So I got my wheels and tires mounted and an alignment a week ago using the aluminum hubcentric rings I purchased off of ravspec's site. The size is 67.06.

The problem is I'm hearing a clicking sound similar to that of flat tire on bicycle wheel. Kinda like metal rubbing and flexing. This is my first experience with aluminum rings and I don't know if they could be the problem or was it perhaps the alignment?

 

Sure you don't have a nail in your tire?

 

^^^Positive. Brand new tires that I just ran down and inspected. Wheels and all hardware are new as well.

 

Anyone?

 

When you install the wheels, you need to "wiggle" them as you tighten the nuts by hand with the car in the air. This will ensure that the wheels are perfectly centered, especially when using acorn or taper style lug nuts on aftermarket wheels.

Also, make sure they are tightened to 80 ft-lbs in a star pattern once the car is on the ground. over or under-tighteneing can cause the clicking you mentioned.

 

Thanks man. I just did exactly as you said and yes the lugs were overtighten to about 130+ ft-lbs! I can't believe it because the shop does nothing but mount race tires and suspension work for SCCA and NASA racers.

Problem is, the metallic noise is still there and I will venture to say that it remains unchanged. Now I'm thinking it might have something to do with the alignment which was done at the same time.

Sorry to be so uniformed about this but the guy said he had to flip a bolt on the front suspension to get the negative camber that was desired. Is this true? Is this right? He said it was a common practice with all the Evos he has done.

 

Yes, the camber bolt for the evo only has two positions and you have to physically extract the bolt and flip it around to change the camber.

One suggestion might be to put some anti-seize or grease on the hub-centric ring. This might help cut down on the noise and ensure it seats itself properly on the hub/rim.

 

Thanks. I also forgot to mention that we've anti-seized every ring inside and out, as well as wiggling all the wheels to center properly while torquing.

I'm clueless

 

I got nothing without being able to hear it myself, sorry man.

 

So guess what?

After checking out everything, we took off all the wheels last weekend and started pushing them around the parking lot. Well, one of the wheels had a half inch pebble in it which was making the noise! I'm glad it wasn't something big.

However, the installer didn't own up to it and I ended up paying someone else to get it remounted and balanced.

I honestly thought this guy was top notch because of his local reputation but he was just down right rude about it