same problem here since about 3 weeks ago when i had them installed, except you guys seem to be getting much better service than i am. discount tire is basically just trying to get me out the door every time saying that steel wheels are not a good fit for the rubicon and it should be expected. im pissed but theres not much that i can really do, any ideas?

 

As much as I didn't want to, I finally am balanced with rim weights on both sides of the rim. Don't look as bad as I thought. I was really just hoping to stick with the weights on the inside and out of sight.

 

Happened to me also. Switched to steel that were closer to the stock backspacing and offset. They are also hubcentric. Much better.

Steel weighs more and will also ride a but rougher than lighter alloys.

Also I don't think people realize how sensitive the scrub radius is on these JKs. Change the backspacing and offset but still running the same size tire is def going to make a difference.

 

I have 17x9 soft 8s & 35x12.5x17 km2s, I balanced the fronts at less than 4 ounces per wheel (I didnt balance the rears yet) and I have no wobble or vibration even at 80mph. Now I did reposition each tire on each wheel and recheck the balance 3 or 4 times to get the best position and least weight, I can do this myself at work but I doubt many places do that for customer vehicles.

 

From the AEV site..

 

I have to agree. I finally had mine balanced with the weights on both sides. The tire guy told me that with the big tires and wheels you could not get a true balance without putting the weights on the inside and outside.

 

=======I have since bought some 17" steel Soft 8 wheels with 4.5" back spacing and put them on with the M/T tires I took off the OEM Rubi wheels. From day one, there was a slight balance problem. =========




Steel wheels are good for muddin' and that's about it. They all wobble side to side and I've had new Toyotas do it, too. I had to get rid of them and although they might look cool they can drive you nuts.

 

I've had soft 8's on my jeep for about a month and have also had a slight balance issue, as others here have described. I went with 17x8 (4.5" BS) so I can burn down the stock rubber that came with the jeep, and immediately after the install noticed a pretty severe wobble at around 55mph on the front axle. My fiance drives the jeep as her daily driver, so I took it back to the shop that mounted the wheels to have them try again. They did, kindly, gave me some song and dance about how one of the weights "might have fallen off" which I didn't buy, but the wobble did reduce in magnitude after the 2nd balance. It's to the point now where it's not really noticeable, but I still get a wobble around 55.

I noticed when they balanced the wheels that they do so in a hub-centric fashion, even though these wheels mount on the JK as lug-centric. Can any shops balance using the lug pattern to mount the wheel on the balancer, as they actually are on the Jeep? I was contemplating getting a set of hubcentric spacer rings to allow the cragars to mount on the axle in a hubcentric fashion, as I've seen this recommended on some other sites. Has anyone tried this, or know if it might help alleviate some of the balance problems? Seems like there could be a disconnect between lug-centric mounting and hub-centric balancing.

Planning to get some bigger shoes in the future and hoping the problem doesn't get any worse. If it does I may be compelled to go back to alloys. Be a shame, cause I love the look of the soft 8's

 

Soft 8's here, no balance issues at all, all the weights are on the inside.

 

Have you tried replacing the steering stabilizer with a heavy duty one? I know a lot of you guys say that a heavy duty stabilizer only masks a problem and you shouldn't need a stabilizer at all. But as AEV says, if you change the backspacing, things change.
I have 16x8 soft 8s on 33" tires (ballanced on both sides of the wheel) on my JK with no problem with the stock steering stabilizer. On my previous 2005 TJ Jeep, I had 15x8 soft 8s and got shimmy and death wobble. After several hundred dollars of fix attempts, I changed the steering stabilizer with a heavy duty one, and had no more problems.
So I think the cheap and easy fix is to change the steering stabilizer to a heavy duty one. It's not the WHEELS fault or TIRE SHOP that you changed the backspacing and are no longer hub centric. And I don't blame hub centric much because for decades, hub centric didn't exist and things were fine. I just don't understand why so many people want to beef up their tires, suspension, and everything else, but don't want to beef up their steering stabilizer. I plan on replacing my stock steering stabiliser soon with a heavy duty one even though I don't have any shimmy. I know with bigger tires and hard off road use, that stock stabilizer will deficate the bed soon.