New tires & aluminum rims

[Warpath]

During my trip to Indiana last week a front end shimmey revealed itself from speeds of 40 - 55 mph. It looks to be a two fold problem, a slightly bent rim and out of round tire. Neither are severe, but enough to annoy the hell out of me. Soooo, instead of investing in a new steel rim, I decided to go with polished aluminum rims and new Michelin XZ2 tires.

It is not going to be cheap, but tires & rims are the last thing I want to worry about and I also am looking for a better ride and performance than the present tires.

1995 FL FLD120, M11, custom interior.

[onezman]

Hi Warpath,

Your looking at about about $300 for each new polished aluminum wheel and very close to that for each new Michelin tire. Be sure they balance all tires when the put them on. Some tire dealers say the drive tires don't need to be balanced but I would want it done anyway.

When the tires and wheels are installed, have a front and rear axle alignment done.

If your shimmy problem is still not cured, you might want to check your front wheel bearing and the kingpins.

Jack up the front of the truck. Take a pry bar and try to move each wheel. If there is play in the wheels, try to determine if it's the wheel bearings or your kingpins. If you need to replace the wheelbearings, be sure to use synthetic lube.

If the wheel bearings are OK, its probably your kingpins. Some manufacturers place very thin shims at the top of each kingpin. Removing one of these shims on each kingpin allows the kingpin to seat slightly deeper in the spindle.

Deeper seating tightens everything up. Be sure
to grease the kingpins while the front of the truck is still on jacks. This way the weight is off the kingpins and the grease distributes around and below the pins.

Just my two cents,
Larry

[This message was edited by onezman on September 08, 2002 at 11:49 AM.]

[Warpath]

Larry -

I should have the rims tomorrow, they averaged $250 each. We are going to look at the bridgestones before I replace them (they only have 50,000 miles on them) they are pretty much low cost tires, so I don't think I will keep them.

My other problem is a hood that shakes to much, guess thats why they call them shakeliners. I replaced all the bushings which hold the hood in place, but some where I have something wrong. I have messed with it for a week now and still cant get it good.

Bill

1995 FL FLD120, M11, custom interior.

[onezman]

Warpath,

You got a good deal on the polished aluminum wheels. $259 each is the best price I ever found.
Most places ask about $300.

Does your engine seem to vibrate excessively?
If it does, you might want to check your motor mounts, crossmember bolts, bellhousing, and transmision bolts and all U bolts including driveshaft U bolts.

A loose, or out of balance Damper can also cause vibration. Its a good idea to spend an hour or so under your truck checking all bolts. while you're there, check for loose connections and unsecured wiring. I check all bolts screws, nuts etc. I use plastic ties straps to secure wiring. If I find any chaffing, or wiring thats rubbing, I put split plastic hose around the wiring. I do the same for air lines.

I check all belts, hoses and engine bolts including oil pan bolts. The bolts on the front cover of engines may work loose over time.

Check your alternator and air conditioner brackets while your at it, they have a tendency to work loose also.

BTW, It's also a good idea to drain your air tanks at least once a week. They tend to accumulate condensation even if you have an air dryer. I have never found any water in fuel, but I still drain 1/4 cup from my fuel/water separator at least once a week.

Freightshakers do have a bad reputaion for
vibrations. Vibrations can cause of things to come loose and get out of adjustment.

The main thing is to try to prevent potential
problems from occurring.

I do all the above things as soon as I buy a truck. Then I look everything over every time I grease the truck. It just makes me feel better
knowing nothing is going to fall off the truck driving down the road.

Let me know if you find any problems,
Larry

[Warpath]

Thanks for reminding me on those air tanks, I keep forgetting to do that. I am going to post a reminder by the door in my storage building. I have done some crawling around, but I need to do some more. I have full shop manuels for the truck, I need a better jack (air powered would be nice) I need more time!

I am going to look at the items you have listed for any problems.

Thanks
Bill

1995 FL FLD120, M11, custom interior.

[Jack Mayer]

I just bought 19.5" XZE's for $225 each mounted/balanced in Lynchburg, VA. 'Course if I had REAL wheels (22.5") they probably would have been more! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Jack Mayer
F550 Centurion Conversion
36' Newmar Kountry Star

[Warpath]

Well I finally got my aluminum rims in, had them send them over to Ziegler Tire in Garfield Hts. Ohio (I mention them because they are a awesome company)

Drove the truck up there this morning, Ziegler put 4 guys on my truck to change out the tires and put them all back on. Had it done in about 45 minutes, but when they put them on the studs where toooo shooort!!!! Aluminum rims are much thicker than steel rims. So they put my old rims & tires back on so I could drive up the road about 5 miles to the frieghtliner dealer and have the studs changed out. Unfortunetly, they did not have the studs, so it looks like it will be tomorrow before it is complete.

Soooooo lesson 4,004,687,043 make sure you have the proper studs before you install those new aluminum rims.

1995 FL FLD120, M11, custom interior.

[Warpath]

All I can say is WOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!

I drove it about 30 miles home from the tire shop on Thursday night. I definetly notice a big difference. For the 250 mile ride up to Middlebury, Indiana I knocked the front tires down to 95 psi and the truck was like a completely different vehicle. I lost the shimmey which was awesome,(not sure if it was the rims or the tires, but at this point I dont care) and the ride was just incredible. I only replaced the front tires with Michelin XZE on the recommendation of Ziegler tire. They actually thought I was crazy to replace the rims I had as well as the front tires. They really look out for you and did not want to spend or waste my money, and I am sure their advise is very good for day in day out drivers. Since it will probably take me 5 yrs or more years to wear out these tires, I am more concerned with ride quality then saving money. The XZE's where $289 ea. and they gave me $100 ea. for my front tires. They also gave $50 ea for the old rims which I felt was fair.

Well when I get it back I will probably have the XZE's put on the back, they made that big of a difference!

1995 FL FLD120, M11, custom interior.

[onezman]

Aluminum wheels are thicker than steel wheels. That's why two aluminums wheels won't fit on either side. The studs are too short as Bill stated.

There is plenty of room to install just one
aluminum wheel on the outside of each dual wheel. That way the outside wheels are polished aluminum on both sides, and both inside wheels are steel.

These trucks are custom built right down to the length of stud bolts. Longer studs are factory installed when dual aluminums are ordered.

Larry