My 2004 Rubicon with 15" x 10" American Racing wheels and BFG KO2 33x12.5r15 tires has always been sensitive to tires changes. Also, it seem like I have had a disproportionate number of out-of-round tires. In the latest round of trouble, I had to change to the spare while I was on a trip. With the spare on, I had a little wiggle at 50mph. Since I was towing the Jeep behind my RV, I wanted the wiggle fixed. The tire shop I went to found that one wheel was going to need 2 pounds of weight (dynamic balance). Neither he nor I wanted to do that, so he static balanced it for a road test. The wiggle was better but not gone. We then tried putting the rear tires on the front. The wiggle was worse. Then they re-balanced these (former rear - now front) wheels and tires. This reduced the wiggle to almost nothing. I settled for this.
Cut to 6 weeks later. I removed my front wheels to inspect the brakes. When I put the wheels back on and went for a test drive, the wiggle was back and much more pronounced. My thoughts (as a former telephone man) was that I had another tire out of round and putting it on the Jeep in a different orientation had caused a more pronounced effect. I went to the front end place that trues tires in my area. The tech there is someone who has helped me before and seems very knowledgeable. He found one tire slightly out of true, but he said the big problem was the wheel was not centered on the hub. He centered the wheel and shaved the tire. Now my Jeep drives like a Cadillac. The tech suggested hub centric rings might help.
My questions?
Is there a procedure to follow when installing lug centric wheels to insure that they center themselves?
Are any of you using hub centric rings and have they helped the drivieability of your Jeep.
Should I be thinking hub centric wheels? I understand stock wheels are hub centric. Does this put me in the market for Moab wheels? Any recommendations for hub centric wheels? Is 3.5 - 4" backspacing what I should buy?
Why does it seem to be a voodoo art to get a jeep to drive like it is supposed to?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Cut to 6 weeks later. I removed my front wheels to inspect the brakes. When I put the wheels back on and went for a test drive, the wiggle was back and much more pronounced. My thoughts (as a former telephone man) was that I had another tire out of round and putting it on the Jeep in a different orientation had caused a more pronounced effect. I went to the front end place that trues tires in my area. The tech there is someone who has helped me before and seems very knowledgeable. He found one tire slightly out of true, but he said the big problem was the wheel was not centered on the hub. He centered the wheel and shaved the tire. Now my Jeep drives like a Cadillac. The tech suggested hub centric rings might help.
My questions?
Is there a procedure to follow when installing lug centric wheels to insure that they center themselves?
Are any of you using hub centric rings and have they helped the drivieability of your Jeep.
Should I be thinking hub centric wheels? I understand stock wheels are hub centric. Does this put me in the market for Moab wheels? Any recommendations for hub centric wheels? Is 3.5 - 4" backspacing what I should buy?
Why does it seem to be a voodoo art to get a jeep to drive like it is supposed to?
Inquiring minds want to know.