Rotated tires, now car vibrates at speed

[byronj]

So I just rotated my tires, nothing else was changed and my car is vibrating at speed. I was hoping it was just the road but I tried a few different areas. I am thinking the wheels could be out of balance but I don't see any weights missing? All 4 tires look good. Any input would be appreciated before I start swapping out rims and tires again. Thanks in advance

 

[06mach1]

Is it possible that a tire slipped on the rim during hard braking? Mine will do that if not careful when I've just mounted slicks and apply the brakes hard for the first time when the tires are still somewhat cold.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Interesting.

My first guess would be a lost wheel weight or bad balance which did not show up until you changed positions of the wheels.

Second guess would be related to wheel centering. Do you have wheel which require centering rings? Are they still in place? If rings are needed and not installed, centering can be hit or miss. In this case, a miss. Which wheels are you running?

 

[blacksheep-1]

Remarkably, I have seen race tires travel 90 degrees or more out of balance and have absolutely no effect on balance, they all do it, it just depends how far. The question is, do you feel it in the steering wheel, or the seat of your pants, because that will tell you which end of the car is effected. Also, it's vital to make sure the centering ring is in place, if you us eone, and that the wheels are properly torqued, because that can also cause vibration issues.

 

[byronj]

Thanks for the input and questions. I do not use center rings, there has been no hard braking on these rims & tires, (street duty set). The vibration is in the steering wheel. I'm thinking it's either alignment or wheels out of balance. Although the car was only pulled out of the shop and parked after the oil change & tire rotation. I'm running 18x9.5 ARK R8 rims that I have been on street duty with no issues since 2013.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Well it's definitely the front wheels, in that case. Probably just need to be removed and torqued properly, or possibly a wheel bearing going out? Bearing seems unlikely if the vibration coincided with your service visit.

 

[Grant 302]

I'm guessing alignment or loose(ish) wheel. Shouldn't be the balance of the tires if they were all just swapped left to right assuming a stock setup. If your tires were re-mounted I'd still doubt the balance could be off.

Check the wheel bearing play yourself, if you have a jack handy.

 

[byronj]

I'm running a square set up, so they went front to rear. I'll check the TQ later today, and ensure the weights didn't fall off. Hopefully it's that simple.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I've never experienced alignment causing a vibration, it will rip the tires to shreds in minutes, but never a vibration short of damaged parts. I'd try simply re torquing the wheels, you can do that with the car parked and if it works, it's an easy fix.
Then you can dive deeper into it, swapping fronts to back, one side at a time to see if you can isolate the one wheel/tire assembly.
For whatever the reason, there seems to be a lot of this going around lately

 

[byronj]

Update- I got it sorted out. It must have just been the way the tech tightened the lugs. Took the wheels off and inspected everything, tread wear, air pressure, suspension, etc and reinstalled wheels torqued them to spec and everything was good. Thanks for the input guys. Glad it was an easy fix.