car vibrates, so...
just had new tires balanced and installed on my 911.
then had a professional 4 wheel alignment at a porsche shop.
car vibrates still.
shop says there are 3 bent rims and that will cause vibration.
wheels aren't bent so bad that it can be a dangerous, and the bends are on inside of wheel.
fixing 3 bent rims costs $200 per, and serious PIA.
i am suspicious. wouldn't balancing each wheel take care of the vibration?

 

A bent wheel will cause you vibration no matter what. If the wheel is bent it cannot be truly balanced and thus is your problem. At the price of the fix for the bends you may be better off putting it towards some aftermarket upgraded wheels. Good luck. I know vibrations are one of the most anoying things on any car, especially a P-car because they do not have the weight up front to counter some of the shake.

Russ

 

1+ with Russ.

 

well put by Russ.

 

Flat spotted tires and loose lugnuts also cause vibration. Im sure you know that though.

 

You'll find most of your vibe is coming from your front wheels. There are a lot of drivers who don't know the rears are even bent since they are in the rear.

If the damage is on the inside of the wheel the price for repair might be a little high if you ask me. Typical cost of repair if 3-4 wheels are involved without paint quotes out at around $100 per each around here....

Good Luck with all that jazz....

Let me know if you have any questions I have help with.... advise is always free... Well at least here...

To answer your last question, NO, only balancing the wheels will not take care of the problem, it will help a little but not fix it... It's a Porsche now, let's do it right...

-Eli

 

always a vibration. Mine were badly rashed so I had them trued and refinished. All 4 were $700. Still vibrates a little but I think it's the crappy Sumitomo HRZII's.

 

get the rims fixed by a reputable shop then... when the shop balanced the tires, they should have realized it's not balanced if they put it on a machine....

 

i too have the sumitomos, but i doubt they're to blame. i'm gonna have to look into a better balancing shop 1st, cause it's the cheapest solution.
if that still doesn't work, i guess repairing is the next step.
i like my rims and upgrading to, say, volk is gonna be mucho $$$.

 

I bet the cheap tires are 50% of the problem. My cheap tires were horrible, brand new.

 

Price seems high for the fix.

 

I had the same problem and found out that my front passenger inside wheel was bent. Just got it fixed for $130 and now the car drives well. I did everything you did and the best option is to get them fixed or replace them. That price is way to high to get 3 fixed. Keep shopping or tell them to lower the price!

 

i'll shop around on fixing the wheels...it's just such a pain in the *** to get this done! the logistics of it are insane, what with incapacitating the car, removing 3 wheels, removing 3 tires, taking wheels to repair shop, etc...i'm gonna need jackstands i'm guessing in order to take all wheels at same time.

good thing i at least got the suv.

 

Too bad you're not in So. Cal. I could lend you one of my sets while the wheels are being finished....

-Eli

 

Are you using OEM wheels? I just installed some aftermerket wheels that did not fit tight against the hub center allignment dogs and created a vibration since they were not tightened down centered. My tire guy here in Germany told me that a plastic allignment key was required - he showed me several - attempting to help solve the problem but none fit - he had several around the shop. He ended up using the Porsche tool kit allignment tool to help center the wheel (felgen) and it has helped but he warned me not to drive very fast until we found the correct plastic key.

Does anyone have a source for a 73mm to Porsche plastic wheel allignment key?