Post-rotation vibration

[kurokoma-kun]

Rotated my tires the other day (they are directionals, the kind you swap front/back) and was getting quite a bit of vibration in front--no slop, no jolt, just vibration. Jacked it up again, recentered wheels, re-torqued lugs--felt fine at first but quickly got vibey again.

So I jacked it up again and look what I found hiding behind the rotor!


Cut off the 3' long piece of plastic, inspected for damage and saw none, but I'm still getting a bit of vibe. Can't tell if it's just because the good tread is on the front now... do you guys think it could have done any damage I can't see?

[Astroman]

Do you have another picture with the bag removed? (It looks like it was a bag anyway.) I had a target shopping bag float into my lane when I had my stock exhaust on and it stuck and melted on there. Stank horribly. I peeled the plastic off and now the stock exhaust has lots of red targets on it.

But more than likely the vibration could be from the tread. How did you rotate your tires? I learned that you shouldn't do the "X" formation (rear right to front left, etc.) but do the "| |", or rear right to front right.

[kurokoma-kun]

Yeah, directional tires have to be front/back--what I was told to do anyway.

There was really nothing to see after removing the plastic, which was like trash bag size--or so I thought. But if I keep having an issue I'll jack er up and take another pic.

[kimona]

I really don't know if this is your problem, but minor vibrations (and increased tire noise) are very common following tire rotation.

I wonder how much flack I'll get after this post?

[kurokoma-kun]

Thanks Astroman and Kimona! If anyone flacks you Kimona, tell them to flack off!

Yeah I'm prolly just wigging out... but here's another pic anyway. All clamps, clips and so forth seem to there and in position, but while I basically know what I'm looking AT, I dont know what I might be looking FOR, you know?

[Astroman]

Thanks for putting the picture up. I don't see anything that I think would cause the vibration.... Any chance you might have moved/lost one of those lead balancing weights on the rim? Sometimes those things can fall off or get dislodged/moved from their original position. The first time I drove my lebaron on the highway I freaked because it felt like I had oval tires or something. I took it into a tire place and they checked the balance. All 4 tires were way off. Turns out the last owner never bothered to have the snow tires balanced because he never took it on the highway. Just another possibility I though of...

[kurokoma-kun]

Originally Posted by Astroman

Thanks for putting the picture up.

I think your name should be Sweetie-man!

My weights are the stick-on strip kind that go inside the wheel--they look much prettier that way All appear to be in place.

[Astroman]

aww shucks...

[kimona]

Well, if all checks out properly, and you still have vibration, put the wheels back to their original positions (before rotation) and check it out.

[kurokoma-kun]

yeah, did that last night...shit i dunno...gonna swap em back tonight.

I think I'm just being extra picky because i have an auto-x event tomorrow and dont like to go out there unless car is 100%--course if I dont do well i can just claim mechanical issues

Thanks for replies.