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To make a very long and expensive story short, if you buy replacement wheels (that aren't Saab wheels)you have to make sure they come with little circular pieces of metal called "centering rings." These rings probably cost about 50 cents, but they can save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs and aspirin.
I purchased four wheels for my '97 900SE from a generally well-respected web-based tire & wheel purveyor which I will not name here (ok, if you insist -- tirerack.com).
A local tire dealer installed my tires, and the car immediately began to suffer from a bone-shaking vibration starting at around 55mph.
A visit to a Saab dealership for balancing, a flat tire, then 2 new tires purchased and installed by a 2nd local tire dealer later, and the vibration was no better.
In fact, the vibration got worse, so I brought the car into my local mechanic (Hoffman Foreign Auto, Montclair NJ) who replaced a busted flange for $650-odd bucks and said "there's something wrong with these wheels. They're true when placed on the tire balancer, but when they're on your car, they're causing excessive vibration that will continue to damage your suspension. And, by the way, usually when you get new wheels, they come with these things call centering rings that make sure the wheels are seated properly..." God bless you Erik at Hoffman's!
This was the first time I'd heard the words "centering rings" -- and I'd spent a bit of time on this site, researching causes and solutions to steering wheel shimmy.
So I contacted tirerack.com (OK -- so this story is NOT so short after all) and the customer service person said "Oh, we were supposed to have sent you centering rings with your wheels..."
Centering rings received and installed. Vibration gone.
Why weren't 2 independent tire dealers and a Saab DEALERSHIP able to tell me the simple solution to my vibration problem was centering rings? Why didn't tirerack send me the rings in the first place, if they know they're necessary for this type of car?
I can't answer those questions. But I hope this message helps the next person who types in "new wheels steering wheel vibration" to find a quicker and less costly solution to their problem than I did.
posted by 138.89.8...
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