JFNash

I replaced my tires yesterday with Bridgestone Turanza ER33 (245/45/19).

After replacing the tires, there is is an extreme vibration in the front end of the car when braking at highway speeds (60+ mph). Braking at sub 50mph speeds is completely normal. No lights, no vibration while driving. What could be the reason?

Also while removing the lug nut locks, the locks key broke apart (the black piece came out of the key). After like 45mins of trying, finally we got the locks out. I threw them away.

I searched online for regular lug nuts, but couldn't find any beside ebay. The local dealer says I need to wait for 3 weeks to get them from Japan! Where can I get a set of 4 regular lug nuts online?

I'm now running on 4 lug nuts on each wheel. Could this cause a problem? Could the vibration be caused by not having a 5th lug nut in place?

Lextrician

dealership dont have any at all??? thats crazy u can get on ebay but!!!! i bought some from the dealer but they were expensive 12-16 dollars a piece i should known. ebay your best bet!!

I8ABMR

dealership lost my key so I had to have discount tire break the locks oss and put on new ones. I drove for a day or two with just the 4 lugs and it was fine

CJITTY

First, they should replace locks if they broke the key. 2nd, take it back and have them correctly rebalanced. Ask for their most experienced wheel balance person. They owe you that!! Get some OEM locks of Amazon or EBay and save your wallet for other legitimate purchases. Good luck

Nospinzone

My first thought was improperly balanced tires, but you said it only occurs when braking. My second thought is they used an air wrench that was improperly calibrated to tighten your lug nuts. Excessive pressure by one of these air wrenches can literally warp the rotor. A warped rotor will cause the problem you describe.

As for the lug nuts, if you bought the car from that dealer, I'd tell him to take 4 lug nuts off a car in the lot and when the next ones arrive in 3 weeks, they can put them back on the car in the lot.

CJITTY

Oh I missed the braking part . Yeah..they destroyed your rotors and warped them..especially with only 4 lugs and over torqueing...damm that sux. Unbalanced tires will not vibrate when braking so I agree with nospinzone..they are about to pay for your next brake job

JFNash

How could that affect the rotor? The guy applied all the pressure "machinely" possible on the lug nuts to tighten them, so that could be the problem here. If that is the case, why my car isn't shaking when I brake at low speeds (below 50 mph)?

I bought the car from the US. So I don't have much to tell the dealer about finding me alternatives to waiting for 3 weeks until his supplies come from Japan. Either I buy them online from the US or wait for the dealer's shipment to arrive.

CJITTY

On most cars, the lugnuts are typically what holds the rotors solid onto to the hub, that is why proper torqueing of lug nuts is absolutely vital to rotor longevity and just plain ol proper installation of wheels. Improper torqueing of wheels is one of the most common ways rotors get warped. If they torqued those 4 lugs down real hard and that fifth lug is missing, then it would create a warp situation for sure since there is no pressure in that spot. That is the only logical reason for this to be happening if you did not have the steering wheel shimmy while braking prior to bringing it there.

I am willing to bet that if you creep at low speeds, under 5-10mph and put slight pressure on the brake pedal, you will feel the brakes sort of "grab" and release, "grab" and release as the car is moving very slow. At high speed, that warped spot in the rotor is basically pulsating against the brake pad because there is a high spot now and it is more pronounced at high speeds. This is very typical behavior of warped rotors.

Nospinzone

"machinely" that's the operative word right there. If he had hand tightened them and then used a torque wrench to tighten them to manufacturer spec, you would not have this problem. Look at it this way, it can't be the pads because they're the same ones before you had the tires put on, and it can't be the balance because the vibration would occur at a certain speed regardless of whether or not you were braking.

I'm telling you with 99.99% certainty, your rotors are warped.

Luxofreak

Yes, your rotors are warped. Doesn't mean you need new ones, the dealer might be able to do a pass on them and fix the problem. Just make sure they torque it right after they put it all back together.

Nospinzone

BINGO! The proverbial lightbulb just lit up! If they broke that lug nut key, they almost certainly had that air wrench torqued up waaaay toooo high. That is no easy thing to break.

JFNash

Interesting.

I'll try to resurface them. If not possible, I'll order new ones.

Now how to tighten the lug nuts to factory specs?

Nospinzone

Yup, having the rotors turned may do the trick. If not, they'll have to be replaced to eliminate the vibration.

Go to page 613 of your manual for the torque specs. It's 103.3 lbs-ft in the US, but where you are they probably use either 140 N*m ( I have no clue what that means), or 14.3 kgf*m. Tell them to keep the air wrench away from the mechanic. Have him put the lug nuts on with his hand as tight as he can get them. Then take an old fashioned hand torque wrench and torque the lug nuts by hand to that spec.

Let us know how it all comes out.......I have so much invested in this now!

Luxofreak

Gotta use a torque wrench dialed to 76 lb and tighten in a star pattern. (Nospinzone above said the manual says 103.3 lbs - I've read 76 lb here in this forum, but I believe the manual would be a better source for this info indeed, so double check).

cheez80

iTrader: (1)

103 lb/ft is right -- our cars have 14mm studs which can take the extra torque (most other japanese cars have 12mm studs)