With the rims mentioned above I get a very odd and noticeable vibration in my entire car when cursing on most highways between 75mph and 85mph. Assuming that it might be a wheel balance issue I just walked outside with a flashlight to check my rims for damage.


I looked at the rear rims to begin with and find that on the left rear rim there are 4 tiny metal squares on the inside of the rim behind the spokes. On the rear right rim however there are 7 of these tiny metal squares. Are both sides suppose to have an equal number, and could this be the cause of this vibration issue?

 

Both sides may or may not have the same # of wheel weights. Did you do anything recent to the car? new wheels, tires?

 

I have done nothing to the wheels since i got the car. When the car was in for a 30k maintenance the wheels were supposidly balanced but its been this way for as long as i can rememeber. But I am quite worried that one of any of those random really loud pings i have heard in the wheel wells might have been a couple of them coming off or something.

 

Each wheel and tire takes a different amount of weight to balance.

 

you shouldnt curse on the highway. Its not polite.

 

Can you see a patch of black sticky stuff on the wheel?
Maybe that is where one of the weights used to be.
On the inside of the wheel they may have used the normal clamp weights - they did on my car.
You could remove the wheels and look for missing weights.



About cursing in your S2k: the soft top is not sound proof - both ways.

 

The weights can possibly fall off, but it's unlikely especially if its been on for a while already.

The weights don't have to be even, there can be zero weights to as much as 10 "little" weights.

You can simply get the wheels all rebalanced at a tire shop and you should be set. Most people like the sticky weights better then the clamp ones, mainly for aesthetic purposes.

 

Rebalance time. Get a road force balance, more expensive, but much better. The stick weights can be used anywhere (when used with the right balancer) and are much better than the edge clamp design for balancing.

 

If you're tread is worn down, or you have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season's you may not be able to balance them properly.

 

If you have extreme camber, that makes it harder to get an accurate result also due to the very uneven treadwear.

Stick weights typically work best when they are to the outer most edges of the inside of the wheel, thus requiring as little weights as necessary to achieve a acceptable balance.