take it into the shop tomorrow

classix_stang289

better safe then sorry, but hey congrats on the mod! and best of luck!

im going to be in the process of changing wheels on my gt, i have the tires picked out but not the rims yet lol so many **** choices. lol

StangMahn

I love the stock polished alum. 18'' bullitts, they're my favorite of all the bullitt style rims

balance should be okay, but I'd get it done just to be sure

classix_stang289

stage3motorsports.com has a beauuuuuuuuuuutiful set of black chrome bullitts. i think they are 20inch rims, and mannn are they gorgeous!

Deric

+1 to all that was mentioned so far. Another option is to get a torque wrench and loosed the nuts (not with the TW) and then retighten to spec. I paid something like $20 for my wrench and use it all the time for odds and ends.

Here's one from Harbor Freight which should work with the 98lbs torque setting for the S197. The have 3/8, 3/4, 1/4 and 1/2 drive ones. We also have a few of these at work and we've had no issues that I know of when calibration is verified on them.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...itemnumber=239

shaun_beauchamp

+1 on previous advice.

Alignment (check)
Torque (check)
Pressure (32psi on my GT door sticker) found 32 front, 34 rear to give good traction.

Side note: Polished Bullitts are CLEAR Coated, so treat them same as paint. DO NOT use metal polish as it contains mineral spirits and will chemically attack the clear coat if left on for an extended duration. Just use your normal wax and a clay bar if you really want to keep them clean.

classix_stang289

just remember you get what you pay for. i know loads of people who bought cheap torque wrenches and they were highly out of calibration, so a must is to make sure that the wrench is calibrated every now and then.

psychen6

Thanks for the tips! I will look into getting a torque wrench pretty soon. For now, I just dropped it off at the shop to get aligned, and I asked them to check the balance and the nuts torque.

classix_stang289

awesome, you should be all set then