I installed 33's on some soft 8's and now in the speed range of 45 to 55 mph I get some wobble in my steering wheel and in the seat (the change in my cup holder rattles pretty good). Is this a balance issue? or is it alignment or something else I am not think of? Also when I had my vehicle inspected they mentioned that I should replace my U-joints soon, could that be my issue? please help me figure this one out so i don't waste $ and still not fix it!

 

My guess would be a balance issue. I had the same symptoms at 45mph when my 33's were first installed. Had them rebalanced and now it rides smooth.

 

this is what I was thinking.......

 

speed related is almost always a balance issue.

 

Just to add to your confidence level i agree as well. have them re balanced

 

Guys thanks for the quick and helpful answers. I will indeed have them rebalanced, but I am pretty sure they did not remove the retainer clips, should I have them removed as well? or just leave them as is?

 

K guys, I know it has been a while but... 1) I had tires balanced... 2) I had the U-Joints replaced... 3) I removed the retaining clips... 4) I had a 4 wheel alignment.. now she wobbles (fairly badly) from 49mph to about 54mph. Any more suggestions on where I should go from here??? if it were a bent wheel or bad belt in a tire would that prevent it from balancing? in other words would the tire shop be able to balance a bent rim and have it go unnoticed? Please any help would be great... the mechanic that did the alignment simply said "you got big tires.. it is bound to wobble.." maybe true but I just don't want to accept that answer!

 

1. Do you have the proper lug nuts for the Soft 8's? I don't know what the factory lugs are, but I know the soft 8 needs a a 60 degree conical seat.

2. Are they being properly torqued in a criss cross pattern while the wheel is still in the air with no weight on it? This is extremely important if you go with an aftermarket lug centric wheel like the Soft 8. If you have any weight of the vehicle on the tire, then the lugs will not be able to properly center the wheels on the hubs.

You might also want to check out your ball joints for play. The larger tires might have just brought the problem to the surface, where it wasn't noticable when you had the smaller tires.

You have now found the potential headache of running aftermarket universal steel wheels versus a specificly designed hubcentric wheel.

 

as mentioned, a speed related wobble in the wheel as you described is almost always a tire balancing issue. balancing large off road tires isn't easy to do and it's not uncommon to have to rebalance them 2-3 times before it's done right. also, as mentioned, with steel wheels, it is possible that you have a bent one or is out of round. i have seen this before as well. have you tried doing a tire rotation including the spare?

 

my first guess was the rotar retaining washers, since he was feeling it in the seat and the steering wheel. since you are 100% certain that those washers have been removed (front and rear), id go to another tire shop for a second opinion on balance. or check out the dyna beads. as already mentioned, maybe you got a bad set of tires. were these new or used?