I8ABMR

Hey guys I recently removed my 22" wheels from my car because they vibrated strongly. I had the stock wheels and tires put on the car and there was a lot vibration but it was still there. I took the car into the dealership to have the wheels and tires rebablced and it made them better but still not perfect. The tech at the dealership said the run out numbers on the tires were extremely high (30's,40's, and one in the 60's). The road force numbers were greatly reduced with a new balance but still its not good enough. There is still a very slight vibration. The shop tore the car apart looking for any and every possible cause of vibration, but like the evaluation done with my 22" wheels , nothing came up at two dealership who did separate evaluations. The final call was that the 22" wheels have something seriously wrong with them ( car shakes so bad that I can see the speedometer needle shaking on the dash), and that the Dunlops had an issue. Has anyone ever had an issue with the Dunlops or any other oem tire). The SA at the dealer pulled a 2012 LS460 off the show room floor that had Michelins tires on it and mounted the wheels and tires on my car and they said it was perfectly smooth. The SA said he went on the ride with the manager and the tech and they also felt nothing. I am at a loss because I have a set of 22's I cant use and I have oem tires that apparently may cause a very mild vibration.


HELP!!!!!!!!!

adamls2

Wow man you have been having quite the headache lately and I wish i could help you out :/ So, there is something wrong with your tires or wheels on the 22 setup? If I recall correctly they replaced your 2 rear wheels?? So, after that did the vibrations go away or did they gradually come back? Also, do you have hub-centric rings on your 22's?? I know cjitty has them on his ride. I'm honestly not sure if I have them or not...(probably not) but my car does have a ever so slight vibration around 70mph sometimes but iv'e taken my car up to 130 (closed roads) and it's as smooth as it gets. It might be possible that your tires are old and dried out which is really common in Kuwait and Suadia Arabia where tires that have been sitting for a long time (stored before getting sold for a few years) can get really hard and cause problems like that. Usually around 6 years you can start to see symptoms of this...hope some of this info helps...

gs400jon

My Sport has the OEM 19 inch Dunlop Sport Maxx 101. I've only had the car up to 85 MPH and there is zero vibration so far.

Dema

You should ask a dealer to ride with you to demonstrate vibration. Minor vibration can be demonstrated only at certain speed and roads.
I noticed report that LS can go 130mph. is it sport or base model? My BMW goes 150mph easily, but I was under impression that Lexus is limited to 120 mph because tires rating

adamls2

Yeah the LS as far as I know and have experienced is limited at 130 but after hitting the limiter and getting back on it it got up to 140-ish I want to say. The tires i'm running are the Continental DWS's which I think are speed rated to 168MPH but I could be wrong. Not sure what the stock tires are rated at...

I8ABMR

The service advisor felt it while driving with the manager and the tech as well. The vibration is very bad with the 22" wheels. With the oem wheels its 95% better but there is a slight vibration at 72-75mph. With the aftermarket wheels its more like a wobble. With the oem wheels its a slight vibration. The vibration was completely gone with the oem Michelins from a 2012 LS460 right off the show room floor. The car only had 30 miles on it. Every single time I speak to any person at any tire shop or any dealership they always recommend Michelin tires over anything.

In terms of top speed the LS460 is disappointingly limited at 130 mph. I have maxed the car at 132 mph. So weak for a car with this much power and an 8 speed transmission. 150 mph should be the minimum for a car of this caliber.

bob321

My OEM Dunlop Sport maxx started vibrating around 18k miles. Still had lots of tread left. Put on new Bridgestone Turanza Serenity and all the vibration went away. Have avoided the Dunlops since then...

I8ABMR

Thanks soooo much for the reply. I am desperately trying to find an answer. I discussed with my wife very seriously the idea of getting rid of the car. I am tired of all of the vibration issues with the aftermarket wheels and even the stock tires. I need a break. My wife, God bless her, told me this morning " why don't you get the GTR finally. I know thats the car you have always wanted". She is AWESOME.

Craig B

The Dunlop tires are terrible. I removed them from my vehicle at 14,000 miles and replaced them with Michelin's. It rides and drives much better with the Michelin's.

patgilm

I like her way of resolving the vibration issue. I would take her advice. If I didn't have two car seats in the back of my LS, I would be driving a GTR. I guess I am going to have to wait a while for that upgrade.

PeachyKeen

Having been down this road with other vehicles, I will drop a few points here to consider:

Cheaper wheels or tires won't always balance as nicely as extremely well made ones. That said, I don't think it's a quality issue with either, as the Vossen Wheels are obviously well made, and the Dunlops are a good tire.

Next up is the issue of size - the bigger the wheel (22") the more difficult it is to properly balance these things to the point where they won't vibrate at a speed of 55-75 miles per hour. It probably goes away at higher speeds, and can even be intermittent. I have seen Toyota TRD 22" forged wheels for Tundra not balance as well as you would like. At some level, it becomes an almost crappy part of owning 22s on a vehicle. It's for that reason that I'll stick to 20's and 19's most of the time now.

I have the the 5 spoke 19" stock wheels, and I've seen at least a handful of aftermarket wheels that I like, but I think I would stay in the 19 to 20 inch wheels from my experience. Also, OEM wheels are pretty hard to beat at times. I've thought about just having the same wheels but in black chrome.

Regarding the Dunlops, my wife's X5 (2011) has the 20" sport wheels with Dunlop runflats on them, and those tires wear out QUICK and they are very pricey. I wish there was a good Continental Runflat equivelant or a Michelin.

I wish you the best of luck. The Skyline GTR is an awesome car, especially if you can get the latest one!

I8ABMR

I went down to the dealership and test drove a GTR. I am in love with that car. I have never felt acceleration like that before. Its the type of car that you would make changes in your life to have. Changes like always having to take the wife's SUV when we go anywhere with the babies. In the end I almost have to fight to take the LS because her car is set up for the babies.

adamls2

Man the GTR is one hellava car man. I can understand having a problem like that and wanting to sell the car, Iv'e actually done that before Which year GTR you test drive? I remember the 1st one a drove one (was extremely lucky at the time) when they 1st came out and I was in love...made my G35 at the time feel like crap...

BUT, now that we established that it is the dunlop tires that are the problem what about the 22's???

I8ABMR

I had the discount tire techs and manager, the techs at wheel specialists , and another wheel guy in town all tell me that something is definately wrong with the 22's. They balance up with relatively high run out numbers and they wobble at speed. Vossen ,being the amazing company they are, has agreed to stand behind their product and replace the wheels for me. I just have to wait until the next shipment comes in in february or the end of this month

. The GTR I drove yesterday was an 09 with 30k miles on it.The only way I can describe the car is with two words : VIOLENT ACCELERATION !!!! And you are right it makes my LS feel like a slug.....although a very well insulated and comfortable slug. The GTR rides like a VW beetle from the 50s and the tires are noisy as hell and so sticky that they pick up every pebble on the road and fling it into the wheel well. I could easily live with it. LOL

PeachyKeen

That issue is why I just bought this LS 460L. I needed a "grown up" car (as my lovely wife puts it) and that meant something that has accommodating seats for the kids (car seats) and her and sometimes the addition of the nanny too. Having a two seat sports car is nice, but I'm pretty much over it. I love my LS so far.