[bioman]

Trying to get a reference to stock, because I can't remember. But above 80mph, is the steering wheel completely vibration free for all folks?

Put on some FC 5mm spacers this weekend and am starting to notice a slight vibration above 80mph. The steering wheel does not visibly shake, but there is a slight vibration there as if the road was uneven.

I'm thinking its the spacers, but just want to confirm there could be no other issues. Less than 1k miles. I'll likely put it back to stock to confirm on the weekend.

[CarJunkie]

Are the spacers hub centric? What brand?

[detroitm2]

Originally Posted by CarJunkie

Are the spacers hub centric? What brand?

He said FC so I'm assuming they are future classic. Which are hub centric.

Maybe take it in for an alignment?

[Jimjamz]

Not experienced vibration. In fact I'm chuffed I can guide by finger tips even at high speed. Could never do that in the F80 - it required meaty hands and being grabbed by the scruff of the neck. More an ax than a scalpel.

[mfarrzhp]

Originally Posted by Jimjamz

Not experienced vibration. In fact I'm chuffed I can guide by finger tips even at high speed. Could never do that in the F80 - it required meaty hands and being grabbed by the scruff of the neck. More an ax than a scalpel.

Same. I don't recall any vibration, and my commute is across a causeway where I can go 75-85 almost the entire 7 mile stretch.

I have Turner 5MM spacers, but no vibration. Could it just be poor road surface or does it feel like it's the car? Hub centric spacers installed properly shouldn't produce vibration. Maybe the wheels need balanced?

[ptgltw]

Smooth as babies bottom at all speeds and I have spacers.

I think some wheel weights flew off

[arciga18]

i plan on doing 80+ on Friday somewhere in mexico after break in service. I'll keep an eye out

[mchart]

I've taken the car to about 140mph so far. No vibration. Your spacers might have thrown the hub/wheel out of balance if they themselves aren't balanced properly, or they weren't torqued correctly.

[E46M3forRay]

A 5mm spacer (aside from turner) will sporadically cause a vibration at high speed because there isn’t enough lip for the wheel to rest on into the hub. I ran this same size on my e90 m3 with volk te37 and it will slightly vibrate. Any spacers under 8mm will not have the extended hub. Just learn to live with it but it will look good at mall parking.

[trafficalert]

US Wheel Adapters makes custom wheel spacers as small as 5mm with extended hub lip to minimize vibration. Other custom machine shops can do it too. Another option if you're off the hub is to have a tire tech find the roadforce hard point on wheel/tire and have them bolt on the set with the hard point at 12 o'clock. This allows the set to drop a fraction of mm and (possibly) help with the now lugcentric mounting. Proper spacers are best though.

[jdl8r]

Wheel balance will be more sensitive to anything not perfect with spacers, especially if the wheel weight imbalance is close to the outside. You can try rotating your spacer 2/5th's or 3/5th's and see if it gets better or worse...

I've also watched folks pressure wash their wheels weights right off... So a rebalance might be worth trying as well.

[6CylindersEveryDay]

No vibes here, only smooth feels.

[ptgltw]

I just assumed everyone had those bad ass 5mm and 7.5mm spacers from Turner. Works of art they are.

[Mosely]

Had similar issues when changing spacer sizes around (currently at 12.5mm front 10mm rear).

1. Start with the spacer/hub surface - make sure totally clean at each point (spacer to hub and wheel to spacer).

2. Once #1 is perfect, make sure you torque down wheels in a star pattern while spinning the wheel to get it seated perfectly. Torque to spec

3. Once above are solid, if still vibration, get road force balancing at high speed. Normal alignment at Joe Schmoes shop likely does a low speed or low sensitivity balance. Road Force (like using a Hunter machine) is great for this, and some shops will even do it with spacer installed.

If none of those work, then swap spacers and see if it gets better. I ended up going through all the motions, swapped spacers for a new set and the vibration was gone. Must have been an out of spec spacer.

[mfarrzhp]

Originally Posted by mfarrzhp

Same. I don't recall any vibration, and my commute is across a causeway where I can go 75-85 almost the entire 7 mile stretch.

I have Turner 5MM spacers, but no vibration. Could it just be poor road surface or does it feel like it's the car? Hub centric spacers installed properly shouldn't produce vibration. Maybe the wheels need balanced?

Dammit. Now I was paying close attention and I also have some vibration at 80mph. It's not crazy like you said, but it's there. I hit around 95 on the causeway today to see if it got worse, but it was still very minor.

I would hope paying extra for the Turner spacers, that they aren't the issue. Hoping it's just a wheel balance issue.

Did you try to diagnose the issue yet?

[bioman]

I'm going to take off the wheels spacer this weekend to test, then swap them around if I do feel there is a difference from stock. Will clean the surfaces and make sure everything is tight.

FC makes pretty good quality spacers, but will ask for a replacement set if it doesn't resolve the issue.

[kyrocks]

Any update on this? I have the Turner 5 mm hub centric spacers and noticed this as well. It's subtle and only occasional. Always at 81 mph. I will take them off and see if there is any difference.

[bioman]

I haven’t had a chance to take them all off, but I had a mobile tire company come by and while they were patching a different car, they tried to balance the drivers side front wheel. They said a steering wheel vibration is sometimes caused by that wheel. They ended up adding .25oz of weights and after driving it, it’s noticeably better.

When I get time, I will try going back to stock, it it’s ok for now. I think the vibration is going to be inherent on all spacers to some extent from all the threads I’ve found.

[kyrocks]

Originally Posted by bioman

I haven't had a chance to take them all off, but I had a mobile tire company come by and while they were patching a different car, they tried to balance the drivers side front wheel. They said a steering wheel vibration is sometimes caused by that wheel. They ended up adding .25oz of weights and after driving it, it's noticeably better.

When I get time, I will try going back to stock, it it's ok for now. I think the vibration is going to be inherent on all spacers to some extent from all the threads I've found.

I took mine off today. The car rides so smooth at 80 mph. Night and day difference. I've had spacers on many cars before and never have felt this.

[ptgltw]

Originally Posted by kyrocks

I took mine off today. The car rides so smooth at 80 mph. Night and day difference. I've had spacers on many cars before and never have felt this.

Can you balance your wheels with your spacers on?

I have 5mm front and 7.5mm rear from turner and smooth as glass.

[FCTrs4]

I'm not running spacers and notice vibration at speeds above 60 mph. I also noticed more intense vibration when breaking at higher speeds 80mph+

[kyrocks]

Originally Posted by FCTrs4

I'm not running spacers and notice vibration at speeds above 60 mph. I also noticed more intense vibration when breaking at higher speeds 80mph+

Sounds like you need the wheels force balanced.
All I can say is that taking the 5 mm spacers off has transformed the ride back to what it was before.