twenty1

I recently upgraded to 19" Moda R6's, which I purchased from TireRack. I got my first tire rotation and they told me that one of my wheels' centering caps wasn't sitting flush against whatever it is supposed to be against, which was causing excessive vibration, which i felt thru my steering wheel. i was at discount tire, who did the original mount/balance. they were surprised that they didn't catch the problem when they originally did the mount balance, but said that it is because of a manufacturing defect that the centering cap isn't sitting right. the said it is only a matter of inches, but that it isn't wasn't made correctly. i don't know how much credence to give to their explaination. does this make sense???

anyway, they took the centering cap off. however, i still get the shaking vibration, but it's only at the 50-60 mph speed range. is this just a product of my tire/wheel upgrade? what should i be doing to fix this, if possible?

Doc C

This may be way off, but you might take it to a wheel repair place and see if the hub is bent or distorted. Either from a big bump or a manufacturing defect. If it's bent and you keep driving on it for awhile, you could hurt the wheel bearings. I'm probably way off, but I just had all my wheels bent and have talked to about a million people about this very thing. Mine vibrated abruptly in the 40-50 mph range. Just my two cents.

Doc C

Brandon@TR

I have never heard of a loose center cap causing vibration. Usually it is a result of the tire and wheel being out of balance. If you are feeling it in the steering then it is most likely a front tire and wheel. Of course, you can just remove the center caps and see if the vibration goes away...

PHML

iTrader: (33)

twenty1 -

You may want to do a search on vibration problems on 98-00 GS models. They had vibration issues. Lexus fixed it in 01+ GS models with new steering mechanisms. Some felt it with OEM wheels. Most noticed it more when they upgraded to aftermarket wheels.

I think you can take the car to get the steering pretensioners tightened. It may be a TSB.

Pete