I recently swapped out the stock 17" rims and 235/55R17 tires with 18" AFS Mach 1 wheels and 275/40R18 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 tires--that's all the way around, by the way. The new tire wheel combo was balanced to zero before mounting. These are unidirectional tires, by the way, and filled to 35 pounds.

I've got a few issues. One, on light to moderate acceleration, the wheel begins to vibrate/shimmy around 50mph and continues up through 75mph or so. It's most noticible when cruising at a constant speed in between that range. The wheels/tires were removed and checked for balance, and they all balance to zero and no noticable out of round problems. The tires were then swapped back to front, and the exact same vibration was noticable under the same conditions. The front suspension was checked and it's tight with nothing loose.

Second, the tire/wheel combo has made the car really squirrelly under hard acceleration and the car wants to dart all over except in a straight line. It's like my old turbo Eclipse! Under controlled hard cornering it's like the car is on rails but from a standing start I have to struggle to keep it under control. I am not taking it to the track at this point!

On glass smooth surfaces the car doesn't drift left or right, but I am having the alignment checked at the dealer asap. But the shimmy isn't indicative of misalignment, nor is the hard acceleration issue.

I know several tuners use 275 series tires all the way around, and I don't think it's the width. Would lowering help? I have the Steeda springs but am worried about making the issue worse.

Any ideas?!?!?

 

Probably a stupid question, but you got the AFS wheels with the right offset for the '05-'06? Not the '94-'04 offset? Incorrect offset can play heck with the steering's ability to self center.

 

I have the same brand and size tires as you. I also have Steeda springs. But I don't have any of the systems you describe -- sounds like suspension issues. Have you had an alignment and brought everything back to Ford specs? I know that tire & wheel changes don't require an alignment - but - you may have been out of spec from the factory & the larger tire is making the mis-alignment more noticable?

 

Well, I ORDERED the 05-06 wheels--I'm not sure how I'd tell by inspecting them. Do you know?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AFS-05-06-M...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Actually an alignment is next on my list. It WAS in spec with the old tires/wheels about 5000 miles back, and I hadn't noticed any wear or driveability issues with the original rolling stock. But I have nothing to lose getting it checked again at this point.

 

John, did you check to see if the factory retaining clips were removed from the lugs on the rotors. I had this same problem until I removed them from the fronts on mine. Since the shaking is in the steering wheel, it is in the front tires. With the rears shaking, you will feel it in the seat. Removing the two clips from each of the front rotors cleared the problem for me.

 

I have the same problem with my 18x9.5 Konig Beyonds with 275/40/18 tires. I've had all my tires balanced properly on a roadforce machine. I also had the alignment checked thinking it was the inch drop from the Steeda springs.

F1-Cobra what do the clips look like that need to be removed?

 

Ah sh%t!! I'll bet they are on and the offset is set just a tad off (the offset is 40mm, the extreme edge of the acceptable range). Crap, I'll do this tomorrow. And dangit, my son, the mechanic who works at Firestone, should have KNOWN better. I just asked and he went "uhhhhh". I'll post tomorrow if this fixed the problem. Thanks.

John

 

I can't find a pic of them on the car, but on each rotor, two of the five lugs will have a circular metal clip that is held on by the threads. With a pair of plyers you have to work them until they come off.

[attachmentid=37302]

 

YOU ARE THE MAN!

Two clips on each front rotor, staggered two studs appart. Just took them off, went flying down the highway, and the car is vibration free.

Thanks.

John

 

No problem. It took me a few days to figure that one out on mine. Sometimes it's the simplest thing.

 

Do you have to remove these for all new wheels? cause I'm getting my new wheels put on this coming week.

 

With aftermarket rims, you might want to. I just removed the fronts because the spacers that were sent with the rims did not clear the clips. The rims didn't hit the clips in the rear. The shop that balanced my rims and tires said to always remove the clips when switching to aftermarket rims.

 

What do those clips do? If you just remove them and throw them away, I'm wondering what Ford put them on there for

 

Ford put the clips there to keep the rotors from falling off during the assembly process.

 

So once assembled they're no longer needed?

Guess it's more trouble to remove them than what they would save in recycling... all comes down to money with big companies which is why I'm always cautious when people say "just take that part off and throw it away"

 

There's a similar clip when you do a shifter install. It's a little, flimsy metal clip that does nothing other than hold stuff together while it's being put together. It actually worried me when I did my shifter swap, because I knew I had to bend it up to remove it, but it's not something that actually needs to be there. I expect that the savings in easy construction more than make up for whatever .001 cents it costs to get lotsa little aluminum clippy things.

 

Thinking of getting some 19" deep dish wheels for the '05 but they are only offered in a +35mm offset. My question is this an acceptable offset?

 

I was having a slight vibration problem also after installing my aftermarket wheels. I had the wheels rebalanced and still had the problem, not bad but a little. I thought I was just going to have to live with it or reinstall the factory wheels/tires. After looking for a thread about painting calipers I find this thread! I removed the clips and I'm also now vibration free!!! Thanks everyone!!! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/04.gif[/img]

 

I'm having the same issue as well after geting my Mustang Tuning 18x19/18x10 deep dishes. I'm going back to the tire shop this morning to have them check it out. Hopefully, those clips are there and I'm sure that would solve the issue. I would hate to have them tell me that one or both front wheels are out of round. That would be a royal pain in the hiney.