2012 R-Spec Steering Wheel Vibration Issue

[Rspected]

Hey guys. So I bought my Genesis like 5 months ago and ever since I bought it the steering wheel has vibrated pretty aggressively to the point its driving me insane. The car has 26k on it now, bought at 21.5k miles. When I first bought it, the steering wheel vibrated ridiculously bad but I figured it was just a tire balance issue so I still picked it up anyways. I had the tires balanced at my friends local shop and they were pretty off so that helped a bit but the problem was still there just more subtle. Figured maybe the tires were bad or had flat spotting from sitting at the dealer.

Anyways fast forward to now, I have NEW wheels, NEW tires all around. At the time of the new wheels and tires, my buddy balanced them as well before mounting. Problem persisted. So this time I went and got it aligned and ROAD FORCE balanced on a hunter GSP 9700 machine and the techs told me it was like 3 oz off balance. The vibration improved significantly, but again the problem was still there, just reduced.

The next thing I did was assume it could be a stuck caliper or out of round rotor so I bought upgrades for the brake pads and brand new rotors to see if that might help eliminate the issue, well, I just had them installed along with the UNIQ performance rigid collar kit about an hour ago and on the drive home the problem actually seemed like it got slightly WORSE than before.

At this point, I don't have a clue what the problem could be. We tested the wheel bearings today when the wheels were off and they spin smooth and quiet like brand new bearings, so that cant be the problem either.

I'm out of options other than going from shop to shop and getting the tires balanced to see if maybe the shops are just wrong and it's still off....

I have no idea... does anyone have any insight or ideas?

The vibration is noticeable at nearly all speeds. But at lower speeds its felt less in the steering wheel and more in the butt and gas pedal upon every rotation of the wheel. At higher speeds it vibrates the wheel really fast but will still track pretty straight on a non-crowned road. Some roads it feels like it goes away but then you get on a different road and it's bad again. I'm lost.

 

[R-Spectable]

One of the best investments that I've made to the handling and steering for my car was installing Uniq rigid collars. When I first got my car, it felt like the wheels kind of chattered and it had some bump steer issues on some curves along my commute. This all disappeared after the install.

 

[pmckechnie]

Rspected
First tell us about your car. What year, what engine, AWD or RWD, tire size, are all tires the same or different front to rear, and anything else that may help.

I had a problem with my 84 Mercedes 500SEL with a vibration at 70 plus. Tires balanced, tires replaced, wheels replaced, and anything I could think of. Had the problem for several years.
I had my own shop and a cheap wheel balancer (still have it)(retired now.) I had tried having the tires balanced by another shop that had a Hunter Road Force balancer. No better. After I retired and had more time, I made my mind up that I was going to fix the vibration or die trying.
Ok weeks later I fixed it. Here is what I did. I found a setting on my wheel balancer that said "No Round Off" I found out that almost all tire balancers round off the weight needed to the closest 1/2 ounce or 1/4 ounce. I turned off the "No Round Off" and set the readings to grams. I carefully re-calibrated the machine. I balanced the tires to 1 gram or as close as I could get it by trimming down weights using gram scales.
Now after several years the Mercedes rides as smooth as a Mercedes should. No vibrations at any speed (0 to 120 mph). I don't know why it is so sensitive to tire balance, but it is.
I am not saying you should start here. You would probably have a hard time finding a shop that is willing to do it. It took me several hours to get them right.
There are other things that may find the problem quicker but I need to know more about the car.

 

[Gunkk]

Well if the wheel & tire have been 100% eliminated, then look for damage in the hub, spindle, worn or loose ball joints and control arms, etc.

 

[Rspected]

First guy clearly didnt read the post as I stated I have the UNIQ Rigid Collar kit installed hoping that would help.

Well update from this post I went back to the tire shop that balanced my wheels with the road force machine and they rebalanced them and found they were still off balance ever so slightly. Now it is driving much smoother but I still have a miniature vibration that can be felt and I know it isn't just the roads because its consistent. Now it's less in the steering wheel and more felt in the seat/pedal. But at higher speeds there is still a subtle vibration but it is MUCH more tolerable than before. I am going to try wheel hub centric rings to see if that helps because I have aftermarket wheels on it and they don't sit perfectly on the hub.

My vehicle specs:
2012 Genesis Sedan R-Spec 5.0 V8
Tires are BFGoodrich Sport comp2 all seasons 245/35/19 all around mildly stretched on ESR 10.5" wide et22 rims.
-UNIQ performance rigid collar kit
-2.5mm wheel spacers up front (inner lip was hitting control arm prior to spacers)
-custom 4" straight tube air intake with gold insulated wrap & k&n drop in (OEM Airbox)
- remote ESC disable mod
-secondary cat deletes
- full custom 2.5" straight pipe catback exhaust
- M&s rear lip spoiler
- m&s rear diffuser
- roof spoiler
- 2015 genesis emblems front & back
- drilled & slotted powerstop rotors with bendix ceramic brake pads
- 5% tint all around
- sprint booster
(COMING SOON) ARK GT-S Lowering Springs

 

[R-Spectable]

Yeah I missed that part. Thanks for the blunt reply and good luck.