I've read a lot of posts about shimmy and vibrations after new wheels tires on 2004 model F150's. I got as far as hub centric rings, etc but I am wondering if anyone was able to solve this problem and positively identified the culprit? My '04 F150 2WD has drove great and has been vibe free for 70,000 miles (yep, I got 71K out of the stock 17's). Time to pop for new rubber so I picked up a set of 20" aftermarket wheels and a set of 285/50R20 tires. Had local tire center mount and balance, inquired about weights required and he says not bad at all. I watched as he did one and saw it out 2.5 oz but took his word for it all. Happy with the new look and rubber, head down the highway and up to 50 I was fine. Hit 50 mph and I started to feel it in the steering wheel, then at 60 it was unbearable. Shop was closed when I got back up and after Labor Day, I'll have them look at it again. Now I am reading all kinds of posts about this shimmy and vibration with aftermarket wheels. Lugnuts used were the cone-shaped for the wheels to center them and all 24 were purchased new at mounting.

This has everything to do with the tires and/or wheels and it is not driveline, etc issues so I can rule that out. I've seen the call for hub centric rings and went to the website but problem is I am not sure of the manufacturer of my wheels. Checked the reverse side of the wheels and had only sizing castings, etc...no names. I'll post an image of one of the wheels in case anyone can send me down the right road to identify these wheels but in the meantime...can anyone update this for me so I can be armed with all I need when they look at my balance/mounting again? Here's the image...if I'm allowed to post pics here:

<a href="http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p172/moonshine_steel/?action=view&current=wheelcopy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p172/moonshine_steel/wheelcopy.jpg" border="0" alt="F150 Aftermarket"></a>

Thanks for reading.

 

Most of the time it's a balancing issue. Sometimes it can be be a defective tire or wheel.