Lowered, New Wheels, and Now a Brake Problem! Help!!

[koebbe14]

I just lowered my girls 06 cobalt ls using eibach sportlines. I also bolted on a set a 18 in nexo wheels that i bought from a friend. After doing this, i had a shake in the steering wheel at highway speeds, and a slight pulsating in the brake pedal when braking. I figured it was just an alignment issue. My girlfriend took it to have it aligned and when she picked it up, it was still not fixed. I had her take it back and they double checked the alignment and balanced the tires. They also turned the rotors (twice) and said that they were causing the brake problem. When i picked it up, they said the brake issue was coming from the back.

Now, the steering wheel doesnt shake when driving, but the brake issue seemed to get worse. When you step on the brake pedal, it pulsates and shakes the wheel. From my experience, this seems like a front rotor problem. The car only has 30,000 miles on it, and had no problems before it put the wheels on.

Anybody have any suggestions?

[CullinanCut]

Bent rim?

[koebbe14]

Originally Posted by CullinanCut

Bent rim?

The first shop did say that 2 of the wheels were in pretty bad shape(whatever that means), but all four wheels passed the special balancing test they did (forgot what he called it, but he said its a machine that matches the high and low spots in the wheel with the tire...idk) He said its better than just balancing them the traditional way. The wheels look to be in great shape, except for one little nickel size spot where my buddy curbed something. He only had them on his cobalt for 6-7 months.

But even if i did have a bent rim, why would it only shake when braking?

[Snake890217]

When you put the rims on there were little clips on two of the lug stems did you take them off? I didn't at first and my wheel shook out of control. Just take a flat head screw driver and get them away from the axle, then use a strong pair of pliers to twist and break them off. If you did take them off then I don't know what the problem is...

[CullinanCut]

I had a bent rim on my VW that caused the wheel to shake at highway speeds, I took it in and was told it was balanced perfectly everything was good and to keep the shake in the wheel down they put it on the back right. There was a lot less shaking after that but I did notice a little when braking. After I put on brand new rims and tires everything was fine. I'm not a wheel expert but it just reminded me of what happened to me when I read your post. That shake drove me nuts until I switched out my rims! Good luck!

[xxcooljay23xxg5]

Make sure your lugs arent over tight. A lot of people have shaking problems because when they get their rims on they use one of them air pressured things, lol dont ask its early and i cant think. Check that, if its still shaking, try and make sure you take off the lil clip things.

[koebbe14]

I did not take off the clip things, just figured they were already on there so why take them off? I'll try taking them off and hope it fixes it.

thanks

patrick

[martz.w]

i heard somewhere to adjust the brakes that you can drive you car in reverse, stopping and going numerous times. I hear this automatically adjusts the brakes, which might help with the shaking when you hit the brakes. Just a thought

[Snake890217]

i very sure its the little clip things, reason being, stock steelys don't sit completely flat on the mounting surface so the clips don't mess with it. but after market rims (like mine) sit flush with the axle soooo they just squish the little clips and as small as they are they warp the rotor, not permantly, but enough to cause the shaking. Thats one of the first things i learned about my car, and it was from trial and error.

[Chester]

do you have pics of the new setup ?